Tom Lewis

Thomas F. Lewis (1924-1998) was a Republican congressman who represented Florida's 12th congressional district from 1983 to 1993 and the 16th district from 1993 to 1995. He served six terms before retiring after the 1994 election cycle. Along with Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), Lewis received documents from private consultant Henry "Skip" Clements in October 1993 and applied congressional pressure that contributed to the Department of Justice reopening its inquiry into The Finders case.¹²

Background

Lewis was born in 1924. His prior career included seventeen years as an executive at Pratt & Whitney aircraft, service as a B-25 gunner in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, and service in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War where he attained the rank of master sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1954. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1972 to 1980, the Florida State Senate from 1980 to 1982, and as mayor of North Palm Beach from 1964 to 1971.¹

He represented the Stuart, Florida area, where Clements was based, which accounts for how Clements made contact with his office.

Role in the Finders Reinvestigation

After receiving Clements's materials in October 1993, Lewis made public statements questioning whether the government had protected The Finders at the expense of the children: "Could our own government have something to do with this Finders organization and turned their backs on these children? That's what all the evidence points to." This quote appeared in U.S. News & World Report's December 27, 1993 coverage of the case.²

Lewis introduced a resolution requiring the U.S. Customs Service to reinstate its Child Pornography and Protection Unit, citing data that child abuse arrests and convictions had fallen by half since the unit was dismantled and that staff time devoted to such cases had fallen to one-quarter of previous levels. This resolution was a direct legislative response to the Finders case and to what Lewis characterized as systematic deprioritization of child exploitation investigations. The resolution's outcome in the 103rd Congress has not been established in accessible records.²

No formal congressional hearing transcripts, letters to the DOJ, or floor statements on the Finders specifically have been located in accessible online records beyond Lewis's public statements to journalists. He retired in 1994 and there is no indication he continued pursuing the matter after the DOJ inquiry closed.¹