[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25303]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JAMES PATTERSON

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
upstanding and generous member of the Louisville, KY, community, Mr. 
James Patterson.
  Born and raised in Louisville, Jim, as his friends call him, has 
always loved two things: his hometown, and baseball. He attended the 
University of Louisville, also my alma mater, where he starred on the 
Cardinal baseball team and graduated in 1955 with a degree in 
marketing.
  After graduating, Jim served a stint as a Captain in the United 
States Air Force and eventually returned to Louisville, which is also 
my hometown, where he embarked on a very successful business career as 
a restaurateur. Quite frankly, if you have ever eaten in Louisville, 
chances are you ate in one of Jim's restaurants. In 1959, he became a 
franchisee of Jerry's Restaurant. Ten years later he founded the Long 
John Silver's seafood restaurant chain. Under Jim's leadership, Long 
John Silver's rose to number one in the country, and today is the 
largest seafood restaurant chain in the world.
  Jim helped found Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant, Rally's Hamburgers, 
and Western Restaurants. He has also founded the companies AmeriCall 
Services, Resource America and First Phone, worked with Gulfstream 
Petroleum, and currently owns Pattco LLC, a privately held investment 
vehicle.
  Jim has always believed in sharing his success with the city he 
loves. In 1998, he founded School Choice Scholarships, a privately 
funded program that helps low-income families pay tuition for their 
elementary-aged children to attend private schools. School Choice 
Scholarships provide assistance for 650 Louisville youths, 250 of whom 
owe their scholarships to Jim personally.
  Jim has finally combined his two loves, Louisville and baseball, by 
donating a very generous sum to enable the University of Louisville to 
begin construction on a new, $10-million baseball stadium, which broke 
ground this October 7. In their gratitude, the university has named the 
facility the Jim Patterson Stadium.
  Today, I ask my colleagues in the Senate to join me in paying tribute 
to Jim Patterson for his passion, kindness, and charity. He is a 
valuable member of the Louisville community.

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