[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7277-S7278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING DEE BENSON

 Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Judge Dee 
Benson, who passed away this week after a heroic battle with cancer. 
Dee had a remarkable and far-reaching legal career, making an impact 
throughout Utah and the country. But even more than that, he has made 
an indelible mark as a beloved teacher, mentor, role model, and friend.
  Dee grew up on small farm in Jordan, UT, across from the old Jordan 
High School. He served a 2-year mission in Sweden for the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and afterwards attended BYU, 
graduating in 1973 with a degree in physical education. After a brief 
stint as a student teacher and soccer coach at Hillcrest High, he 
decided to change career paths and on a whim applied to law school.
  Dee stumbled onto what would become a brilliant vocation in law. He 
was one of the very first law students at Brigham Young University, 
when my late father, Rex Lee, was founding BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law 
School. Dee quickly took to law, grasping legal concepts with speed and 
ease, and soon became a star of his class, even without spending all 
his time in the libary. He was an equally affable student, loved by all 
of his classmates. A gifted athlete, he still managed to participate in 
school activities and sports while in law school, even playing for the 
soccer team during his final year and finishing near the top of his 
class.
  After graduating in 1976, Dee spent a few months playing professional 
soccer

[[Page S7278]]

with the Utah Golden Spikers of the American Soccer League, and then 
turned to his law career. He started out in private practice, first at 
Marineau and Mack and then at Christensen and Martineau. He would later 
be appointed to positions at the highest levels of law by Presidents, 
Chief Justices, and Senators.
  He came to Washington first to work as counsel for the Senate 
Judiciary Committee. Dee was then-Senator Orrin Hatch's chief of staff 
for 2 years and while there served as counsel on the Iran-Contra 
Congressional Investigating Committee. He worked as U.S. attorney from 
1989 until 1991, when he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to 
serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, where he 
served for nearly three decades.
  As Federal judge, he was appointed as one of the seven judges to the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court by Chief Justice William 
Rehnquist, frequently flying to Washington to review requests for 
warrants and wiretaps against suspected spies and terrorists. He was 
also appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the Judicial 
Conference of the United States, a policy-making body within the 
Federal judicial system.
  Dee had a deep love of the law and true impartiality as a jurist. In 
all of his duties, he never sought to impose his own agenda but simply 
to get the law right--not according to his own personal beliefs or 
feelings but as he understood it. And as much as Dee loved the law, he 
was loved by those around him. He brought kindness, humor, and fun to 
every environment. He was known to keep a bicycle in his chambers and a 
dart board for his clerks.
  I myself was lucky enough to have him as my first boss when I clerked 
for him the year after I graduated from law school. I learned more 
about the practice of law during that clerkship than I did during all 3 
years of law school combined. I will never forget our countless 
conversations about the law--deep dives on everything from compelled-
speech doctrine , the coconspirator hearsay rule, and the requirements 
for authenticating so-called ``ancient documents'' under the Federal 
Rules of Evidence--in the courtroom and in his chambers and sometimes 
even while mountain biking or during a game of ping pong or darts.
  Everyone at the courthouse--from the prosecutors to the defense 
counsel, from civil litigants to criminal defendants, from probation 
officers to support staff--loved and learned daily from Judge Benson. 
Despite his keen intellect and prominence, he was one of the most 
humble, genuine people I have ever known. He cared deeply about the 
happiness of those around them and left everyone more happy and 
encouraged than when he found them. He treated each person who came 
into his courtoom with dignity and respect, no matter who you were.
  Throughout the years, Dee retained his passion for sports and zest 
for life. He ran marathons, was an avid mountain biker, and mastered 
every sport that caught his interest. He was a devoted father who, 
despite the many demands on his time, seemed to maintain constant 
contact with each of his four children, taking delight in every word 
they uttered and every activity they pursued.
  Even his cancer diagnosis would not dampen his spirit or slow him 
down. After being partially paralyzed and bedridden this past May, by 
the end of the month he had returned to his chambers in Salt Lake City 
and had come into work as recently as last week--steadfast and strong 
until the end.
  Judge Dee Benson was a true public servant, a gift to Utah and to 
everyone who had the good fortune to meet him. For those of us who knew 
and loved Dee, the world will now seem incomplete; but it has been an 
honor and a blessing to call him a mentor and a friend.

                          ____________________