[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 118 (Thursday, August 5, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S6875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     REMEMBERING THEODORE H. FOCHT

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life of 
Theodore H. Focht, a former lawyer, educator, and public servant who 
passed away on April 22, 2010, at the age of 75. I extend my deepest 
condolences to his wife of 53 years, Joyce, his sons, David and Eric, 
and his grandson Jason.
  Over the course of more than four decades, starting with his 
graduation in 1959 from law school at the College of William and Mary, 
Theodore--or Ted, as he was more commonly known to his family and 
friends--enjoyed an illustrious legal career that took him from 
academia to the halls of Congress to senior leadership positions at the 
Securities Investor Protection Corporation, or SIPC. Throughout his 
career, Ted earned a well-deserved reputation as an extremely 
knowledgeable and experienced voice on matters related to securities 
law and as a dedicated and hardworking public servant.
  Following a stint as a legal assistant at the Securities and Exchange 
Commission in the early 1960s, Ted became a faculty member at the 
University of Connecticut School of Law in my home State, where he 
taught classes on securities regulation, administrative law, and 
property law. In 1969, Ted took a leave of absence from his work at 
UCONN and moved to Washington, DC, to take on a temporary assignment as 
special counsel to the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign 
Commerce.
  When Ted took that position on Capitol Hill, the House Commerce 
Committee was in the middle of working to pass legislation that would 
provide critical new protections to U.S. investors from bankrupt and 
financially troubled brokerage firms. As the committee's special 
counsel on securities policy, Ted jumped right into the issue, playing 
an absolutely instrumental role in crafting the Securities Investor 
Protection Act. This legislation, which was signed into law by 
President Nixon, created the SIPC--a nonprofit entity that insures the 
assets of investors against brokerage firm failures--and with it, an 
important new layer of security and sense of confidence for Americans 
who wanted to invest in the stock market.
  But Ted's work on investor protection issues did not end with the 
enactment of that landmark bill. Following its creation, Ted became the 
SIPC's president and general counsel, where he successfully shepherded 
the corporation through its first two decades of existence. Between 
1971, when he took the helm at the SIPC, until 1994, when he retired 
from the corporation, Ted became inextricably linked to the 
organization's work and mission. Indeed, I believe that Ted's work with 
SIPC, both in helping to build the organization as a young 
congressional staffer and run it after establishment, are among the 
most striking aspects of his impressive professional legacy.
  And so I would like to take this opportunity today to thank Ted for 
his years of dedication to the law--whether as a professor helping to 
shape the minds of young law students at UCONN, or as a senior 
executive at the SIPC working to build a safer environment for 
Americans to invest.
  And I once again extend my most heartfelt condolences to all of the 
people who knew and loved him.

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