[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14480]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING SENATOR CRAIG THOMAS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, a visitor to the rodeo in Cheyenne, 
WY, just last summer would have seen a strong, confident, 73-year-old 
man holding the reins under a cowboy hat riding past the grandstand 
with a smile. A few weeks earlier, visitors to rustic Cody, WY, would 
have seen the same tough cowboy riding down Sheridan Avenue in the Cody 
Stampede Parade. Just a few days ago, a tourist here in Washington, 
getting an early start on the monuments, could have seen Craig Lyle 
Thomas racing off 395 near the 14th Street Bridge in another kind of 
Mustang on his way to the Capitol for a hard day's work.
  In recent years, Craig Thomas led an effort here in the Senate to 
honor the deeds and the spirit of the American cowboy, and his very 
full American life came to a sad end last night. We, his friends and 
colleagues, remember him as the modern-day embodiment of the cowboy 
ideals he celebrated and loved.
  He was raised on a ranch just outside Cody, the rodeo capital of the 
world, in the Big Horn Basin, a windy town in the northwest corner of 
the Cowboy State. He grew up in the shadow of Heart Mountain to the 
north and Carter Mountain to the south and under the memory of Cody's 
founder, William Frederick Cody, known to history and to schoolchildren 
from Butte to Boston as Buffalo Bill.
  He was a humble man with an adventurous spirit from a lonely corner 
of the country who put his family, his country, and his State above all 
else. He served as a marine from 1955 to 1959, retiring as a captain. 
He married a woman with a generous heart. My wife Elaine is a good 
friend of Susan's, and one of the joys of Elaine's time in the last few 
years was being invited out to Susan's school to speak to her students.
  Craig was the proud father of four children--Lexie, Patrick, Gregg, 
and Peter--who today mourn their father's death.
  Craig was as much at home on horseback, roping, and ranching, as he 
was in a committee hearing room. How many times he must have daydreamed 
about being back home, out of a suit, with a rope in his hand and a 
steer in his sights.
  Craig had served in public office 22 years when he fell ill at a 
church service with Susan last November in Casper. Shortly after that, 
the people of Wyoming elected him to his third term in the Senate, with 
70 percent of the vote. A born fighter, Craig's doctors said he would 
be back here in January. He beat their predictions by a month. He was 
here in December. Craig suffered quietly over the last half year, as 
all of us hoped for the best. It wasn't to be.
  Every year, Craig pressed for a day that would memorialize the iconic 
status of the cowboy in American history, a day that honored their 
courage, hard work, honesty, and grit. I can think of no better way of 
honoring that spirit than by honoring this man who embodied it to the 
fullest. By his devotion to family, country, constituents, and friends, 
Craig Lyle Thomas showed us what it means to be an American. He 
embodied the best ideals of a Wyoming cowboy and made the Senate and 
those who had the privilege of knowing him far better for it.
  We mourn with Susan, Craig's children, and Craig's staff here in the 
Senate. We honor them today, too, for their model of professionalism 
and caring concern they have shown over the last difficult months. We 
will miss Craig terribly, his calm toughness, his drive, and his cowboy 
spirit, but we are consoled by the thought that he will ride again, 
restored in body and flashing a smile as he goes.

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