[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[HOU]
[Page 12115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOHN SEIGENTHALER

  (Mr. COOPER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, America lost a giant this week. John 
Seigenthaler, the longtime editor of the Nashville Tennesseean, was 
buried on Monday, but his life transcended Nashville, Tennessee, and 
became literally a part of American history.
  Born to humble beginnings in Nashville, Tennessee, he was first a 
star reporter, then a confidant of Bobby Kennedy, then a defender of 
the Freedom Riders, then the crusading editor of a Pulitzer Prize-
winning Southern newspaper, then founding editor of USA Today, and then 
the founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.
  John Seigenthaler had the Irish gift for friendship and words. He 
epitomized the best of journalism, and he was always on the right side 
of history because he helped everyone, including politicians, listen to 
the better angels of their nature.
  Because of John Seigenthaler's leadership, Nashville is one of the 
most dynamic and welcoming cities in the world today.
  Over 4,000 people from Nashville and around the country attended his 
visitation. The Catholic Church was packed for his funeral. It was 
broadcast on local television.
  Mr. Speaker, a truly great American has died and will never be 
replaced.

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