The following article was provided by Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

As a Pike, a community leader, and a public servant, United States Congressman Pete Sessions has been selected by Pi Kappa Alpha as the 2007 Judge Elbert P. Tuttle Distinguished Achievement Award recipient.

Pete Sessions entered the Greek system in 1976, joining the Alpha Omicron chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha as a result of its unparalleled academic, community and leadership development opportunities for men at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. In addition to serving as Rush Co-Chairman, Pete Sessions joined his fraternity brothers in making Alpha Omicron the top chapter on campus.

After graduating from Southwestern University in 1978, Congressman Sessions worked for then-Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for 16 years, serving at the internationally renowned Bell Labs in New Jersey and as District Manager for Marketing in Dallas. As a businessman, he served as Chairman of the Northeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Thanks to his private sector experience, Congressman Sessions understands the need to fight bureaucracy and to utilize market-driven solutions to solve problems effectively in our communities and in government. First elected to Congress in 1996, Congressman Sessions was re-elected to the House for a sixth-term in 2006, representing Texas’ Thirty-Second Congressional District.

In 2007, Congressman Sessions began his ninth year as a member of the House Rules Committee, which serves as the gatekeeper for legislation that will be considered by the House of Representatives. House Republican Leadership selected him to serve on this committee based on his commitment to conservative principles, the United States military, and the free enterprise system.

Pete Sessions is a leader in Congress on issues affecting fraternities and sororities across America. Since 2004, Congressman Sessions has served as Co-Chair of the Congressional Fraternal Caucus, which was established to encourage dialogue and legislative solutions to ensure that fraternities and sororities continue to have a vibrant presence on college campuses throughout the country.

More specifically, the Caucus supports initiatives to:

• Reform federal tax law to encourage charitable contributions to sustain not-for-profit student housing.
• Improve student safety and housing.
• Protect freedom of association rights of students.
• Fight hazing and substance abuse on campus.
• Support improved funding for student loans and other financial aid.
• Educate Congress and the executive branch about the key role fraternities and sororities play in student life.

With over 150 Greek members in Congress, the Greek system has long-served as valuable training grounds for America’s future leaders. Consequently, the Caucus works to ensure that fraternities and sororities can continue to provide invaluable opportunities to students, particularly in the areas of personal and professional development, charitable activities, and the development of leadership skills.

Congressman Sessions’ work has earned him accolades locally and nationally. He is one of only three Members of Congress to have ever received the North American Interfraternity Conference Silver Medal. Congressman Sessions has also received the North American Interfraternity Conference Award of Distinction.

He is a ten-time recipient of the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Other awards include the Medal of Honor Award from U.S. Oncology, the Wireless Achievement Award from The Wireless Foundation, and the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Congressman Sessions has also received an Honorary Doctorate from Dallas Baptist University.

Congressman Sessions continues to be active in his community, where he is an honorary East Dallas Rotarian and an Adopt-A-Shoreline Team Leader volunteer in the effort to maintain and conserve White Rock Lake in Dallas. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Southwestern University and as Advisor to the President of Special Olympics Texas. Congressman Sessions is also a member of the Executive Board of the Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

The Pi Kappa Alpha Distinguished Achievement Award is named in honor of the great Judge Elbert P. Tuttle. Judge Tuttle, a 1917 initiate of Beta Theta Chapter at Cornell, served on the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals from 1954 until his death in 1996. He’s remembered as a model attorney and judge, one who represented the absolute best in the profession. Judge Tuttle was tremendously active in civil rights cases, both as a lawyer and a judge and, along with other members of the Fifth Circuit was instrumental in bringing effective desegregation to the South.

Elbert Tuttle was a most extraordinary man. He lived not one, but really four full lives, setting a standard of excellence in each that few, even separately, could ever match. Distinguished lawyer, journalist, decorated military leader, and courageous jurist, he was a "citizen" in the classical sense of the term. Judge Tuttle was a man of tremendous accomplishments, yet he was quiet, humble, even slightly self-effacing. Despite the tumultuous period in which he lived and worked, Judge Tuttle always seemed to take life's challenges with a slightly wry wit and not very much visible worry or angst.

For his extraordinary record of adherence to principle in the face of adversity, Judge Tuttle was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Carter in 1981 and the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award in 1989, and in 1990, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals building in Atlanta was renamed in his honor.