Congratulating State Representative Sam McKenzie on Receiving the 2023 Crystal Gavel Award

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor State Representative Sam McKenzie who represents House District 15 in Tennessee and Knoxville.

Representative McKenzie has been serving the people of east Tennessee for a long time. He was on the Knoxville Utility board of directors from 2003 to 2008, and he spent time working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and sat on the Oak Ridge Federal Credit Union board of directors.

He then served on the Knox County Commission while I was the mayor of Knox County, so we worked side by side on a lot of important issues.

We met at FCA camp in high school. We played high school football for different schools. He played for Austin East, and I played for Bearden. We also share a love for the Pizza Palace on Magnolia Avenue.

I know from time to time working alongside him that he is a straight shooter who asks solid, direct questions about what is happening in our government. It is clear he cares about our community and the work he is doing for east Tennessee.

Representative McKenzie was recently awarded the 2023 Crystal Gavel Award of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators at its 47th convention in Nashville. He was given this award because of his leadership of the Tennessee Black Caucus, which has over 700 members.

Sam and I are on opposite sides of the political aisle, and we might have different visions of how things should get done, but we both want what is best for our constituents and the areas we represent.

Congratulations to Representative McKenzie on receiving the 2023 Crystal Gavel Award.

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