[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6794-S6795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY ISAKSON

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a totally different matter, the 
Senate has set aside today to honor our distinguished colleague, the 
senior Senator from Georgia, Johnny Isakson.
  It has been about 3 months since Johnny announced he would retire at 
the end of December. Since then, I think we have all been taking stock 
of everything our dear friend has accomplished and everything he means 
to so many people. I have long said, if the Senate were to hold a 
secret ballot popularity contest, Johnny Isakson would win in a 
bipartisan landslide--quite possibly in a unanimous vote.
  He commands bipartisan respect and affection to a degree that is 
truly remarkable. Yet, if you think about it, it makes sense for a man 
whose personal mantra goes like this: ``There are only two kinds of 
people: friends and future friends.'' For most people, that might be a 
noble aspiration but unrealistic. For Johnny Isakson, it is a statement 
of fact. Nobody is an enemy, and nobody is a stranger--just a friend 
and future friend. That is it. With a motto like that, it is no wonder 
that Johnny's first career was a successful stint in real estate--a 
field in which relationships are everything.
  It strikes me there could be two ways you could thrive in a business 
in which friendships and connections matter so much. You could be 
either good at faking a smile, at feigning interest in others, or you 
could genuinely love meeting everybody and learning how you might be 
able to help people. That second kind of person is exactly who Ed and 
Julie Isakson brought up in Atlanta, GA--warm, honest, forthright, 
incredibly kind. No wonder Johnny's neighbors jumped at the chance to 
hire him to be their State representative, then their State Senator, 
then their Congressman, and then their U.S. Senator. So his retirement 
this month will cap a 45-year career in public service, packed with one 
significant accomplishment after another.
  First and foremost in Johnny's long legacy is his work for our 
Nation's veterans. He spent 6 years in the Georgia Air National Guard 
as a young man, and he has spent the half century since then as one of 
his fellow veterans' best friends at any level of government.
  Under Johnny's chairmanship, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs has 
passed literally scores of bills: more accountability at the VA, more 
education benefits, better community care programs, better procedures 
for when veterans appeal determinations, an updated GI bill with no 
more expiration date, and, of course, Johnny's landmark bill--the VA 
MISSION Act. It is now law. It provides many of the most significant 
reforms in the history of the VA by taking power away from bureaucrats 
and giving it back to the veterans and their doctors.
  Yet, somehow, in the midst of compiling this singular record for our 
Nation's veterans, Johnny racked up countless more legislative 
successes that impact literally every American--from securing pension 
protections to reforming education policy, from regional infrastructure 
projects like the Savannah Harbor Expansion to combating hunger 
worldwide. One look at the list of laws bearing Johnny's fingerprints 
and you would be forgiven for thinking he never met a problem he could 
not solve.
  But alas, every Senator sometimes encounters requests from back home 
on which he cannot deliver. Sometimes you have constituents on both 
sides of an issue. Sometimes a request might conflict with your 
principles. Whatever the reason, everybody in office eventually 
disappoints somebody. Yet Johnny's staff marvels at the fact that even 
when Georgians come up here to meet with him and, unfortunately, go 
away disappointed, they still walk out of the meetings, beaming with 
praise for their Senator: ``Can you believe Johnny? He is the greatest 
guy ever. What a Senator''--and these are the people he just said no 
to.
  The same traits explain why Johnny is just as popular under this dome 
as he is back home, and I don't just mean with his fellow Members. 
Johnny Isakson is practically an honorary member of every other 
Member's staff and an honorary elevator operator and an honorary 
Capitol Police Officer and an honorary member of Chaplain Black's team 
and on and on. He knows and values absolutely everybody.
  I can't count how many times I would hear a peal of laughter from out 
in my staff bullpen and realize that Johnny Isakson had dropped by, not 
to see me but to chat with my team, to ask after their families, and to 
maybe check up on a couple of Georgia's priorities while he was there.

