[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1939-S1941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTES TO THAD COCHRAN

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Senator Cochran and I met while serving 
together in the House of Representatives, but it was in the Senate that 
we became close colleagues. Throughout his service, Senator Cochran has 
remained devoted to the U.S. Senate functioning as a bipartisan, 
deliberative body. It is a goal I have long admired about Senator 
Cochran and a mission I share.
  As only the second Republican to be elected to represent Mississippi 
in the House of Representatives since Reconstruction and the first 
Republican to win a statewide election in a century at the time he was 
elected to the U.S. Senate, Senator Cochran proved that it is ideas and 
commitment to constituents that move communities and

[[Page S1940]]

States forward. Throughout his career, Senator Cochran continued to 
prove time and again that this is the path to legislative success.
  You really get to know a colleague when you travel with them. I know 
Senator Cochran as a deliberative and thoughtful colleague. Though 
collegial and cautious, Senator Cochran was dogged in his pursuit to 
represent the interests of Mississippi. Senator Cochran and I often 
exchanged ideas in the Senate Agriculture Committee while he served as 
chairman. I can say with certainty that he represented the farmers of 
his State extremely well.
  A hallmark of Senator Thad Cochran's distinguished career has been 
his ability to work effectively and thoughtfully on behalf of 
Mississippi. He has a courteous manner but commands the attention and 
respect of his colleagues. His deep institutional knowledge and 
dedication to public office will make him a sorely missed member of the 
United States Senate.
  I thank him for his faithful service to this body and wish him well 
in his retirement.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to 
recognize my friend and colleague Senator Cochran of Mississippi. On 
April 1, the Senate will lose a tremendous public servant.
  Between the House and Senate, Senator Cochran devoted nearly 46 years 
of service to his State, and I am sad to hear it is coming to an end.
  The son of two educators and a fellow 4-H alumnus, Senator Cochran 
knows the importance of serving his community. In 1973, he answered the 
call to represent the people of Mississippi and hasn't stopped since.
  As outgoing chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator 
Cochran leaves a legacy of providing many victories to Florida. From 
funding the restoration of the Everglades, to ensuring our Nation's 
military has enough funding to defend our country, Senator Cochran's 
enduring contributions are to be commended.
  I think TIME Magazine said it right when Senator Cochran was selected 
as one of America's 10 Best Senators in 2006, accurately dubbing him 
the ``quiet persuader'' after he secured nearly $29 billion for 
Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in our Gulf Coast.
  His proven bipartisanship will be remembered by the people of 
Mississippi and by his colleagues here in the Senate.
  I am proud to have served with Senator Cochran, and we will all miss 
his leadership. I wish him well on his next endeavor.
  Mr. CARDIN, Mr. President, while we are all looking forward to the 
Passover-Easter recess, wrapping up our work this week feels 
bittersweet because, when we return on April 9, our dear friend and 
colleague Thad Cochran will not be returning with us. It is fitting, 
given his retirement, that we passed the fiscal year 2018 Omnibus 
Appropriations Act since the senior Senator from Mississippi deserves 
so much of the credit for negotiating that package and getting it to 
the floor.
  Senator Cochran was born and raised in Mississippi in a close-knit 
family that valued academic achievement, civic engagement, and hard 
work. Both of his parents were teachers. Senator Cochran was an Eagle 
Scout. He earned varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and 
tennis at Byram High School, where he gave a piano and voice recital 
his senior year, and he graduated as class valedictorian.
  Senator Cochran attended the University of Mississippi, where he was 
student body vice president and earned a bachelor of arts degree with a 
major in psychology and a minor in political science. After he 
graduated, he was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and 
assigned to duty aboard the USS Macon, a heavy cruiser homeported in 
Boston, MA.
  After Senator Cochran completed his tour of Active Duty in the Navy, 
he attended the school of law at the University of Mississippi. While 
in law school, he won an award for having the highest scholastic 
average in the first-year class, served on the editorial board of the 
Mississippi Law Journal, and argued before the Mississippi Supreme 
Court as a moot court finalist. He was awarded a Rotary Foundation 
graduate fellowship and studied jurisprudence and international law for 
a year at Trinity College in Dublin before returning to Ole Miss for 
his final year of law school. Senator Cochran's law school grade point 
average was the third highest of all students who graduated from the 
Ole Miss law school during the 1960s.
  Senator Cochran joined the law firm of Watkins & Eager in Jackson, 
MS, and was made a partner in less than 3 years. It was around this 
