[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 17, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



              Tribute to David Hankerson and David Connell

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, we debate a lot of heavy things in the 
United States Senate. We make tough decisions. Decisions of the fate of 
our country lie in the balance. But day in and day out, sometimes we go 
an entire day or week without talking about the people who make America 
work: the entrepreneurs, the employees, the employers, the people who 
run the businesses, pay the taxes, and employ the citizens who make 
this country go.
  Today, I rise to talk about two citizens from my home county, Cobb 
County. First is David Hankerson. David announced this week his 
retirement after being employed by our county for 33 years. He came to 
the community development department of the county 33 years ago, and 11 
years later, he became the first county manager of the county and 
served in that position for a record 24 years. During that time, the 
county doubled, not just in its population, but tripled and quadrupled 
in its revenue. It did new and different and innovative things. As tax 
rates went down, productivity went up. Its popularity as a place to 
locate became preeminent. He is one of the shining stars in the State 
of Georgia today, in Cobb County.
  I rise for a special reason to pay tribute to David Hankerson, 
however, because he represents something I was a part of in 1984. At 
the time he was being hired, I did not know him as an employee for the 
county; I was in the State legislature, trying to change the government 
for our county from an elected CEO to an appointed county manager, a 
professional operator of the county. That had not been done in Georgia. 
In other parts of the country, it had been done successfully. You had 
continuity of leadership--someone whose job was to be a good leader, 
who wasn't an elected politician, someone who could do the job.
  David Hankerson was hired to do that job in Cobb County, GA. He did 
one of the most remarkable jobs anyone has ever done. In fact, the 
great testimony is that every year since he was there--24 years ago as 
county manager--someone has tried to hire him away from Cobb County. 
Every year he decided to stay because he once had said: I have made a 
commitment. As long as the commitment is returned by the community to 
me, I am going to stay and see it through.
  On this day, as I rise on the floor of the U.S. Senate to pay tribute 
to David Hankerson, I pay tribute equally to all those who make our 
government work, our businesses work, our communities work, and our 
country work, to the men and women laboring in the fields and toiling 
in the vineyards, working in the shops, working in the offices who make 
America the great country it is today, and to the great chambers of 
commerce that make it happen as well.
  I pay great tribute to David Hankerson and thank him for the 
contribution and sacrifice he made to the people of Cobb County, GA, 
and the State of Georgia.
  Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to one other Georgian, the 
retiring chairman and CEO of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, David 
Connell. This is the kind of guy you really appreciate. He worked for 
40 years at the Georgia Power Company. He had 12 different titles in 40 
years. He was a great employee of that company, a great member of the 
community of Cobb County, a great private citizen, and great personal 
friend of mine.
  After 40 years of working there and retiring, the county had a big 
problem. The chamber of commerce had a scandal. It couldn't find a 
leader and was losing its effectiveness. David volunteered to go in as 
a chamber board member and spent 1 year as chamber leader. He stayed 
there 15 years and led the chamber to new heights unprecedented in our 
State and in our county: an AAA bond rating in our county, new 
businesses coming and relocating, and even the now-famous relocation of 
the Atlanta Braves from downtown Atlanta to suburban Cobb County--one 
of the rare moves a professional team has ever made smoothly and 
easily. They made it because of David Connell.
  David will tell you that when the chamber board found out the Braves 
were interested in maybe talking about building a $750 million facility 
in the county, they asked David if he would stay until that was 
accomplished. He made the commitment to do so, and it took 3\1/2\ 
years--3\1/2\ long years. It was a lot of effort, all in a circuitous 
nature because of the popularity of the Braves and what would have 
happened had it gotten out as a rumor that they were coming.
  David closed that deal this year. The Braves opened this season in a 
new stadium. With three-quarters of a billion dollar investment having 
been made, the county is more prosperous. David Connell made it happen.
  He announced this week that he is retiring after 40 years at the 
power company and 15 years at the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.
  I want to take a moment on the floor of the Senate to say thank you 
to David Connell for what he has done for our county and our community, 
for our citizens and our families, and how proud I am as one of his 
friends. I thank him for a job well done.
  David, thank you. We are proud of you. God bless you, and God bless 
the United States of America.
  I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.