Floor SpeechCeremonial2026-09-08

HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER

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Context

On 2026-09-08, Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2) delivered a floor speech titled "HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER" in the House.

Full Text

HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 142 (Tuesday, September 8, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 8, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E884-E885] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER ______ HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR. of georgia in the house of representatives Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the life, the service, and the enduring legacy of my predecessor and my friend, the Honorable Charles Floyd Hatcher, who passed from labor to reward on September 1, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia, surrounded by the family he adored. He was 87 years old. A funeral service to celebrate his remarkable and purpose filled life will be held on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the Camilla United Methodist Church in Camilla, Georgia. Charles Hatcher was born on July 1, 1939, in Doerun, Georgia, to Clifford Edward ``C.E.'' Hatcher and Agnes Faircloth Hatcher. He was a son of the soil in the truest sense--raised among the peanut fields and dirt roads of Baker and Mitchell Counties, in a corner of Southwest Georgia where a man's word was his bond and a neighbor's trouble was your own. He carried that country's upbringing with him for the rest of his days. No matter how many decades passed or how many miles he traveled, Charles Hatcher always found his way back home. He answered his country's call first, serving in the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1962. He then earned his bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern University and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1969. He built a thriving law practice in Albany, but the courtroom could not contain a calling that large. He served the people of Georgia in the State House of Representatives from 1973 to 1980, and was then elected to this body, where he represented Georgia's Second Congressional District for six terms. Mr. Speaker, in these halls Charles Hatcher was a champion of the farmer, the rural family, and the small-town South. He understood that the peanut growers and row-crop farmers of Southwest Georgia were not statistics in an agriculture bill--they were his people. When his service in this House concluded, he did not retire from the work. He continued it as a presidential appointee at the United States [[Page E885]] Department of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, still fighting for the land and the people who work it. I would be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I did not speak plainly about something. In 1992, Charles Hatcher and I were opponents for this very seat. Elections in our part of Georgia are hard-fought, and ours was no exception. But when it was over, Charles Hatcher showed me--and showed our district--the kind of man he was. There was no bitterness in him. There was no small-mindedness in him. He handed me a district he loved and a people he had served faithfully, and he wished me well in doing it. In almost fifty years of public life, I have learned that you can measure a man's character by how he carries a loss. By that measure, Charles Hatcher was a giant. The titles never defined him. What defined him was the way he made people feel. He never met a stranger. He had a gift--and I mean a genuine gift--for making a person feel welcomed, valued, and heard. Whether he was walking the marbled halls of this Capitol, sitting at a kitchen table or visiting with his neighbors at Marina Towers, Charles Hatcher built relationships and brought people together In retirement he enjoyed his golf, but he never stopped giving himself away. He delivered for Meals on Wheels. He gave his time to charitable causes. He was a faithful member of Washington Street United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey once said that the moral test of government is how it treats those in the dawn of life, the children; those in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped. Mr. Speaker, Charles Hatcher passed that test--not only as a legislator casting votes on this floor, but as a man carrying a hot meal up a walkway to somebody who had nobody else coming. That is what a public servant looks like when the cameras are gone and the title has expired. The greatest beneficiaries of his love were the family he treasured. He is survived by his beloved wife, Krysta Harden; his sons, Chuck and his wife, Tracey, and Jon and his wife, Kris; his five grandchildren, Ansley, Chase, Boone, Tingen, and Walker; and his brother, Marcus Hatcher and his wife, Joy. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Polly Hatcher--a grief no father should have to carry, and one he bore with quiet grace--as well as his parents, C.E. and Agnes Hatcher, and his siblings, Clifford ``Bubba'' Hatcher, Irma Carr, Grace Adkins, and Glenn Hatcher. Mr. Speaker, the peanut fields of this country will bloom again this year, and the men and women who work them will never know all that Charles Hatcher did on their behalf. That is the nature of faithful service--most of it goes unseen and unthanked. But it is written down somewhere, and it is written down here today. Therefore, on behalf of my wife, Vivian, and me along with the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the extraordinary life of the Honorable Charles Floyd Hatcher, in extending our deepest sympathy to Krysta and to the entire Hatcher family, and in saying of this good and faithful servant: well done. ____________________

