Congratulating Tom Fanning on His Retirement From Southern Company

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Tom Fanning on his retirement after more than four decades of service to Southern Company and its customers in my region.

Tom Fanning was named President of Southern Company in August of 2010, and assumed the additional roles of Chairman and CEO four months later. During his time at Southern Company, Tom held executive roles across various business disciplines, including finance, strategy, international business development, and technology. As President, Chairman, and CEO, he received numerous awards and accolades, including being named one of the most influential leaders in the energy industry in the past 25 years.

Under Tom's visionary leadership, Southern Company led the way in providing clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to its customers. Tom's tenure was characterized by his boundless energy and his strong commitment to innovation and the development of new energy technologies to meet the challenges of the future. During his tenure, Southern achieved a number of remarkable milestones, most notably completion of the first new nuclear generation unit in the United States in three decades at Plant Vogtle in Georgia's 12th District.

Tom also became one of our country's leading voices in the area of cybersecurity. For nearly a decade, he served as co-chair of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which is the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector protecting the electric grid from threats. Fanning's leadership was recognized by the U.S. Senate in 2019 with an appointment to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a group charged with developing a strategy to protect the cyberspace interests of the U.S. He was also appointed by the White House to serve as chairman of the advisory board to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with protecting the Nation's critical infrastructure from both cyber and physical threats.

Although he is stepping down from his role at Southern Company, I know Tom will continue to be active on the many issues about which he is passionate. I salute him for his extraordinary service, and I wish him and his family all the best in the years ahead.

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