[[Page S6795]]

  There is one classic story that really distills this man's character. 
Most people who have hung around Johnny and his team long enough know 
the famous tale of the ``gin and tonic in the laundry room.''
  Here is the deal: Back in 2006, Johnny was still a new Senator. We 
were tackling some thorny pension issues, and thousands of Georgians 
stood to be affected if things didn't get hammered out. So this 
freshman Senator dove in. He went toe to toe with big players like Ted 
Kennedy and Bill Young over in the House. He didn't get a seat on the 
conference committee, but he basically appointed himself an honorary 
member. Johnny worked it like crazy. He sleuthed out where they would 
be meeting, and he spoke to everyone. Because it is Johnny we are 
talking about, we know how this ends: He delivered for Georgia.
  Afterward, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wanted to hear how this 
freshman Senator had pulled off this victory. Among other things, the 
reporter asked how Johnny had celebrated. Did he clear out the 
champagne at some beltway steakhouse?
  Here is what he said:

       Isakson said that after the vote, he went straight back to 
     his Capitol Hill area apartment and celebrated--by doing his 
     laundry. He did not want to leave dirty clothes behind for a 
     month.

  He said further: ``So as I was putting coins in the machine, I had a 
gin and tonic in the laundry room.''
  This anecdote is almost the perfect encapsulation of Johnny Isakson. 
It starts with tenacity and a can-do spirit, propelled forward by 
charisma, smarts, and stubborn patience. It ends with a win for 
Georgians and one celebratory cocktail while being wrist-deep in 
laundry detergent.
  Yet there is one other story, I think, that reflects this remarkable 
leader even more perfectly. It starts with one name--Kate Puzey.
  In 2009, Johnny was reading his local paper and found an obituary for 
a young lady from northern Georgia who had been in Africa with the 
Peace Corps. She was just 24. Johnny didn't know Kate and didn't know 
her family, but he felt called to attend her funeral. He sat quietly in 
the very back and listened to her friends, her family, ministers, and 
Peace Corps colleagues.
  Unassumingly, he invited the family to stay in touch if there was 
anything he could ever do. Only later, did they relate what wasn't in 
the obituary. Kate had been murdered in the dark of night after 
sounding the alarm on child abuse in her village in the African country 
of Benin.
  Johnny Isakson was on the case from that day forward. Not only was he 
a fixture on the Foreign Relations Committee, but he was actually the 
ranking member on the Africa Subcommittee. So he put a framed photo of 
Kate on his desk and leapt into action. Senator Isakson flew to Benin 
to personally lean on its President. He met with Peace Corps officials. 
He built a legislative coalition for reforms to better protect 
volunteers.
  As I said earlier, because this is Johnny Isakson we are talking 
about, we know how the story ends--with results. He helped Kate's 
parents pursue justice, and just a couple of years after Johnny sat 
down in that pew, the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act 
was law.
  Now, that is Johnny Isakson in one story. He starts out trying to do 
good for his neighbors and winds up literally changing the world.
  Of course, changing the world can be grueling work. We all know 
Johnny's health has made his tireless service more and more challenging 
in recent months. As much as the other 99 of us hate to hear it, he has 
decided it is time to find new ways to serve that don't involve twice 
weekly air travel or winding trips through the Capitol Complex.
  But we know our friend is not riding off into the sunset or kicking 
up his heels. I know he is bound and determined to keep putting his 
expertise and institutional knowledge to work on behalf of Georgians 
who need him. I have no doubt that he will keep on advocating for 
Georgians with a pen and a phone, more friends across the country than 
anyone can count up, and maybe a few of his eight grandchildren by his 
side. It sounds like a pretty enviable work arrangement, and no doubt 
Johnny has earned it. He has earned the right to a little less late 
night voting and a little more time with his lovely wife Dianne.
  So on behalf of all of his colleagues, I will tell Johnny to go ahead 
and relax just a little and maybe find something to drink, but, this 
time around, he should enjoy it on the front porch with Dianne and 
leave the laundry until later.
  We are savoring our last few weeks alongside our good friend here in 
the Senate. We are so lucky to have called him our colleague.

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