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HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 142 (Tuesday, September 8, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 8, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E884-E885] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES FLOYD HATCHER ______ HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR. of georgia in the house of representatives Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the life, the service, and the enduring legacy of my predecessor and my friend, the Honorable Charles Floyd Hatcher, who passed from labor to reward on September 1, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia, surrounded by the family he adored. He was 87 years old. A funeral service to celebrate his remarkable and purpose filled life will be held on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the Camilla United Methodist Church in Camilla, Georgia. Charles Hatcher was born on July 1, 1939, in Doerun, Georgia, to Clifford Edward ``C.E.'' Hatcher and Agnes Faircloth Hatcher. He was a son of the soil in the truest sense--raised among the peanut fields and dirt roads of Baker and Mitchell Counties, in a corner of Southwest Georgia where a man's word was his bond and a neighbor's trouble was your own. He carried that country's upbringing with him for the rest of his days. No matter how many decades passed or how many miles he traveled, Charles Hatcher always found his way back home. He answered his country's call first, serving in the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1962. He then earned his bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern University and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1969. He built a thriving law practice in Albany, but the courtroom could not contain a calling that large. He served the people of Georgia in the State House of Representatives from 1973 to 1980, and was then elected to this body, where he represented Georgia's Second Congressional District for six terms. Mr. Speaker, in these halls Charles Hatcher was a champion of the farmer, the rural family, and the small-town South. He understood that the peanut growers and row-crop farmers of Southwest Georgia were not statistics in an agriculture bill--they were his people. When his service in this House concluded, he did not retire from the work. He continued it as a presidential appointee at the United States [[Page E885]] Department of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, still fighting for the land and the people who work it. I would be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I did not speak plainly about something. In 1992, Charles Hatcher and I were opponents for this very seat. Elections in our part of Georgia are hard-fought, and ours was no exception. But when it was over, Charles Hatcher showed me--and showed our district--the kind of man he was. There was no bitterness in him. There was no small-mindedness in him. He handed me a district he loved and a people he had served faithfully, and he wished me well in doing it. In almost fifty years of public life, I have learned that you can measure a man's character by how he carries a loss. By that measure, Charles Hatcher was a giant. The titles never defined him. What defined him was the way he made people feel. He never met a stranger. He had a gift--and I mean a genuine gift--for making a person feel welcomed, valued, and heard. Whether he was walking the marbled halls of this Capitol, sitting at a kitchen table or visiting with his neighbors at Marina Towers, Charles Hatcher built relationships and brought people together In retirement he enjoyed his golf, but he never stopped giving himself away. He delivered for Meals on Wheels. He gave his time to charitable causes. He was a faithful member of Washington Street United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey once said that the moral test of government is how it treats those in the dawn of life, the children; those in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped. Mr. Speaker, Charles Hatcher passed that test--not only as a legislator casting votes on this floor, but as a man carrying a hot meal up a walkway to somebody who had nobody else coming. That is what a public servant looks like when the cameras are gone and the title has expired. The greatest beneficiaries of his love were the family he treasured. He is survived by his beloved wife, Krysta Harden; his sons, Chuck and his wife, Tracey, and Jon and his wife, Kris; his five grandchildren, Ansley, Chase, Boone, Tingen, and Walker; and his brother, Marcus Hatcher and his wife, Joy. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Polly Hatcher--a grief no father should have to carry, and one he bore with quiet grace--as well as his parents, C.E. and Agnes Hatcher, and his siblings, Clifford ``Bubba'' Hatcher, Irma Carr, Grace Adkins, and Glenn Hatcher. Mr. Speaker, the peanut fields of this country will bloom again this year, and the men and women who work them will never know all that Charles Hatcher did on their behalf. That is the nature of faithful service--most of it goes unseen and unthanked. But it is written down somewhere, and it is written down here today. Therefore, on behalf of my wife, Vivian, and me along with the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the extraordinary life of the Honorable Charles Floyd Hatcher, in extending our deepest sympathy to Krysta and to the entire Hatcher family, and in saying of this good and faithful servant: well done. ____________________