time that he became a Republican, and in 1972, he elected to Congress 
to represent the Fourth District. He became just the second Republican 
to be elected to represent Mississippi in the U.S. House of 
Representatives since Reconstruction, after Prentiss Walker was the 
first in 1964. He won reelection twice, in each instance with more than 
70 percent of the vote.
  In 1978, Senator Cochran became the first Republican in more than 100 
years to win a statewide election in Mississippi when he was elected to 
the U.S. Senate. He has since been reelected six times. Last March, he 
became the tenth longest serving Senator in U.S. history.
  Our Nation and the State of Mississippi have benefited from Senator 
Cochran's long service. His legislative accomplishments are too 
numerous to list here, but I will highlight a few. First, Senator 
Cochran has been a champion of a strong national defense, both as 
chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on 
Defense. Second, he has been a champion of America's farmers and 
ranchers through his long service on the Senate Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which he also chaired. Third, he 
has been a champion for education and our Nation's cultural 
institutions, including the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian 
Institution, serving as a regent. He has a passion for education. I 
mentioned that his parents were teachers; so, too, is his daughter. 
Senator Cochran has worked hard to improve educational opportunities 
for students in Mississippi and across the country. He has advocated 
for early childhood education, literacy programs, teacher development, 
vocational education, arts education, year-round Pell grants, and the 
Promise Neighborhood Program. He has increased funding for title I and 
to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
  In 2005, Senator Cochran spearheaded the effort to secure more than 
$87 billion in supplemental Federal assistance to Mississippi and the 
other Gulf Coast States devastated by Hurricane Katrina. More recently, 
he coauthored the `RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act' to help Gulf Coast 
States recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He helped 
develop, maintain, and improve the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Natchez 
National Historical Park, the Vicksburg National Military Park, and the 
Gulf Islands National Seashore. In addition, he authored provisions to 
promote National Park Service efforts to research and preserve sites 
associated with the Civil Rights movement.
  Senator Cochran is a sportsman and a conservationist in the tradition 
of Teddy Roosevelt. He authored the Mississippi Wilderness Act, which 
was the first Federal legislation ever passed for the perpetual 
protection of lands in the State of Mississippi. He helped to establish 
national wildlife refuges as a member of the Migratory Bird 
Conservation Commission, and he authored the Wildlife Habitat 
Incentives Program. He has received numerous awards from conservation 
groups, including Ducks Unlimited, the North American Waterfowl 
Federation, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature 
Conservancy.
  I could go on, but I hope this summary of just some of Senator 
Cochran's accomplishments is sufficient to illustrate how remarkably 
effective he has been over a long and distinguished career in public 
service. Senator Cochran is an exemplary public servant. In 2006, TIME 
magazine selected him as one of ``America's 10 Best Senators''--a 
distinction I am sure no one in this Chamber would dispute. TIME called 
him the ``quiet persuader''--an apt description--and commented on his 
``courtly manner.'' We use the term ``gentleman'' frequently here in 
the Senate, perhaps too frequently sometimes, but Senator Cochran truly 
is a gentleman, and he is a gentle man. He doesn't raise his voice. He 
doesn't solicit attention to himself. He goes about his work quietly 
but effectively.

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His word is his bond. The Senate is a better place because of his 
service, and we will miss him. Rather than feel sorrow over his 
imminent departure, I feel gratitude that we are so fortunate he chose 
a life of public service and I have had the privilege of serving with 
him here in the Senate for the past 12 years.
  I wish all the best for our dear friend from Mississippi, his wife, 
Kay, and the rest of his family and thank them for their willingness to 
share him with us.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I wanted to pay tribute to my colleague 
Thad Cochran as he retires from the Senate after almost 40 years of 
service.
  Former Senator Margaret Chase Smith once said, ``Public service must 
be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be complete 
dedication to the people and the nation.'' Senator Thad Cochran brought 
that dedication to the Senate every day. During his tenure, Senator 
Cochran has served as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and 
the Senate Appropriations Committee, using those positions to help the 
people of Mississippi. The Senator's commitment to help alleviate the 
poverty in the Mississippi delta is well documented.
  As Senator Cochran ends this chapter of his life, I wish him well and 
thank him for the decency and courtesy that he consistently brought to 
the Senate. We are better for it.

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