[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE LATE SENATOR THOMAS J. DODD

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Thomas J. Dodd, 
the former Senator of the great State of Connecticut. As his son, my 
senior Senator, Chris Dodd, said earlier, Thomas Dodd would have turned 
100 years old today. He was a public servant of the highest order, 
working in an astounding number of capacities throughout his life. 
After graduating from Yale Law School, he became a special agent with 
the FBI, and eventually became an assistant for five Attorney Generals 
of the United States. In this capacity, Thomas Dodd played a key role 
in establishing the first civil rights division of the Justice 
Department.
  Upon leaving the Justice Department, Senator Dodd became the U.S. 
chief counsel to prosecute Axis crimes at Nuremberg and handled the 
day-to-day strategies for our Nation's prosecution team. In recognition 
of his work, Senator Dodd received a Presidential Citation, the U.S. 
Medal of Freedom, and the Czechoslovakian Order of the White Lion.
  I admire Senator Dodd for his bravery at Nuremberg. It was not an 
easy job. He spent over a year away from his family, but he did it 
because he believed the United States had a responsibility to show the 
world its resounding dedication to a fair legal process and the 
delivery of justice to the Nazi war criminals.
  Senator Dodd's political career began in 1952 when he was elected 
from the First District of Connecticut in the House of Representatives. 
He won election to the Senate in 1958, serving as a leader on the 
Foreign Relations Committee throughout his tenure. Senator Dodd 
wholeheartedly opposed Soviet communism, and often stood as a maverick 
within the Democratic Party on foreign policy.
  Thomas Dodd was an inspiration to me. He was a brilliant orator, and 
I would often find my way to see him speak when he would visit the New 
Haven area. He was a man who stood by his principles, oftentimes in the 
face of fierce opposition. Partisanship and politics always took a 
backseat to doing what was in the best interest of America.
  Thomas Dodd never refrained from asking the tough questions, and I 
applaud him for his independence and the example he set as a 
distinguished Senator from my home State of Connecticut, a proud legacy 
of public service, which his son Chris has carried on.

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