[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 191 (Thursday, December 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2562-E2563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE MEMORY OF FORMER TEXAS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOHN HILL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2007

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to the 
memory of John Hill, the only person in the history of the great State 
of Texas to serve as Secretary of State, Attorney General and Chief 
Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. John was a friend of mine. He was a 
spellbinder and, in my opinion, the greatest and most successful trial 
lawyer of his day.
  John entered politics as an organizer in the 1964 re-election 
campaign of Governor John B. Connally. Governor Connally appointed him 
Secretary of State in 1966, a post he would hold for 2 years. In 1972 
John was elected Attorney General, where he pressed lawsuits against 
polluters, created an organized crime task force and persuaded the 
Legislature to pass consumer legislation. In 1984 he was elected Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. He resigned in January of 1988 
to advocate his belief that the partisan election of judges fostered an 
environment which allowed campaign contributors to have undue influence 
upon the courts. He continued to campaign for

[[Page E2563]]

a system in which judges would be appointed until his death.
  He remained engaged in public service, working as Governor George W. 
Bush's appointee to the Texas Lottery Commission, and supporting the 
Governor in his bid for the White House. The final years of John's 
legal career were spent as a senior partner with Locke Liddel and Sapp 
LLP, and later as a senior partner with the Winstead firm, where he was 
a shareholder.
  John is survived by his wife, the former Elizabeth Ann Graham; a son, 
John Graham Hill; two daughters, Melinda Elizabeth Hill Perrin and 
Martha Hill Jamison; ten grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life of a great 
American, outstanding public servant, and respected jurist, the 
Honorable John Hill.

                          ____________________