[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 46 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO MR. JOSEPH KELLY McCUTCHEN III

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. BARRY LOUDERMILK

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 15, 2018

  Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
friend, Mr. Joseph Kelly McCutchen III, a man who has dedicated his 
life to serving the people of the state of Georgia.
  Kelly was born in Ellijay, Georgia, to Joe and Betty McCutchen. He 
graduated from Gilmer High School and became the third generation in 
his family to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he 
graduated with the highest honors. He began his career in the Trust 
Department of Trust Company Bank in Atlanta, where he was a vice 
president before he joined the Georgia Public Policy Foundation in 
1993. For many years, he offered the state guidance and counsel on 
issues including education, tax, health care and economic policy.
  Kelly became president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy 
Foundation in 2010. He resigned from GPPF recently, after nearly 25 
years providing Georgia's policymakers and lawmakers with the 
intellectual ammunition to embrace policy over politics. He remains 
active in Foundation policy as part of the think tank's network of 
Senior Fellows.
  At the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, his service to the state and 
its people has been exemplary. Kelly helped create the Civic Renewal 
Project that highlights the work of outstanding community-based 
organizations, the ``No Excuses'' program to recognize and study high 
achieving and high poverty public schools, and award-winning statewide 
report cards on education, crime and taxes. During his tenure, the 
Foundation was named First place for highest integrity and Third place 
for most knowledgeable among business organizations or state 
associations in Georgia, by James magazine (2004) and, in January 2018, 
one of the Best Independent Think Tanks in the 2017 Global Go-To Think 
Tank Index Report.
  A tireless fundraiser for GPPF and numerous nonprofit organizations, 
Kelly was also a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 200l. He 
served on the boards of Leadership Georgia, the Georgia Tech Alumni 
Association, and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute. He was a 
founder and Governing Board Chair of Tech High, a math, science and 
technology-focused public charter school in Atlanta.
  He co-founded the Georgia Warrior Alliance, a nonprofit with the 
mission to make Georgia the national Leader in programs supporting 
military veterans and their families. He served on the board of the 
Georgia Chamber of Commerce and chaired the board of the Healthcare 
Institute for Neuro-Recovery and Innovation Foundation. He served on 
the Education Policy Committee and the Health Care Policy Committee for 
the Georgia Chamber of Commerce; the Georgia Science and Technology 
Executive Committee; the Public Policy Committee for the Metro Atlanta 
United Way, and is a policy adviser for the Technology Association of 
Georgia.
  Through his work and civic engagement, his lovely wife, Mary Kay 
Davis McCutchen, has been a dedicated companion. Kelly and Mary Kay 
live in Atlanta, as Kelly tells the rest of Georgia, ``So you don't 
have to!'' Married since 1994, the McCutchens have a son, Kelly, and a 
daughter, Caroline, both in college; Caroline is the family's fourth-
generation attendee of Georgia Tech.
  On behalf of Georgia's 11th Congressional District and the United 
States House of Representatives, I commend Kelly McCutchen for his many 
years of outstanding, dedicated and effective service.

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