[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 81 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE CALVIN SMYRE

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2022

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and 
commend a distinguished public servant, principled business leader, 
trailblazer, and friend of longstanding, State Representative Calvin 
Smyre of Columbus, Georgia.
  Representative Smyre is completing a long and stellar career, 
spanning 48 years as a member of the Georgia State House of 
Representatives, where he is the longest serving member in the Georgia 
legislature. His leadership and political savvy have contributed to a 
great legacy of service to his community, the State of Georgia, and our 
nation, and tonight, he will be honored by the Greater Columbus, 
Georgia Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his tremendous career in 
public service.
  Calvin Smyre was born in Columbus, Georgia on May 17, 1947, to Chief 
Warrant Officer Ill Carter Smyre, Jr. and the late Mildred Bass Smyre. 
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Fort Valley State 
University in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting.
  His career path has taken him from being a community organizer in the 
``War on Poverty'' to corporate executive for a Fortune 500 company and 
a trailblazing national political leader.
  Starting in 1976, as a management trainee at the Columbus Bank and 
Trust Company, the Columbus-based division of Synovus Financial 
Corporation, he rose through the ranks to become Vice President of 
Corporate and External Affairs, President of the Synovus Foundation, 
and ultimately Senior Vice President and Assistant to the Chairman for 
Community Affairs.
  In 1974, at the age of 26, Calvin Smyre was elected to the Georgia 
State House of Representatives as its youngest member. In 1984, he was 
the first African American from Georgia elected to the Democratic 
National Committee.
  In 1979, he was elected Chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black 
Caucus. In 1982, he was elected President of the Georgia Association of 
Black Elected Officials. In 1983, he was appointed by Georgia Governor 
Joe Frank Harris as Assistant Floor Leader, and in 1985, as the first 
African American Floor Leader. He has served as President of the 
National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Chairman of the Georgia 
House Minority Caucus, and Chairman of the Democratic Party of 
Georgia--these last two being firsts for an African American.
  He has received numerous legislative awards and his legislative 
record includes authoring the bill making Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 
birthday a state holiday; creating the historic Georgia Dome, home of 
the Atlanta Falcons; and construction of the $62 million Columbus River 
Center.
  He has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Trustees of 
the Morehouse School of Medicine; the Medical College of Georgia 
Foundation; the Columbus Museum; and as Chair of the Fort Valley State 
University Foundation. He was the catalyst for the annual Fountain City 
Classic football weekend, which brings 20,000 fans to Columbus, Georgia 
contributing millions of dollars to the local economy.
  Representative Smyre is a man of faith and continues to be a lifelong 
member of the Ward Chapel AME Church in Columbus, Georgia.
  Madam Speaker, last Fall, as Representative Smyre neared the end of 
his long and distinguished legislative and corporate careers, we were 
all delighted, when President Joseph Biden announced his intent to name 
Representative Smyre to the United States Diplomatic Corps as 
Ambassador from the United States to one of the Caribbean islands, 
pending full Senate Confirmation.
  Longfellow wrote: ``The heights by great men reached and kept were 
not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, 
were toiling upward in the night.'' Representative Smyre has achieved 
great heights and through his service has done so much for so many for 
so long.
  Therefore, Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the Greater 
Columbus, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the more than 730,000 people of 
the Second Congressional District, his friends, family, and admirers 
across the country in congratulating, honoring, and commending The 
Honorable Calvin Smyre for his many years of public service. Moreover, 
we wish him the best for an imminent and successful Senate Confirmation 
as he moves into the next chapter of his life.

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