MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Formby, King, Chaney

House Concurrent Resolution 24

(As Adopted by House and Senate)

 

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING UNITED STATES SENATOR TRENT LOTT ON HIS ELECTION AS SENATE MAJORITY LEADER. 

WHEREAS, on June 12, 1996, United States Senator Trent Lott made history for the State of Mississippi by being the first native Mississippian ever elected to hold the Senate's top leadership position, Senate Majority Leader; and

WHEREAS, the son of a schoolteacher and a sharecropper farmer who later became a shipyard worker, Senator Lott was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and raised in Pascagoula; and

WHEREAS, Senator Lott was educated at the University of Mississippi, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration degree in 1963 and his law degree in 1967; and

WHEREAS, in the following year, the distinguished career in public service of Senator Lott began when he went to work as the administrative assistant to his predecessor, Congressman William M. Colmer; and

WHEREAS, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1972, Senator Lott was reelected seven times before first being elected to the United States Senate in 1988; and

WHEREAS, Senator Lott, widely respected by his colleagues for his wisdom, congeniality and legislative and leadership abilities, was chosen for several high ranking Republican leadership positions while in the House, including his being elected Chairman of the House Republican Research Committee in 1979; and

WHEREAS, in 1980, Senator Lott brought great pride to Mississippi and her Southern sister states when he became the first Southerner elected to serve as Republican Whip, a post to which he was reelected on three occasions; and

WHEREAS, after his election to the Senate, Senator Lott served as Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference, and in 1995, when he was named Senate Majority Whip, Senator Lott became the first person to be elected to the position of Whip in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate; and

WHEREAS, today, Senator Lott tirelessly serves on the Finance Committee, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and the Rules Committee; and

WHEREAS, always zealously protecting Mississippi's interests in Washington while seeking the best for the nation, Senator Lott has earned the trust and respect of his constituency in addition to that of his colleagues, as was evidenced in 1995 by the 75 percent positive job performance rating he received from Mississippians, the second highest constituent ranking in the Senate; and

WHEREAS, devoted to his family, Senator Lott and his lovely wife, Tricia Thompson Lott, are the proud parents of two grown children, Chet and Tyler; and

WHEREAS, the members of the Legislature wish to express sincere appreciation and gratitude to Senator Lott, an exemplary statesman, for the honor he has brought upon the great State of Mississippi and for all that he has accomplished on behalf of all Mississippians and fellow countrymen:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate our friend and leader, Senator Trent Lott, on his election as Majority Leader of the United States Senate and further, express our sincere appreciation for his outstanding, dedicated service to the people of Mississippi and our entire country through his exceptional leadership in the United States Congress.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Senator Trent Lott and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.