[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 198 (Monday, December 17, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                      TRIBUTE TO THOMAS G. HUNGAR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL D. RYAN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 17, 2018

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the 
appreciation of the entire House of Representatives to Thomas G. Hungar 
for his exemplary service as General Counsel of the House. Tom has been 
a faithful defender of this institution, its Members, and its 
prerogatives since his appointment in 2016. Tom's distinguished legal 
career has included service in all three branches of government. In the 
Judicial Branch, he served as a law clerk in the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United 
States. In the Executive Branch, he served in the Office of the 
Solicitor General at the Department of Justice, including as Deputy 
Solicitor General. Having presented oral argument before the Supreme 
Court in 26 cases, Tom is one of our Nation's leading appellate lawyers 
and an expert on constitutional law.
  Tom began his Legislative Branch service with the House in 2016, as 
one of only a small number of lawyers ever to serve as General Counsel 
of the House. Under Tom's guidance and leadership, the General 
Counsel's Office has provided sophisticated and invaluable legal advice 
and has been a trusted institutional resource for Members, Officers, 
Committees, and staff, regardless of political affiliation. Through 
excellent legal work and counsel, undertaken with zeal for the best 
interests of the House, Tom and his office have earned the respect of 
Members on both sides of the aisle.
  When the House's institutional interests were at stake, Tom's legal 
advice was always tailored to safeguarding the House's constitutional 
prerogatives and protecting the House' s vital role in our 
constitutional structure. Tom successfully litigated cases defending 
and protecting the House's constitutionally based subpoena authority. 
Tom also defended the House and its Officers to preserve and protect 
the House's longstanding practice of opening each legislative day with 
a prayer. Additionally, under Tom, the House has filed amicus briefs 
articulating its position on the proper interpretation of the 
Appropriations, Rulemaking, and Speech or Debate Clauses of the 
Constitution. Numerous Members, Committees, and Subcommittees relied on 
Tom's extensive litigation expertise in connection with investigative 
and oversight activities. Finally, Tom defended House Members, 
Officers, and staff in judicial proceedings at both the trial and 
appellate levels and advised Members and Committees in connection with 
their interactions with both private and other governmental entities.
  I know that Tom will continue his exceptional work wherever the next 
chapter of his impressive legal career takes him. On behalf of the 
House of Representatives, I express my deepest gratitude to Tom for his 
dedication to this institution, and I extend our very best wishes to 
him, his wife Jaye, and their children, Brett, Claire, Lance, and 
Paige.

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