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Thad (Thad) Cochran (R)
Web Site
Capitol: 202.224.5054
FAX: 202.224.9450
District: 601.236.1018
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Senator
Room 113 DSOB- Dirksen Senate Office Building Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20510-2402
Residence: Jackson, MS
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| Elected: 1978 Next Election: 2014 | | Spouse: Rose Clayton DOB: 12/7/1937 |
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| RM Member | Senate Subcommittee on Defense | | RM Member | Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry | | FC Member | Senate Steel Caucus | | Co-Chair | House/Senate International Education Study Group | | FC Member | Senate Hunger Caucus | | Co-Chair | Senate National Service Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Prevention Caucus | | Co-Chair | Senate National Security Working Group | | FC Member | Senate Cultural Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children | | FC Member | Congressional French Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Hazards Caucus | | Member | Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies | | Member | Senate Subcommittee on Homeland Security | | Member | Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development | | Member | Senate Committee on Appropriations | | Member | Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies | | Member | Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies | | Member | Senate Committee on Rules and Administration | | FC Member | Senate India Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition | | FC Member | Senate Afterschool Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Friends of Scotland Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Aerospace Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Manufactured Housing Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Rural Education Caucus | | FC Member | Bicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease | | FC Member | Senate Manufacturing Caucus | | FC Member | Tennessee Valley Authority Congressional Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Boating Caucus | | FC Member | Senate Community College Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Coalition on Adoption | | FC Member | Senate Rural Health Caucus | | Ex-Officio | Senate Subcommittee on Commodities, Markets, Trade, and Risk Management | | Ex-Officio | Senate Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation | | Ex-Officio | Senate Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry and Natural Resources | | Ex-Officio | Senate Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Food and Agricultural Research | | Ex-Officio | Senate Subcommittee on Livestock, Diary, Poultry, Marketing and Agriculture Security | | FC Member | Senate Caucus on WMD Terrorism | | FC Member | Senate National Guard Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Fire Services Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Farmer Cooperative Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Manufactured Housing Caucus | | FC Member | Air Force Caucus | | FC Member | Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus | | FC Member | USO Congressional Caucus |
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BioThad Cochran was born December 7, 1937, in Pontotoc, Mississippi. He is the son of William Holmes Cochran and Emma Grace Cochran, who were educators in Pontotoc, Tippah, and Hinds Counties. In 1955, Thad enrolled in the school of liberal arts at the University of Mississippi. He earned a B.A. degree with a major in psychology and a minor in political science. He was elected President of his social fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, was a company commander in the Navy ROTC, Vice President of the Student Body, and was selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, a national honorary leadership fraternity. During the summers, he worked as a life guard at Livingston Lake in Jackson. When he graduated from Ole Miss in 1959, he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and assigned to duty aboard a heavy cruiser, the USS MACON, which was homeported in Boston, Massachusetts. He served on this ship for 18 months becoming the ship’s legal officer after graduating as an honor student from the U.S. Navy School of Justice in Newport, Rhode Island. He also became qualified as Officer of the Deck, in port and underway. In the fall of 1961, Cochran enrolled in the School of Law at the University of Mississippi. While in law school, he won the Frederick Hamel Memorial Award for having the highest scholastic average in the first year class. He was selected for membership in Phi Delta Phi, honorary legal fraternity; served on the editorial board of the Mississippi Law Journal; argued before the Mississippi Supreme Court as a moot court finalist; and was elected Chairman of the Honor Council. After graduating from law school, he joined the firm of Watkins & Eager in Jackson, one of the state’s most respected law firms. He was made a partner in the firm in only two and one-half years. Cochran served as President of the Jackson Men’s Y Club, member of the Board of the Jackson Rotary Club, and member of the Board of Mississippi Opera, Inc. He organized the first Mississippi chapter of the American Field Service and served as charter President to sponsor foreign exchange programs for high school students. He was Chairman of the Legal Services program of the Jackson Junior Bar, Chairman of the Mississippi Law Institute, a continuing legal education program for Mississippi lawyers, and President of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar Association. In 1971, Cochran was named by the Jaycees as Jackson’s Young Man of the Year and as one of the Three Outstanding Young Men of the Year in Mississippi. Later, Thad Cochran became active in other political campaigns on his own. He appeared on television for the first time to endorse Fred Thomas for Sheriff of Hinds County in 1967. He was Hinds County Chairman in Brad Dye’s successful race for State Treasurer, and he wrote talking points and issue briefs for Charles Sullivan’s campaign for Governor in 1971. The Presidential campaign of 1968 marked the first time he became involved in a political campaign for a Republican candidate when he served as Executive Director of Mississippi Citizens for Nixon-Agnew. Four years later, Cochran was elected United States Congressman for the Fourth District which included twelve counties in southwest Mississippi. He was appointed to the Public Works and Transportation Committee, which had jurisdiction over economic development, transportation, and flood control. As a Member of Congress, Cochran also served on a Republican task force to study the energy crisis, and he contributed to the writing of a report that was published in book form by the House Republican Conference. He was appointed later to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Select Committee on Ethics which wrote a new ethics code for Members of Congress. After winning re-election to the House in 1974, Cochran was elected by his colleagues to represent the southern states on the House Republican Policy Committee. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives again in 1976. In both of his races for re-election, he received over 70 percent of the votes. In 1978, Cochran was elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi. He has since been re-elected five times and is currently serving his sixth term in office. Cochran currently serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. He is also the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. In the current 112th Congress, Cochran also serves as a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, as well as the Committee on Rules and Administration and the Joint Committee on the Library, which oversees the activities of the Library of Congress. Cochran’s legislative record includes the sponsorship of the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, the Campaign Finance Reform Act, as well as key provisions of several farm bills. Cochran has also written legislation supporting education programs such as teacher training, vocational education, libraries, and educational television. He served as a member of the National Education Goals Panel. Cochran authored the Mississippi Wilderness Act which is the first federal legislation ever passed for the perpetual protection of lands in the State of Mississippi. He also helped establish national wildlife refuges as a member of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, and he authored the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Cochran is a member of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. He and his wife, Rose, have two children and three grandchildren.
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