President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to Yad Vashem to honor the victims of the holocaust, Tuesday, May 23, 2017, in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Nearly a dozen U.S. Senators and Representatives have sent a bill to the president's desk that would name Nashville's federal courthouse after former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson.
Thompson, who graduated from Vanderbilt University and served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Nashville, stepped into the national spotlight in 1973 when then-Sen. Howard Baker named him as minority counsel during the Watergate hearings.
Tennessee elected Thompson as one of its U.S. Senators in 1994. He passed away on Nov. 1, 2015.
"I can think of no one else who is more appropriate to name the new Nashville federal courthouse in honor of than Fred," said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. "I'm glad the House and Senate passed this legislation, and I urge the president to sign it without delay."
Thompson was as well known for his Hollywood roles as for his political ones. He appeared in more than 20 movies, including Die Hard 2 and The Hunt for Red October, and appeared on Law & Order in 142 episodes.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 8/24/16. Senator Bob Corker speaks during the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. U.S. Sen. Bob Corker called Thompson "one of a kind."
"He served the people of Tennessee and our country with great distinction, and through his many different roles in public life, Fred never forgot where he came from," Corker said.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, along with many of his colleagues, similarly urged U.S. President Donald Trump to sign the bill.
"Senator Fred Thompson gave many years of dedicated service to Tennessee and this great nation," Fleischmann said in a news release. "I am very pleased the Senate has passed the legislation naming a Federal Courthouse after him, and I look forward to President Trump signing the bill into law."