[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 164 (Wednesday, November 4, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN TRIBUTE TO FRED DALTON THOMPSON ``NOTED ATTORNEY AND ACTOR, WRITER, 
     CHIEF COUNSEL FOR WATERGATE COMMITTEE, AND U.S. SENATOR FROM 
                              TENNESSEE''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 4, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Fred Dalton 
Thompson, a great American, a man who personified civility; a 
passionate advocate for good governance, fiscal responsibility, and 
national security; and United States Senator from Tennessee, who died 
on Sunday, November 1, 2015, in Huntsville, Tennessee at the age of 73.
  Born to Ruth Inez and Fletcher Session Thompson on August 19, 1942, 
in Sheffield, Alabama, Freddie Dalton Thompson came from humble 
beginnings. After graduating from Lawrence County High School, Fred 
Thompson then entered the University of North Alabama, becoming the 
first member of his family to attend college. He later transferred to 
the University of Memphis, where he earned a dual degree in philosophy 
and political science in 1964 and won a scholarship to Vanderbilt 
University School of Law from which he graduated with a J.D. in 1967.
  After his admission to the Tennessee bar and from 1969-1972, Fred 
Thompson worked as an Assistant United States Attorney where he 
successfully prosecuted bank robberies and other cases. In 1972, Fred 
Thompson managed the successful reelection campaign of U.S. Senator 
Howard Baker who brought him to Washington and appointed him Minority 
Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee.
  Fred Thompson has often been credited for formulating the question 
made famous by Senator Baker during the Watergate hearings: ``What did 
the President know, and when did he know it?''
  In addition to service as a United States Senator, Fred Thompson 
rendered valuable service to the public as Special Counsel to the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1980-1981), Special Counsel to the 
Senate Intelligence Committee (1982), and Member of the Appellate Court 
Nominating Commission for the State of Tennessee (1985-1987).
  In 1994, Fred Thompson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 to fill 
the unexpired term of Senator Al Gore, who had been elected Vice-
President and two years later was elected in a landslide to a full six-
year Senate term.
  During his eight years in the Senate, Fred Thompson served on the 
Committees on Finance, Government Affairs, and Intelligence. He retired 
at the end of his term in 2002 and resumed his career as film and 
television actor, starring for many years as Manhattan District 
Attorney Arthur Branch in the acclaimed television series ``Law and 
Order.''
  Notable films in which Fred Thompson starred include ``In the Line of 
Fire,'' ``No Way Out,'' ``Days of Thunder,'' ``The Hunt for Red 
October,'' ``Cape Fear,'' ``Die Hard 2,'' ``Class Action,'' and ``Fat 
Man and Little Boy.''
  Mr. Speaker, I hope it is a comfort to Fred Thompson's widow, Jeri 
Kehn Thompson, and his surviving children, Freddie Jr. and Samuel, that 
so many persons are remembering Fred Thompson in their prayers and 
thoughts.
  I ask that the House observe a moment of silence in memory of Fred 
Thompson, the distinguished U.S. Senator from Tennessee.

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