[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16066]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO JACK VALENTI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a man who has 
touched the lives of countless Americans and helped to put smiles on 
the faces of kids young and old.
  Jack Valenti has served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
of the Motion Picture Association for almost 40 years. Texas born and 
Harvard educated, Jack has led several lives: a wartime bomber pilot, 
advertising agency founder, political consultant, White House Special 
Assistant, and movie industry leader. He earned a B.A. from the 
University of Houston and a M.B.A. from Harvard.
  In his current role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the 
Motion Picture Association, Jack has presided over and led the American 
film and television industry as it has confronted a sea change in the 
landscape of the industry, both in the United States and abroad.
  Born in Houston, Texas, Jack was the youngest (age 15) high school 
graduate in the city. As a young pilot in the Army Air Corps in World 
War II, Lieutenant Valenti flew 51 combat missions as the pilot-
commander of a B-25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force in Italy. He 
was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four 
clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citation with one cluster and the 
European Theater Ribbon with four battle stars.
  In 1952, he co-founded the advertising/political consulting agency of 
Weekley & Valenti. In 1955 he met the man who would have the largest 
impact on his life, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson. Jack's 
agency was in charge of the press during the visit of President Kennedy 
and Vice President Johnson to Texas. Jack was in the motorcade (six 
cars back of the President) in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Within an 
hour of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jack was aboard Air Force 
One flying back to Washington with the new President as the first newly 
hired Special Assistant to the President. On June 1, 1966, Jack 
resigned his White House post to become the third man in MPAA's history 
(founded in 1922) to become its leader.
  Jack has written four books (three non-fiction): The Bitter Taste of 
Glory (World Publishing); A Very Human President (W.W. Norton Co.); 
Speak Up With Confidence (Wm. Morrow Co.), and the political novel, 
Protect and Defend (Doubleday). His most recent book is an updated 
revision of Speak Up With Confidence (2002, Hyperion). Jack has written 
extensively for America's preeminent newspapers and magazines. He is 
one of the few public figures who actually writes his own speeches.
  France has conferred upon him its highly prized Legion d'Honneur, the 
French Legion of Honor. Jack has been awarded his own star on 
Hollywood's Walk of Fame. He has also been named a Life Member of the 
Directors Guild of America.
  Mr. Speaker, America and the rest of the world will greatly miss Jack 
Valenti. His watchful and caring eye has helped bring joy to countless 
children and adults alike, and I wish him a very happy and healthy 
retirement.

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