[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 229 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 229
Relative to the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran, former
United States Senator for the State of Mississippi.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 4, 2019
Mr. Wicker (for himself and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) submitted the following
resolution; which was considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Relative to the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran, former
United States Senator for the State of Mississippi.
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, in
1937;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran graduated from Byram High School in
Hinds County, Mississippi, as valedictorian, an Eagle Scout, a member of
4-H, and a student athlete;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran studied at the University of
Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi;
Whereas, while a student at the University of Mississippi, the Honorable William
Thad Cochran was president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, vice president
of the student body, company commander in the Navy Reserve Officers'
Training Corps, and head cheerleader;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was commissioned an Ensign in the
United States Naval Reserve, served aboard the USS MACON from 1959 to
1961, served on staff of the Commandant of the Eighth Naval District in
New Orleans, Louisiana, taught military law and naval orientation at the
Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1962 to 1964,
and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the United States Naval
Reserve;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran studied at the University of
Mississippi School of Law in Oxford, Mississippi, and at Trinity
College, University of Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland, on a Rotary
Foundation Graduate Fellowship;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran joined the law firm of Watkins &
Eager in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, was made a partner at that firm
in less than 3 years, and served as chairman of the Mississippi Law
Institute, lawyers' chairman for the Heart Fund and United Givers Fund,
president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar
Association, a board member of the Jackson Rotary Club, and chairman of
the Legal Services program of the Jackson Junior Bar;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was elected to the House of
Representatives to represent the Fourth District of Mississippi in 1972,
and was reelected in 1974 and 1976;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was elected to the Senate in 1978,
becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide
election in the State of Mississippi, and was reelected in 1984, 1990,
1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014, with a total period of service lasting from
December 27, 1978, to April 1, 2018;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chair of the Senate
Republican Conference from 1991 to 1997;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chairman of the Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate from 2003 to 2005;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chairman of the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate from 2005 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2018;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran championed education programs,
including programs to increase educational achievement among
disadvantaged children, particularly in rural areas, to build the
research capabilities of universities, and to support Historically Black
Colleges and Universities;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran worked to strengthen the Armed Forces
by supporting shipbuilding programs for the Navy, the Marine Corps, the
Coast Guard, and other critical Federal organizations and the military
bases and installations in the State of Mississippi and across the
United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was the chief sponsor of the National
Missile Defense Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-38; 113 Stat. 205), which
made the United States exponentially safer by creating the missile
defense system used by the United States as of June 2019;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was a leader in agriculture and
worked to promote United States agricultural innovation around the world
through the development of the Cochran Fellowship Program of the
Department of Agriculture, which trains fellows from middle-income
countries to strengthen and enhance trade linkages between the countries
of the fellows and agricultural interests in the United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran led the effort to provide critical
Federal assistance to the State of Mississippi and other Gulf Coast
States devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the worst natural
disaster in the history of the United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was a devoted father, grandfather,
and husband;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was awarded honorary degrees from
Kentucky Wesleyan College, Mississippi College, Blue Mountain College,
the University of Richmond, Belhaven University, and Tougaloo College;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was recognized as the tenth-longest
serving Senator in the history of the United States;
Whereas the service of the Honorable William Thad Cochran on behalf of the
people of the State of Mississippi and all people of the United States
earned the Honorable William Thad Cochran the respect and devotion of
colleagues and the title ``the Quiet Persuader''; and
Whereas the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran has deprived the State
of Mississippi and the United States of one of the most distinguished
statesmen: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the
announcement of the death of the Honorable William Thad
Cochran, former Senator for the State of Mississippi; and
(2) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the
Senate--
(A) communicate this resolution to the House of
Representatives; and
(B) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to
the family of the Honorable William Thad Cochran.
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