Speeches and Floor Statements

Congressman David Scott Honors Former Governor Zell Miller with Tribute on House Floor

Tonight Congressman David Scott joined members of the Georgia Congressional delegation during a Special Order Hour on the House Floor to pay tribute to the life and legacy of former Georgia Senator and Governor Zell Miller. A video link to view Congressman Scott's remarks is enclosed below. 

Click here to watch video of Congressman David Scott’s remarks.

Transcript of Congressman David Scott’s Remarks

“Well, my friend, you got that right. Zell Miller was my friend, my partner and my mentor. You know, I got into politics quite a little bit early, just as I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and landed in Atlanta. Two years later, there I am winding up in the Georgia House of Representatives. So, my story intersects on so many different angles and ways with that of Zell Miller and I can truly stand here and tell each of you that I truly loved this man - and I still do - and I would not be standing here as a member of Congress if it weren't for that friendship, that partnership, and that mentorship with Zell Miller.

“Let me, perhaps, I think as I tell you about this, I'm thinking of a scripture that best sets the story for this great man, that involves everything, the history, the steps, and the many positions, all that he had done.

“Before I get to that scripture, Zell Miller helped me. I mean, I got to the General Assembly as a young person. And then I got over to the Georgia Senate. My two Senate office mates were Paul Coverdell and Julian Bond. With us three, Zell Miller called us his three horsemen.

“It was then that he was laying the foundation for that vision for the whole scholarship. Zell Miller appointed me to be Chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. I was the first African-American appointed to that position. But more than that, he appointed me in that position at a time when he was giving birth to one of the greatest public affairs program in Georgia history, the Hope Scholarship.

“For me to be there as part of the Education Committee in that pivotal position and then go across Georgia’s churches and schools and help sell the Hope Scholarship, it paved the way for me to be Rules Chairman with Zell's Chairman.  Nothing gets on that calendar that doesn't get through the Rules Committee, and I was there to make sure that bills authored to try to remove the Hope Scholarship did not get through.

“Let me just conclude by sharing with you what his meaning meant to me and I think to the nation and the world, which is best captured in God's first Psalm.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly. Nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in the law of the Lord, he does meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of waters, bringing forth his fruit in his due season.  And none of his leaves shall wither and everything, everything whatsoever he does shall prosper.

“Such a man was Zell Miller. God bless Zell Miller. And I thank God for sending Zell Miller our way.”