[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING GEORGE R. CUNNINGHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JUAN CISCOMANI

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2025

  Mr. CISCOMANI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor George R. 
Cunningham, a dedicated public servant who passed away at age 80 on May 
7, 2025 at his home in Tucson, Arizona.
  George moved to Tucson as a boy with his family from Nashua, New 
Hampshire and it didn't take long for him to immerse himself in the 
civic affairs of his new home. His successful run for class president 
at Catalina High School was a clear indication of the path he was 
destined to take.
  Over the decades that followed, George rose through the ranks like 
few others. He went from working as an intern for the city manager of 
one of Arizona's smallest municipalities to the top of state 
government. He served in the executive branch of government and he 
served in the legislative branch of government. He worked for Democrats 
and he worked for Republicans.
  George never stopped serving and working for Arizona.
  George was a 22-year-old graduate of the University of Arizona when 
he started as an assistant city manager for the City of South Tucson. 
He helped run this one-square-mile city as he earned a Master's Public 
Administration from his alma mater. This, too, was a sign of the path 
George was destined to take. He would go on to be a master at public 
administration.
  Still in his twenties and now married, George left the city to become 
the executive director of the Tucson Urban Area Regional Review 
Committee. Under his leadership, the organization wisely streamlined 
its name to the Pima Association of Governments. This was 1970 and 
George was making $11,700 a year.
  Opportunity knocked a year later and George took a position as an 
assistant to William Jacquin, a Tucson Republican who served as 
president of the Arizona Senate. George's salary went up to $13,200 a 
year and George moved up to Phoenix. When Jacquin stepped down to run 
for governor, George stayed on to work for his successor, Bob Stump, 
who would go on to serve 26 years in Congress. Stump at the time called 
George a hard working guy--``maybe the hardest working guy in the 
building.''
  George's thorough understanding of the legislative process led to his 
next post, as an assistant to the president of the University of 
Arizona. Here, too, he rose through the ranks. He would go on to serve 
in a number of key positions at the university and play a leading role 
in shaping the institution we know today. One of his principal duties 
was lobbying state lawmakers--a task George understood and did well.
  George was a UA vice president in 1988 when he was tapped to serve as 
chief of staff to Governor Rose Mofford, Arizona's first female 
governor and one of only three female governors in the country. It was 
a tremendous source of pride in Tucson at the time to have one of our 
own in such an influential position. According to a front-page profile 
in the Tucson Citizen, they suggested George could well be ``the most 
powerful man in all of state government.''
  George was back in Tucson a couple years later and in 1992 launched 
his career as state lawmaker. He served in Arizona's House of 
Representatives until 1997 and in the Arizona Senate from 1997 to 2001.
  After running for Congress and the Arizona Corporation Commission, 
George became Governor Janet Napolitano's Deputy Chief of Staff for 
Finance and Budget. And then, in what his son Paul says he considered 
one of his greatest accomplishments, George created the Grand Canyon 
Institute, a non-partisan think tank focused on public policies that 
affect the future of Arizona.
  The future of Arizona mattered to George Cunningham. He served our 
state well.

                          ____________________