Additional Statements - Tribute to Dave Thomas

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

TRIBUTE TO DAVE THOMAS

·    Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Dave Thomas—a man who was known by many and loved by all. Dave was a great American, who launched an extremely successful career by opening his first Wendy's restaurant in my home State of Ohio in Columbus. He passed away in January 2002, at the age of 69.

    Earlier this year, along with several of our colleagues, Senator Levin and I introduced—and the Senate accepted by unanimous consent—a resolution to honor Dave Thomas. And today, President George W. Bush is awarding Dave Thomas the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime of philanthropy and service to his fellow man. While this award is being given to Dave posthumously, his tremendous spirit continues to be felt in Ohio and across our Nation.

    Although he faced incredible challenges as a child, Dave committed himself to success through a simple life philosophy: "work hard and be honest." Dave grew up in a family that was constantly on the move, his father always looking for steady work. Getting a start in the restaurant business at the young age of 12, Dave worked hard to help his struggling family while going to school at the same time. However, school wasn't easy for Dave Thomas. The constant moving landed him in 12 schools in 10 years. Dave dropped out of the 10th grade because it interfered with his work. He did, however, eventually earn his GED as an adult in 1993, a GED from Coconut Creek High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

    In 1953, Dave had a job working for Phil Clauss at one of his Hobby House restaurants in Fort Wayne, IN, but Dave's father decided to move the family again. Dave refused to leave his job and stayed at a YMCA, without the comforts of home or his loved ones. Soon after, Thomas served in the Korean war as a cook. When he came back, Phil Clauss promoted him to be an assistant manager of his newest Hobby House restaurant. It was then that Dave met COL Harland Sanders, who had stopped by the restaurant one day to promote his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.

    Clauss acquired four in Columbus, but they didn't fare well, so he recruited Thomas to turn them around in exchange for 45 percent ownership. Not surprisingly, Dave succeeded. By 1968, Dave sold his interest back to KFC for $1 million. The capital that Dave collected from the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants allowed him to open up his own hamburger restaurant in Columbus—and the rest is history.

    Dave Thomas built his successful restaurant dynasty upon his sound and strong moral beliefs. However, his corporate achievements take a distant second place to his philanthropic contributions—especially to the cause of adopted children. He was given up for adoption as an infant, and his adoptive mother died when he was only 5 years old. But it was a sense of family—of belonging to a group of people who cared for him—that got Dave through his early life adversity. Dave Thomas never forgot the benefits his adopted life gave him. And so later, he committed his life to provide the same opportunities for others.

    Dave contributed millions of dollars to hospitals and charitable organizations. He founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992 and the profits from his books go directly to the Foundation. Dave also established the Dave and Lorraine Thomas Clinical Laboratories at Columbus' Children's Hospital.

    He believed in philanthropy with a personal touch, whether it be his own letter-writing campaign to CEOs of the Fortune 1000 companies to ask them to make adoption benefits available to employees, or meeting with lawmakers to push for important adoption legislation. Dave truly believed that giving back to his community was of paramount importance, and I commend him for that.

    We shared our interest in finding safe, loving, and permanent homes for thousands of at-risk children in this country. I remember Dave to be a kind and genuine person who remarked that his greatest heroes were the children and parents who had come together as families. I had the opportunity to work with Dave Thomas in the development of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. As a national advocate for adoption rights, he played a key role in helping us get the bill passed and signed into law. At the bill's signing ceremony in 1997, then-President and First Lady Clinton praised Dave's work and his tireless commitment to children.

    In January 2002, President Bush praised Dave's adoption work at the signing ceremony of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families law, which Senator Rockefeller and I introduced in the fall of 2001. President Bush was quite right when he said: "Dave's vision of America was one in which all children would be a part of a loving family, so they could grow into healthy and happy and successful adults. The bill I'm [signing] will bring us closer to his vision." I couldn't agree more.

    Indeed, Dave Thomas was a successful businessman who used his good fortune to help those in need. By helping so many children at risk, he testified to his true compassion and dedication to humanity. As Chesterton once said: "Great men take up great space even when they are gone." Dave Thomas will continue to take up great space on this Earth—not just in buildings or foundations but in lives touched and lives changed. He will continue to live on through his great work and his deep compassion and commitment to bringing families together. We will remember Dave Thomas always.·