Sunday, April 20, 2008

Jack Brooks' Papers

Longtime area Congressional Representative Jack Brooks recently donated his papers to the Center for American History at the University of Texas.

"During his five decades of congressional service, Jack earned national recognition for his role in passing civil rights and voting rights legislation and as one of the most ferocious watchdogs over government spending and operations," said Brooks’s longtime friend, Gov. Dolph Briscoe. "He literally has saved American taxpayers billions of dollars through his actions in improving government efficiency and eliminating waste."
"Jack Brooks had a storied 42-year career in the United States Congress," said Larry Temple, president of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation, which facilitated the donation of the Brooks papers to the Center. "A protégé of legendary Speaker Sam Rayburn and a longtime colleague of Lyndon Johnson, Jack was always an activist and a leader in Congress who got things done."
A listing of all of the landmark legislation that Jack authored or helped pass would consume an entire yellow tablet," Temple continued. "The Center for American History—a neighbor of the LBJ Library—is the right home for these papers. We are all in the debt of Jack Brooks for his generosity in making them available."

Should be worth the trip to Austin.