[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20] [Senate] [Page 27802] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]RETIREMENT OF U.S. ATTORNEY JAMES TUCKER Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, one of the best and most respected attorneys to have ever served in our State as an assistant U.S. Attorney is retiring. James Tucker has served the U.S. Department of Justice in the Southern District of Mississippi for 30 years. I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for the way James Tucker has carried out the important responsibilities of his job. He was a true professional in every respect. He was completely honest and trustworthy, and he was tenacious in bringing to justice those who violated the laws of the United States. I commend him for a job well done and wish him much continued success and satisfaction in the years ahead. I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Clarion Ledger of December 17, highlighting his illustrious career be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Top Corruption Fighter Leaving Post (By Jerry Mitchell) Mississippi's top corruption fighter over the past 30 years--Assistant U.S. Attorney James Tucker--is leaving the U.S. attorney's office to go into private practice. ``If you could combine honor, integrity, courage and expertise in the same person, what you'd have is James Tucker,'' Attorney General Mike Moore said ``they don't make 'em that way anymore. He is the ultimate professional.'' Jan. 3 will mark Tucker's last day of work at the U.S. attorney's office, where he has worked since 1971. After that, he'll join the Butler Snow law firm in Jackson, where he'll be part of the litigation division. Tucker said he is sad to be leaving on one hand but is enthused about his new job. ``After 30 years with the Department of Justice, it hurts a little to cut the string, but I'm looking forward to a challenging new career.'' A no-nonsense retired Naval Reserve officer, Tucker has shunned the limelight, despite taking on very public prosecutions of Mississippi public officials, including Operation Pretense, which led to convictions of 43 county supervisors and 11 vendors on corruption charges. His long list of those prosecuted has included members of the Mississippi Senate, the Highway Commission, the Public Service Commission and the Jackson City Council. His work also helped put former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat behind bars on federal charges in connection with the 1987 killing of Halat's former law partner, Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret. ``I've always had strong feelings about public officials violating the trust,'' Tucker said. ``I always felt if I had the power to right those kinds of wrongs, I ought to do it.'' In 1983 and 1998, the Provine High School graduate received the highest award an assistant U.S. attorney can receive from the Justice Department--the Superior Performance Award. ``That's one of my great honors,'' Tucker said, ``winning that award twice.'' Perhaps better than an award was the comment he said he received the other day from a current county supervisor: ``He said, `You don't realize it, but what y'all did in Pretense has helped us honest supervisors for years and years and will for years to come. Because of that, we can threaten people with another Pretense if they fool around (with corruption).' '' Moore credited Tucker with cleaning up corruption in Mississippi: ``He's helped return integrity to public office.'' Tucker's expertise has helped pave the way for many other lawyers, including Moore, who first go to know Tucker when as a district attorney in Pascagoula he pursued corruption cases against local supervisors. ``He really helped me through those tough times, and he's continued to be my friend,'' Moore said. ``He was a mentor to me.'' Defense lawyer John Colette of Jackson said what makes Tucker special is his ability to remain calm, even amidst a storm, such as during the 1990 trial of Newton Alfred Winn, convicted in connection with the disappearance of Jackson socialite Annie Laurie Hearin. But that calmness belies a quiet ruthlessness, he said. As someone has remarked, Colette said, Tucker is the kind of prosecutor who slits the throat of a defense lawyer, who doesn't realize it until his head is in his lap. Now that Tucker's gone, he joked, ``I'm going to start trying all my cases in federal court.'' What may say the most about Tucker is that he has the admiration of not only the defense bar, but judges as well, Colette said. ``He's probably the most competent prosecutor I ever heard,'' said U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. ``The district was lucky to have him for so many years.'' Even as Mississippi has changed U.S. attorneys in the Southern District, Tucker has remained as the chief of the criminal division. Former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott said he relied on Tucker during his tenure. ``He's an ideal public servant,'' Pigott said. ``He's personally modest and quiet. I've spent some time with him in the foxhole, I can vouch for his integrity in every way. He deserves a very wonderful reputation.'' Defense lawyers say Tucker helped provide continuity to the sometimes revolving door of the U.S. attorney's office, serving once as interim U.S. attorney. ``Many people, including me, felt that with him there, there was somebody to talk to who would listen,'' said defense lawyer Tom Royals of Jackson. ``It's a real loss to our justice system to see James Tucker leave,'' said defense lawyer Dennis Sweet of Jackson. ``He's a tremendous lawyer, and he's been tremendously fair. I just hope whoever replaces him does as good a job for the U.S. attorney's office as he has.'' Current U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton said he is certainly going to miss Tucker. ``He's an institution,'' Lampton said. ``He knows more off the top of his head than you can find out doing research in books.'' Because of Tucker, Lampton said he never worried about the criminal side of his office. Now he'll have to find a replacement, which he'll probably choose from within his office, he said. ``We'll all have to work together to take up the slack.'' Those outside legal circles also praise Tucker. ``There was a time when James Tucker was the only defense standing between us and total corruption in Mississippi,'' said veteran journalist Bill Minor, who wrote about Tucker in his new book, Eyes on Mississippi: A Fifty-Year Chronicle of Change. ``In my estimation, he ranks among the true heroes that I've known over my 54-year career.'' Former Public Safety Commissioner and FBI agent Jim Ingram said Tucker will be sorely missed by all of Mississippi. ``Almost all of us can be replaced. He can't.'' ____________________