[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO COBB COUNTY, GA

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                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 9, 1997

  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, as we in Congress continue to search for ways 
to bring the Federal budget into balance and repay the mountain of debt 
that resulted from years of reckless Washington spending, I am pleased 
to have the opportunity to commend my home county for establishing a 
record of sound fiscal policy that is the envy of local governments all 
across America.
  Cobb County, GA, has been awarded a coveted triple-triple A bond 
rating. To put this amendment in perspective, only 10 counties out of 
3,033 in the entire Nation have managed their finances successfully 
enough to earn this coveted bond rating.
  Cobb owes its success to several factors. Chief among them are local 
officials who are willing to make the hard choices necessary to balance 
spending with revenues, and residents who continue to work hard and pay 
taxes. By cutting government costs and financing projects with capital 
rather than going into debt, the Cobb County Commission has helped to 
win Cobb a place among the Nation's elite with regard to fiscal 
soundness.
  Cobb County is a great place to live and work because its government 
and its citizens realize that a smaller and more efficient government 
is better and that under no circumstances do you spend money you can't 
repay. The Federal Government would be well advised to learn from this 
example.

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