[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S15900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO FORMER GEORGIA HOUSE LEADER TOM MURPHY

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I want to associate the following 
comments with my distinguished colleague and friend, Senator Isakson, 
to honor the late former Georgia House Leader Tom Murphy, who passed 
away last night.
  Tom, known by his friends as Speaker and others as ``Mr. Speaker,'' 
was once the longest serving State House speaker in the nation, serving 
Georgia from 1974 to 2002. In describing the life's work of Tom Murphy, 
one of our veteran reporters in Atlanta quoted an old 1960's western 
film and wrote, ``When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.'' The 
reporter goes on to say, ``There will be no such confusion over Tom 
Murphy, the tough-talking master politician whose gruff exterior 
concealed a heart that ached for the poor and helpless and in the 
Speaker's case, they were one and the same.''
  He was a true champion for our great State, and all Georgians, from 
Rabun Gap to Tybee Light, will reap the benefits of Tom's work legacy 
for generations to come.
  During the time Tom served our State, Georgia became one of the 
leading States to attract international business, our ports were 
expanded, the Quick Start program was created and expanded to help 
companies train new workers, and teachers salaries were given higher 
priority.
  The expressway system in Georgia was completed during his tenure, and 
if you live in the vicinity of Atlanta, you have Tom to thank for the 
widening of the connector in Atlanta; additional runways at Hartsfield-
Jackson International Airport; and the World Congress Center that was 
built and expanded to allow Georgia to compete for conventions and 
trade shows.
  He was always supportive of rural Georgia and agribusiness, and he 
was part of a transformation of our state into a State that has a 
significantly more diversified and stronger economic base than ever 
before.
  One of our former colleagues, former Senator and Governor, Zell 
Miller, one of our greatest Governors, describes his working 
relationship with Tom as one that was tumultuous, but mutually 
beneficial. They worked together for many years in the State 
legislature, and it is no secret that the two often dueled over many 
issues, but they always had Georgia's best interest in mind. Zell has 
stated, ``If there had not been a Tom Murphy, I guess I would have 
created one, and if there had not been a Zell Miller, I guess he would 
have had to create one. Because that's the way we rallied our troops.'' 
Both recognized that they could not survive without the other.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
Zell's interview.
  Tom's integrity and fairness were his trademarks, and he will always 
be remembered for his longstanding commitment to Georgia values.
  When we depart from this world, we all hope to leave it a better 
place. Tom Murphy left Georgia better than he found it.

                 ``He Was A One-Of-A-Kind'' Individual

                            (By Dick Pettys)

       Make no mistake: there was real respect and, yes, even 
     affection between Tom Murphy and Zell Miller, though you 
     would never have known it from the way Murphy introduced 
     Miller on occasion as the ``extinguished'' lieutenant 
     governor, or the way Miller referred to Murphy's House as the 
     ``mausoleum'' for his legislative initiatives.
       Murphy, who died Monday, and Miller came to the Georgia 
     Legislature in the same year--1961--and their careers were 
     forever entangled after Murphy became Speaker and Miller 
     became lieutenant governor and later governor.
       ``I've often thought this as I looked back on (our) 
     careers--we worked off each other to benefit what we were 
     trying to get done,'' Miller said in a telephone interview 
     Tuesday. ``If there had not been a Tom Murphy, I guess I 
     would have created one, and if there had not been a Zell 
     Miller, I guess he would have had to create one. Because 
     that's the way we rallied our troops.''
  At such times, it often took a woman's touch to keep them from doing 
each other a bodily harm, and Shirley Miller filled that role, Murphy 
used to say.
       There was sadness in Miller's voice as he spoke of Murphy's 
     legacy.
       ``He was a one-of-a-kind individual, and for four decades 
     whatever happened in Georgia, he was right in the middle of 
     it,'' Miller said. ``We will never see, I don't think, ever 
     again one Georgia leader have the power that he had for as 
     many years as he had it. It's really remarkable and I don't 
     think the way politics is today that you'll ever see that 
     again.''
       Miller, who taught college history at an earlier point in 
     his career, said Murphy came along at an historic time in the 
     state's history.
       ``We were all the same. We were white male Democrats, 
     mostly from rural Georgia. And then suddenly that all changed 
     with the court rulings and the county unit system, 
     reapportionment and all of that. And it became a very, very 
     volatile time to be in politics.
       And the fact that he could hold that House together like he 
     did for so many years, it's really historic.
       ``Loyalty is the most important ingredient in legislative 
     politics and he enjoyed that from his House like no one ever 
     has before or will again,'' he said.
       Why?
       ``They knew it was a two-way street; that he would look 
     after them and he would be as loyal to them as they were to 
     him. He, of course, very wisely would place people in various 
     positions which would be of benefit to him later . . . Next 
     to his real family, the House was his family.''
       ``The night I was elected (November, 1990), he was one of 
     the first to come up to where we were, and I appreciated 
     that. The next day, I went up to the third floor, sat down 
     and told him I might could get elected without him, but I 
     sure couldn't govern without him. That was the truth.
       ``We worked together and fought together for so many years, 
     it's hard to believe what a long period of time it really 
     was. I give him a lot of credit for the fiscal soundness of 
     the sound and bringing along rural legislators on things like 
     the World Congress Center, which was not an easy job. So many 
     things. It's a shame he didn't get that reservoir, which was 
     looked upon as sort of pork at the time. It would have helped 
     today if we had had it.''
       For both men and for the state, that remarkable period of 
     time was quite a ride. ``I feel very, very fortunate to have 
     been part of it,'' he said.

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