H. Res. 71 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
February 12, 2009. 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell was born on October 31, 1918, 
in Americus, Georgia, to Thelma Leola Pilcher and Adlai 
Cleveland Bell, a cotton farmer; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell died on January, 5, 2009, at 
Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, after enduring 
long-term kidney disease and a battle with pancreatic 
cancer; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell was raised in the Shiloh com-
munity outside of Americus until his family moved into 
Americus to establish a tire retail store; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell proved himself a superior stu-
dent in the Americus public schools and later at Georgia 
Southwestern College also in Americus; 
Whereas in 1942, Griffin Boyette Bell was drafted into the 
Army, where he served in the Quatermaster Corps and 
Transportation Corps; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell, while stationed at Fort Lee, 
Virginia, met and married Mary Powell, who also had 
family ties in Americus, Georgia, and they later had one 
son, Griffin Jr; 
Whereas in 1946, Griffin Boyette Bell, after being discharged 
from active duty in the Army with the rank of Major, en-
•HRES 71 EH 
rolled in the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer 
University in Macon, Georgia; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell worked at the firm Anderson, 
Anderson, and Walker while in law school; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell, while still a law student, 
passed the Georgia bar examination and was appointed 
city attorney of Warner Robins, Georgia; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell, after graduating Mercer Uni-
versity law school with honors in 1948, practiced law in 
Savannah, Georgia, and Rome, Georgia; 
Whereas in 1953, Griffin Boyette Bell accepted an offer to 
join the Atlanta law firm of Spalding Sibley Troutman 
and Kelley, later renamed King and Spalding; 
Whereas in 1958, Griffin Boyette Bell was appointed chief of 
staff to Governor Ernest Vandiver and while serving in 
that capacity was influential in organizing the Sibley 
Commission, which mapped Georgia’s approach to school 
desegregation; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell, while as chief of staff to Gov-
ernor Ernest Vandiver, also helped moderate State policy 
concerning civil rights and was instrumental in keeping 
Georgia’s schools open during that turbulent period; 
Whereas in 1961, Griffin Boyette Bell was appointed by 
President Kennedy to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals where he served for 14 years and often played an 
instrumental role in mediating disputes during the peak 
of the United States Civil Rights Movement; 
Whereas in 1976, President Jimmy Carter nominated Griffin 
Boyette Bell to be the 72nd Attorney General of the 
United States and he was confirmed to that position on 
January 25, 1977;
•HRES 71 EH 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell brought independence and pro-
fessionalism to the Department of Justice during his ten-
ure as Attorney General by daily posting of his third- 
party contacts, including meetings and calls with the 
White House, Members of Congress, or other non-Justice 
Department individuals; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell in his capacity as Attorney 
General, advised the Carter administration and helped to 
increase the number of women and minorities serving on 
the Federal bench by recruiting Wade McCree, an Afri-
can-American Eighth Circuit judge, to serve as Solicitor 
General of the United States and Drew S. Days III, an 
African-American lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense 
Fund, to head the Civil Rights Division of the Depart-
ment of Justice; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell also led negotiations to divide 
his former appellate court, the 5th Circuit spanning from 
Georgia to Texas, into two courts: a new 5th Circuit 
based in New Orleans and an 11th Circuit based in At-
lanta; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell, upon resignation as Attorney 
General in August 1979, was appointed by President 
Carter as the Special Ambassador to the Helsinki Con-
vention; 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell served as a member of the Sec-
retary of State’s Advisory Committee on South Africa 
from 1985 to 1987; 
Whereas in 1989, Griffin Boyette Bell was appointed Vice 
Chairman of President George H. W. Bush’s Commission 
on Federal Ethics Law Reform;
•HRES 71 EH 
Whereas Griffin Boyette Bell served as counsel to President 
George H. W. Bush during the Iran Contra Affair inves-
tigation; 
Whereas in September of 2004, Griffin Boyette Bell was ap-
pointed the Chief Judge of the United States Court of 
Military Commission Review; and 
Whereas during Griffin Boyette Bell’s career as a lawyer, he 
specialized in corporate internal investigations, and many 
that were high profile, including E.F. Hutton following 
Federal indictments for its cash management practices, 
Exxon Valdez after an oil spill in Alaska, and Procter 
and Gamble after rumors circulated that the company’s 
moon-and-stars logo was a satanic symbol: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) acknowledges the lifelong service of Griffin 
Boyette Bell to the State of Georgia and the United 
States as a legal icon; and 
(2) commends Griffin Boyette Bell for his tenure as 
Attorney General of the United States and his commit-
ment to the American Civil Rights Movement. 
Attest: 
Clerk.