TANNER SAYS LATE NAUTILUS CAPTAIN ANDERSON WAS 'PRINCIPLED LEADER' AND 'MILITARY HERO'

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Tanner today honored Nautilus captain and former Congressman William R. Anderson, who died Feb. 25, with remarks in the Congressional Record. A Humphreys County native, Anderson led the United States’ first nuclear submarine, Nautilus, on a mission under the North Pole and was later elected to represent parts of middle and west Tennessee in the United States Congress.

Below are Congressman Tanner’s full remarks in the Congressional Record March 7:

Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of William R. Anderson, a well-decorated Navy Captain and former Congressman from the state of Tennessee, who died late last month at the age of 85 and will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

Anderson was a decorated World War II submarine combat veteran and in 1958 captained the Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, and a crew of 115 on a mission under the North Pole. For the feat, the first of its kind, the Nautilus submerged in the Pacific Ocean, traveled beneath the polar ice cap and resurfaced four days later in the North Atlantic. President Eisenhower awarded Captain Anderson the Legion of Merit for “foresighted planning, skilled seamanship and thorough study of the Arctic area.”

After he retired from the Navy, Anderson was elected as a Democrat to Congress from a district west of Nashville, a portion of which I now have the honor of representing in this chamber. During his tenure in Congress, from 1965-1973, he was a principled leader unafraid of speaking up for what he felt was right and questioning what he strongly felt were abuses of power by some in Washington.

Madam Speaker, I hope you and our colleagues will join me in remembering a distinguished former Member of this House of Representatives and a military hero, U.S. Navy Captain William R. Anderson; thanking him for his service to our nation; and expressing our sympathy to his family for their great loss.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy and Tennessee Army National Guard, Congressman John Tanner represents Tennessee’s 8^th district in west and middle Tennessee. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He is a founding member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714