Special Collections Department

Thomas R. Carper
Congressional
Papers

1979 - 1993 (bulk dates 1982 - 1992)

Manuscript Collection Number: 399
Accessioned: Gift of Thomas R. Carper, 1992, 1998-1999
Extent: 84 linear ft. and oversize material
Content: Legislation, correspondence, reports, documents and publications, memoranda, speeches, photographs, audio-visual material, newsletters, news clippings, and ephemera.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: November 1997 - December 1999 by Rebecca J. Altermatt with assistance from Rob Costello; edited by L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin.

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Thomas R. Carper (1947- ) served the state of Delaware as its member-at-large in the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms: he was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983 - January 3, 1993). Carper served on the committees of Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries, with memberships on several subcommittees. Carper was elected with the "budget conscious class of 1982" and was a fiscal conservative in his legislative efforts. Carper worked on the bailout plan for the savings and loan industry, correctly predicting the enormity of the problem. The Thomas R. Carper Congressional Papers reflect issues on banking, environmental and coastal concerns, fishing and tourism, and many other topics of interest to Delawareans in the 1980s. In addition to correspondence, memoranda, and office files, the collection includes reports, documents, and memorabilia from Carper's congressional career.