Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to come and to congratulate the chair, my colleague, Senator Warnock, and my colleague, Nikema Williams, for the naming of the VA Medical Center of Atlanta the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Senator Cleland and I were friends. He was my friend, he was my mentor, and he was truly an inspiration. I had the opportunity to know him. He served as secretary of state for the State of Georgia for 12 years. During that time, I was in the Georgia General Assembly. When he was elected to the United States Senate in 1996, I had the occasion to be a colleague with him as I was a Member of the House of Representatives. He truly represented and embodied what it meant to be a veteran: service and sacrifice. He was a triple amputee because of his wounds in Vietnam as a veteran and, of course, he was appointed by President Carter to head the VA. Of course, he served as the head of the American Battle Monuments Commission and I, as a member of the Military Construction/Veterans' Affairs Committee, had to work with him in making sure that these monuments were well-funded and well-maintained. He did a tremendous job. Mr. Speaker, I had to come and speak because he was my friend, and he was my colleague and my inspiration. It is very, very fitting that this facility should be named for him because of his legacy.…”