[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 148 (Monday, September 23, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H5644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF BILL BAXTER

  (Mr. BURCHETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of my good 
friend, Bill Baxter, who passed away recently at 71 years old.
  Bill was well-known as a very brilliant businessowner and a very 
charitable man.
  He joined his dad's industrial gas business, Holston Gases, in 1980 
after he graduated from the University of Tennessee Law School. Since 
then, the business grew from one location in Knoxville to 42 branches 
operating across 10 States.
  He also bought the Wort Hotel in Wyoming in 2004 and helped the hotel 
earn a four-diamond designation from AAA in 2008.
  Bill also served as the chairman of the board of the Knoxville Zoo, 
the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Economic Development, and 
he was appointed to the Tennessee Valley Authority board by President 
George W. Bush.
  He had the integrity to resign from the TVA board after 5 years 
because he wanted to honor a bill that had passed in Congress which 
imposed 5-year term limits, even though the bill didn't apply to him.
  I offer my condolences to Bill's wife of 45 years, Ginger; his 
sister, Jennifer, and her husband, Frank; his four children and their 
spouses, Elizabeth and Rick, Jennifer and Jonathan, Joe and Emily, and 
John and Vivian; as well as nine grandchildren; and everyone else who 
knew and loved Bill.
  On a personal note, Mr. Speaker, he actually tried to talk me out of 
running for office, and I often wonder where my life would be if I took 
his advice. I am glad I didn't, though, Mr. Speaker. Bill was a dear 
friend, and he will be missed.

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