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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 267 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 267

 Honoring the life of renowned painter and writer Tom Lea on the 100th 
    anniversary of his birth and commending the City of El Paso for 
              recognizing July 2007 as ``Tom Lea Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2007

 Mrs. Hutchison (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Bingaman) submitted 
      the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Honoring the life of renowned painter and writer Tom Lea on the 100th 
    anniversary of his birth and commending the City of El Paso for 
              recognizing July 2007 as ``Tom Lea Month''.

Whereas Tom Lea was born on July 11, 1907 in El Paso, Texas;
Whereas Tom Lea attended El Paso public schools before continuing his education 
        at the Art Institute of Chicago and working as an apprentice to muralist 
        John Warner Norton;
Whereas Tom Lea painted Texas Centennial murals at the Dallas State Fairgrounds 
        Hall of State in 1936;
Whereas Tom Lea won many commissions for murals from the Section of Fine Arts of 
        the Department of the Treasury, including commissions for ``The 
        Nesters'' at the Benjamin Franklin Post Office in Washington, D.C.; 
        ``Pass of the North'' at the Federal Courthouse in El Paso, Texas; 
        ``Stampede'' at the Post Office in Odessa, Texas; ``Comancheros'' at the 
        Post Office in Seymour, Texas; and ``Back Home, April 1865'' at the Post 
        Office in Pleasant Hill, Missouri;
Whereas Tom Lea was an accredited World War II artist correspondent for Life 
        magazine who traveled over 100,000 miles with United States military 
        forces and reported from places such as the North Atlantic, China, and 
        on board the Hornet in the South Pacific;
Whereas Tom Lea landed with the First Marines at Peleliu;
Whereas many of the war paintings of Tom Lea are displayed at the United States 
        Army Center for Military History in Washington, D.C. and others have 
        been loaned to exhibitions worldwide;
Whereas Texas A&M University Press plans to publish the war diaries of Tom Lea 
        in 2008;
Whereas Tom Lea wrote and illustrated 4 novels and 2 nonfiction works, including 
        The Brave Bulls (1948) and The Wonderful Country (1952), both of which 
        were adapted as screenplays for motion pictures, and a 2-volume 
        annotated history of the King Ranch;
Whereas Tom Lea excelled at painting portraits for public buildings in 
        Washington, D.C. and at capturing the likenesses of individuals as 
        diverse as Sam Rayburn, Benito Juarez, Claire Chennault, Madame Chiang 
        Kai-shek, and the bullfighter Manolete;
Whereas Tom Lea was honored with numerous awards, including the Navy 
        Distinguished Public Service Award, the United States Marine Corps' 
        Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award, and the National Cowboy and Western 
        Heritage Museum's Great Westerners Award;
Whereas the paintings of Tom Lea hang in the Oval Office of the White House, the 
        Smithsonian American Art Museum, the United States Army Center for 
        Military History, the Dallas Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of Art, 
        the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M University, and the 
        University of Texas at Austin;
Whereas Tom Lea enjoyed living on the east side of Mount Franklin in El Paso 
        because it was the ``side to see the day that is coming, not the side to 
        see the day that is gone''; and
Whereas Tom Lea lived on the east side of Mount Franklin with his wife, Sarah, 
        until he died on January 29, 2001: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) honors the life and accomplishments of Tom Lea on the 
        100th anniversary of his birth; and
            (2) commends the City of El Paso, Texas for recognizing 
        July 2007 as ``Tom Lea Month''.
                                 <all>
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