117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
Honoring the life and legacy of late Senator John “Johnny” Hardy Isakson.
January 5, 2022
Mr. Warnock (for himself, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Schumer, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Booker, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mr. Brown, Mr. Burr, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Fischer, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hagerty, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lee, Mr. Luján, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Paul, Mr. Peters, Mr. Portman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Risch, Mr. Romney, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Shelby, Ms. Sinema, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tester, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Warner, Ms. Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Young) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to
Honoring the life and legacy of late Senator John “Johnny” Hardy Isakson.
Whereas John “Johnny” Hardy Isakson (referred to in this preamble as “Johnny Isakson”) was born on December 28, 1944, to Edwin Andrew Isakson and Julia (Baker) Isakson in Atlanta, Georgia;
Whereas Johnny Isakson served in the Georgia Air National Guard between 1966 and 1972, leaving service as a staff sergeant;
Whereas, in 1966, Johnny Isakson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia before starting a successful career in real estate;
Whereas, in 1979, Johnny Isakson became president of Northside Realty, a post he held for 22 years, during which Northside Realty became the biggest independent real estate company in the Southeast and one of the largest real estate companies in the United States;
Whereas, in 1976, Johnny Isakson was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served until 1990 and served as Republican Minority Leader between 1983 and 1990;
Whereas, in 1993, Johnny Isakson was elected to the Georgia Senate, where he served until 1996;
Whereas, in 1997, Johnny Isakson was appointed chairman of the Georgia Board of Education;
Whereas, in 1999, Johnny Isakson was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served on the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and worked on legislation, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–110; 115 Stat. 1425);
Whereas, in 2004, Johnny Isakson was elected to the Senate for the first time, becoming the only Georgian to have ever been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, the Georgia Senate, and both Houses of Congress;
Whereas Johnny Isakson served the people of Georgia honorably in the Senate for 15 years, including service on the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and service as the Chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate;
Whereas, during his tenure as a Senator, Johnny Isakson developed a reputation as a bipartisan leader who sought common ground and successfully advanced pension legislation to save jobs in Georgia, legislation to invest in the Port of Savannah, legislation to allocate disaster relief funding in Georgia, and bipartisan legislation to overhaul the health care system for veterans of the United States;
Whereas, prior to his resignation from the Senate in 2019 due to health reasons, Johnny Isakson strongly advocated for bipartisan compromise and cooperation in the Senate, hosting the annual bipartisan barbecue lunch for colleagues on both sides of the aisle and once stating, “I’m big on bipartisanship. Whether you’re Black or white, Republican or Democrat, whatever it might be, find a way to find common ground. Give it a chance to work…Bipartisanship is a state of being.”;
Whereas after stepping down from the Senate, Johnny Isakson launched the Isakson Initiative to raise money for research into Parkinson’s disease and other neurocognitive diseases;
Whereas Johnny Isakson was beloved and respected by his colleagues and once described the only division he saw as between “friends and future friends”;
Whereas, on December 19, 2021, at the age of 76, Johnny Isakson died, leaving behind his wife Dianne Davison, his 3 loving children (John, Julie, and Kevin), 9 grandchildren, and a legacy of steadfast love for and service to the people of Georgia: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
(1) honors the life and legacy of the late Senator John “Johnny” Hardy Isakson (referred to in this resolution as “Johnny Isakson”) for his—
(A) accomplishments as a patriot and an example for future generations of leaders;
(B) unwavering dedication to Georgia as a Senator, a member of the House of Representatives, and a public servant; and
(C) steadfast commitment to legislating with principle, compassion, and a heart for compromise and cooperation;
(2) proclaims that Johnny Isakson represented the best of Georgia and honorably embodied friendship and decency during his more than 40 years of public service to Georgia and to the United States;
(3) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate—
(A) communicate this resolution to the House of Representatives; and
(B) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the family of Johnny Isakson; and
(4) when the Senate adjourns today, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Johnny Isakson.