Rob Woodall: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am enjoying listening to the partnership conversation. I want to come from a…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am enjoying listening to the partnership conversation. I want to come from a different perspective, though. I want to talk about the partisanship conversation. When I was 6 years old and Senator Isakson was elected as a Georgia House member, it was 23 out of 180 members of the house, as I recall. I don't know how many there were before he got there, but being a Republican in Georgia in 1976 was not a popular thing to do. I think about all the things that we want to do together in this body. I think about folks who say, ``Oh, we can't do that. It is too hard. It is going to take too long. Let's do something today, but let's not focus on those long-term goals.'' You might think that when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, that that was a big jump in Georgia. As I recall, there were still 23 members in the Georgia House in 1980, 23 out of 180. Somebody had to be the first one to stand up. We talk about partisanship in this institution, Madam Speaker, like it is a bad thing. What I have always loved about the Senator is that he has never been embarrassed to be a Republican. He knew what he believed, and he knew why he believed it. Now, the Senator might not like the way someone else expresses their Republican values, but he led with his heart.…”