U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., praised former Georgia U.S. Representative Leon A. “Lynn” Westmoreland during his introduction at a Senate hearing to consider Westmoreland’s nomination by President Trump to serve as a member of the Amtrak board of directors.
 
In his remarks Tuesday at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing, Isakson cited Westmoreland’s vast experience in politics and transportation policy in both Congress and in the Georgia legislature.
 
“Lynn [Westmoreland] rose to be the Republican leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and did a phenomenal job. In business, he was a homebuilder of great renown; a local builder who understood local problems, understood growth and understood transportation,” said Isakson.
 
“In all the years that I served in the state… I have known of no one who has made a greater contribution to his state and served better as a public servant than Lynn Westmoreland,” he continued.
 
Westmoreland, of Grantville, Ga., began his public service career in 1993 as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and served as the House Republican Leader from 2001 to 2003. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 until January 2017.
 
Westmoreland was nominated by President Trump on Oct. 5, 2017, to serve on the 10-member Amtrak board and would serve a five-year term if confirmed by the Senate.

Isakson’s remarks at the committee hearing are included below:
 
“Chairman Blunt, Ranking Member Booker, and members of the committee, it’s a pleasure for me to be here today to introduce a great Georgian.
 
“…It is my pleasure to introduce Lynn Westmoreland, not just to the Commerce Committee, but to the country for his approval to the Amtrak board.
 
“Lynn Westmoreland is a guy that I’ve known for a long, long time. We toiled in the vineyards of state representatives a long, long time in Georgia. Lynn rose to be the Republican leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and did a phenomenal job. In business, he was a homebuilder of great renown; a local builder who understood local problems, understood growth and understood transportation.
 
“There’s nobody better to have on a transportation board and in authority than a user and consumer of the infrastructure of transportation. Atlanta is probably the poster child for the need for more improvements in transportation, for intermodal transportation, for the use of rail, for the use of roads, for the use of airplanes, for the use of everything to get people where they’re going and to organize it and to plan it. Nobody is more conservative and fiscally responsible than Lynn Westmoreland.
 
“In all the years that I served in the state, and this is my 39th year in elected office in Georgia, I’ve known lots and lots of people who have come and gone. I have known of no one who has made a greater contribution to his state and served better as a public servant than Lynn Westmoreland.
 
“So as the senior senator from Georgia to all of you, I’m proud to introduce a great citizen of my state, one who understands transportation as well as anyone, one who will be a great counselor and board member to the Amtrak board, one who will serve the United States of America for a long time, Mr. Lynn Westmoreland from the state of Georgia. I’m honored to have this occasion.”