In Honor of State Representative Calvin Smyre

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source