[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15650]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING JUDGE TODD J. CAMPBELL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 1, 2016

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Judge Todd J. 
Campbell on his retirement from the federal bench.
  A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee 
College of Law, Judge Campbell started his legal career in private 
practice. After the 1992 election, he joined President-elect Bill 
Clinton's transition team and later became counsel to Vice President Al 
Gore.
  In 1995, President Clinton nominated Judge Campbell to fill a vacant 
seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. 
Judge Campbell was confirmed the same year by the U.S. Senate, becoming 
one of America's youngest federal judges in modern times. He eventually 
was elevated to chief judge, serving many years in that role.
  Judge Campbell has led a distinguished career on the federal bench, 
and he is a pillar of our community. For example, he has led more than 
100 naturalization ceremonies, often relating his own family 
immigration history to Middle Tennessee's newest citizens.
  Federal Public Defender Henry Martin best captured Judge Campbell in 
a recent letter to the editor published in The Tennessean newspaper:

       Judge Todd Campbell's announced retirement as a United 
     States District Judge last week was sad news to anyone 
     interested in justice in this community.
       I am confident that every lawyer and litigant experienced 
     what I saw there for 20-plus years: an exceedingly well-
     prepared judge who favored neither side, but treated all who 
     appeared before him with respect, courtesy and usually a 
     smile. I always warned lawyers about to appear in Judge 
     Campbell's court for the first time to be prepared: ``he will 
     have read every case you cited, that your adversary cited and 
     ask you about cases you missed that he had found. Then he 
     would listen.''
       The challenge of determining what the law is in a 
     particular situation and then applying it fairly to complex 
     facts, where the outcome has a life-changing impact on the 
     people in the case is not only intellectually demanding, but 
     emotionally and physically exhausting. It can also be lonely 
     and thankless work And yet, Judge Campbell always took the 
     time to thank the lawyers who took indigent defense 
     appointments and was quick to proclaim how important their 
     work was to the preservation of constitutional liberties.
       The founders of this country knew that the viability of a 
     society operating under the rule of law depended on the 
     selection of judges who had the intellect to decipher the 
     law, the common sense to shape it to fit human behavior and 
     the courage and integrity to decide controversial issues 
     regardless of popular sentiment.
       For better than 20 years Judge Campbell gave exactly that 
     to this community. We are the better for that service and owe 
     him our utmost gratitude.
       Henry A. Martin, Federal Public Defender, Nashville 37203.

  Judge Campbell has dedicated himself to the federal bench every day 
he has served. I want to thank Judge Campbell, his wife, Margaret, and 
their children, Seth and Holt. Judge Campbell represents the very best 
of our judicial traditions, and I thank him for his long and patriotic 
service.

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