[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 204 (Thursday, December 3, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H6056-H6057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WELCOMING THE HONORABLE KWANZA HALL TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Bishop) is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the 
House, the Honorable Kwanza Hall is a native of Atlanta, attended 
Atlanta public schools, and attended the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology.
  He worked for the Fulton County Government. He was vice president of 
technology for GoodWorks International, and he is currently director of 
business development at Mactech Engineering.
  In 2002, he was elected to the Atlanta Board of Education. In 2005, 
he was elected to the Atlanta City Council, District Two, where he 
served three consecutive terms.
  Following the death of our beloved colleague, Congressman John Lewis, 
Kwanza qualified to run in the special election to fill the unexpired 
term of Congressman Lewis, which was held on November 3. There were 
several candidates, but none received the required majority under 
Georgia law.
  On December 1, Kwanza won the runoff special election. His election 
means that the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia, 
in Atlanta, will be represented and have a voice during this lameduck 
session of the 116th Congress as we debate and, hopefully, enact, among 
other things, the FY 2021 appropriations bill funding the operations of 
the Federal Government and much-needed COVID-19 relief for America's 
families, businesses, and our State and local governments.
  He is married to Fulton County Commissioner Natalie Hall, and they 
have two sons.

[[Page H6057]]

  Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from the Seventh District of 
Georgia, the Honorable   Rob Woodall.
  Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Georgia for 
yielding. And I want to welcome our new colleague to the Chamber. This 
isn't usually the way that it is, and nothing about the path you took 
to get here is usually the way that it is.
  But so often, on this floor, we talk about giving a voice to the 
voiceless, and sometimes it seems as if it is a simple cliche. I wonder 
how many of my colleagues would put in the kind of time and effort that 
we all put in to get reelected to provide a voice, not for 2 years, not 
even for 12 months, but for the remainder of a cycle.
  It speaks to the character of Mr. Hall, and it speaks to his 
commitment to the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia that he put 
himself out there and committed himself, as he did throughout that 
campaign cycle, to be that voice and to make sure that there was not a 
day that went by that the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia could 
have been represented but was not.
  You are joining, certainly a very special seat, but you are joining a 
very special delegation here, and I want to, on behalf of all of the 
Republicans in the Georgia delegation, congratulate you and welcome you 
here today.
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, as dean of the Georgia 
delegation, it is my pleasure to present and to welcome to this House 
and to yield to the gentleman from Georgia's Fifth Congressional 
District, the Honorable Kwanza Hall.
  Mr. HALL. Madam Speaker, to my colleagues from Georgia, other 
colleagues in the House, I am Kwanza Hall and I am so thankful to be 
here today.
  In July, just before Congressman Lewis passed away, I had COVID, and 
I spent about 3 weeks lying flat dealing with it, and I didn't know I 
would be here. So God blessed me with that time to think about what I 
would do next with my life at the same time Congressman Lewis had 
passed away. He was a friend. He was a neighbor. He and my father 
served in the civil rights movement together. My father, Leon Hall, was 
in Montgomery at the same time, and Selma.

  So I had to think about what was next for me. And God gave me a 
choice: Do you want to do your business, or do you want to do My 
business?
  And I stepped up and answered the call, and He said: I have a mission 
for you. The mission is to run for that office and serve District Five.
  We have a lot of things on the plate in front of us, and I just want 
to be a unifier, a person who can help us get some things done on 
behalf of the least of these, as Congressman Lewis would.
  So thank you all for having me. Thank you to my mother, my father, 
who is not with us, to the Congressmen who have come before me, Wyche 
Fowler, and Ambassador Andrew Young.

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