[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 140 (Friday, October 28, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12042-S12043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO EARL SMITH

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise in morning business to pay tribute 
to a great Georgian, a great American, a personal friend of mine, and a 
great citizen of Cobb County. In about 11 days our county will come 
together to pay tribute to this great individual and I wanted today on 
the Senate floor to memorialize for a moment the contributions of Earl 
Smith. For me it is a particular point of personal pride and it is 
because Earl Smith has been a role model to me my entire adult life. 
Quite frankly, I don't know that I would be privileged to serve in the 
Senate had it not been for his example, his support over 35 years.
  I met Earl Smith when he founded the Cobb County Lions Club in the 
1960s and led it to be the best club in Georgia. I knew him as a 
businessman because I was in real estate and he was


[[Page S12043]]


in the heating and air conditioning business. He installed new units in 
houses I sold, serviced them, and built a business to be one of the 
best in the United States of America.
  I know him because when our community was in need of facilities for 
our young people, Earl Smith took time from his business, raised money, 
and supported the construction of the East Cobb YMCA, today a shining 
gem in Georgia.
  I know him because when our county was in a significant political 
disaster with an absence of leadership and faced with unparalleled 
growth and unparalleled difficulty, Earl Smith volunteered and went and 
qualified for office, ran and was elected as chairman of the county 
commission and took a county that had grown from 197,000 to 400,000, 
and now is almost a million; met the needs of its wastewater treatment; 
met the needs of its electric power generation; met the needs of its 
roads and transportation system; and even brought about public 
transportation to this growing and burgeoning community.
  He did it during tough political times, but he did it because he was 
a man of dedication to his community and a man who never ever quit.
  Today, a man who has done all those things--built a great business, 
served in the civic clubs, worked in his church, built a YMCA, a man in 
the autumn of his life could do many things on beaches or in the 
mountains--decided there was one more mission. So he took the lead in 
raising $140 million to build the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in 
suburban Atlanta in Cobb County near the Galleria Center, a facility 
upon which ground was just recently broken, and in less than 2 years 
will be completed to be the finest urban performing arts center in the 
United States of America.
  So today on the Senate floor, I rise for this brief moment to pay 
tribute to a man who has given countless hours, countless dollars, 
countless efforts and all of his being to make his community better.
  On November 7, when the community comes together to honor him, if I 
can't be there in spirit, these words will be there so that he knows 
not only does his community recognize him, but on this day on the floor 
of the Senate we pay tribute to Earl Smith of Cobb County, GA.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Dakota is 
recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. If the Senator will yield, I ask unanimous consent to be 
recognized following the presentation by the Senator from South Dakota 
in morning business for such time as I may consume.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection? Without objection, it 
is so ordered.
  The Senator from South Dakota.

                          ____________________