III 

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 


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•SRES 229 ATS 

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 


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•SRES 229 ATS 

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; 


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•SRES 229 ATS 

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 


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•SRES 229 ATS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) has heard with profound sorrow and deep 

3 regret the announcement of the death of the Honor4 able William Thad Cochran, former Senator for the 

5 State of Mississippi; and 

6 (2) respectfully requests that the Secretary of 

7 the Senate— 

8 (A) communicate this resolution to the 

9 House of Representatives; and 

10 (B) transmit an enrolled copy of this reso11 lution to the family of the Honorable William 

12 Thad Cochran. 

Æ 


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