[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E76]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF DAVID POYTHRESS

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 23, 2017

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding 
civic leader, public servant of Georgia, and friend of longstanding, 
David Bryan Poythress. Sadly, David passed away on Sunday, January 15, 
2017.
  A Georgia man through and through, David Poythress was born in Bibb 
County on October 24, 1943 to John Maynor Poythress, head of Macon's 
water department, and Dorothy Bayne Poythress, a school teacher and the 
founder of Georgia's special education program. His parents' dedication 
to public service would inspire David from a young age to pursue public 
service himself.
  David earned a political science degree, law degree, and commission 
as a U.S. Air Force officer at Emory University in the 1960s. In 1967, 
he entered active duty as an assistant staff judge advocate at 
Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas. He served four years on active duty, 
volunteering for service in Vietnam and spending a year as defense 
counsel and chief of military justice at Da Nang Air Base. After active 
duty, he served in the Air Force Reserve, retiring in 1998 with the 
rank of Brigadier General.
  Before seeking elected office, David made a name for himself serving 
as an assistant attorney general, Deputy State Revenue Commissioner, 
and chairman of a study committee formed by Governor George Busbee to 
study nursing home reimbursements from Medicaid. These roles, in 
addition to his tenure as the first Commissioner of the Georgia 
Department of Medical Assistance, led to him being nicknamed the ``Mr. 
Fix It'' of state government.
  In 1979, Governor Busbee appointed David Secretary of State after the 
death of incumbent Ben Forston. In 1982, David ran for a full term as 
Secretary of State but was defeated in the Democratic Primary. He took 
a 10-year break from politics to practice law in Atlanta.
  In 1992, he won a special statewide election for Labor Commissioner 
and two years later, he was elected to a full four-year term. In 1999, 
Governor Roy Barnes appointed David to lead the Georgia Army and Air 
National Guard. In 2002, Governor Sonny Perdue reappointed him and 
promoted him to Lieutenant General, making him Georgia's first three-
star Adjutant General.
  George Washington Carver once said, ``No individual has any right to 
come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind distinct 
and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.'' We are all so 
blessed that David Poythress passed this way and during his life's 
journey did so much for so many for so long. He devoted many years of 
dedicated service to the people of Georgia through his meaningful 
contribution of energy, skill, and genuine passion, and for it, he will 
be remembered for years to come.
  David Poythress accomplished much in his life but none of this would 
have been possible without the love and support of his wife, Elizabeth; 
son, Cullen Gray Poythress; stepdaughters, Candace Pinnisi and Kristin 
Placito; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
  Mr. Speaker, my wife Vivian and I, along with the more than 730,000 
residents of Georgia's Second Congressional District, salute David 
Bryan Poythress for his outstanding public service and his everlasting 
commitment to improving the quality of life for our citizens. I ask my 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to join us in extending our 
deepest condolences to David's family and friends during this difficult 
time. We pray that they will be consoled and comforted by an abiding 
faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

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