[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 A SALUTE TO FATHER GARRETT DORSEY, A CHAMPION OF WORKING MEN AND WOMEN

                                 ______


                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 1994

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute today to Father Garrett 
Dorsey for his outstanding service to the people of Pittsburgh and the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a champion of working men and women. A 
parish priest for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh for over 30 years, 
Father Dorsey has set an example of moral leadership and respect for 
working people which continues to inspire the people of the Pittsburgh 
area.
  On January 12, 1993, the Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing met in 
Pittsburgh, PA, to honor Father Dorsey for his steadfast commitment to 
fighting for the improvement of living conditions for working people 
and the poor. As chairman of the Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing, 
Father Dorsey has been a tireless spokesperson for dislocated workers, 
economically depressed mill town communities, and the cause of 
manufacturing renewal. An active supporter of unionism and community 
grassroots organizations, he has lent his considerable skills as a 
compassionate listener and sympathetic supporter to numerous 
organizations that seek to improve living conditions for working people 
and the economically disadvantaged.
  Born in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on April 15, 
1933, of Irish parents, he attended St. Mary's of the Mount High School 
and received his bachelor of the arts degree at St. Vincent's College 
in Latrobe, PA. After ordination, he continued his theological 
education obtaining a Licenicate in Sacred Theology at St. Mary's 
Seminary in Baltimore, MD. He also pursued doctoral studies in Moral 
Theology and Patristics at Catholic University in Washington, DC. In 
subsequent years, he served at Annunciation Parish on the north side of 
Pittsburgh. He has also served as chaplain to the Sisters of St. Joseph 
in Baden, PA, and has been an instructor in theology at Carlow College 
in Pittsburgh, PA.
  Father Dorsey has followed in the footsteps of Pittsburgh's famous 
labor priest Msgr. Charles Owen Rice, to whom Father Dorsey served as 
an assistant at Holy Rosary Church in the Homewood area of Pittsburgh. 
For the past 20 years, Father Dorsey has been pastor at St. Stephen's 
Parish in the Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, an industrial 
neighborhood in the shadow of LTV's massive Pittsburgh Coke Works. In 
1980, he joined the Tri-State Conference on Steel, the forerunner of 
the Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing, which organized a meeting in 
Hazelwood protesting the partial shutdown of the J&L mill in the area. 
From that time, he served as the chairman of the Tri-State Conference 
and has been an important spokesperson in struggles around Mesta 
Machine, the Dorothy Six blast furnace in Duquesne, the Union Switch 
and Signal in Swissvale, the Electric Furnace in Southside, and the 
City Pride Bakery in Lawrenceville.
  Father Dorsey is a member of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Commission on 
Justice and Peace. He was also instrumental in forming the Diocesan 
Task Force on Unemployment for then Bishop Bevilacqua. He also serves 
on the executive committee of the Mon Valley/Tri-State Network and is a 
board member of MagLev, Inc. Father Dorsey is also a former board 
member of Just Harvest.
  Mr. Speaker, Father Dorsey has been a ``pater familias'' for the Tri-
State Conference on Steel, providing stability for an organization that 
has provided sharp but constructive criticism of economic trends which 
displaced many local workers during the past decade. His compassion and 
dedication and good humor have been a source of inspiration and support 
to all who have worked with him. Father Garrett Dorsey has made a 
difference in Pittsburgh.

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