[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 27, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H6559-H6560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN RECOGNITION OF DEDICATED SERVICE BY MR. ROBERT TOBIAS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to recognize the 
outstanding efforts of Robert Tobias on behalf of Federal employees. 
After 31 years of service to the National Treasury Employees Union and 
16 years as its president, Bob is retiring to spend more time with his 
family.
  Words alone cannot adequately explain the impact Bob Tobias has had 
over the past 31 years. To say that he is a leader in the Federal 
employee community simply does not do him or the contributions that he 
has made justice.
  Bob has built NTEU from a union of 22,000 members located solely in 
the Treasury Department to a union of 155,000 employees representing 
Federal employees in 22 agencies. Legislatively, I cannot think of one 
major gain that Federal employees have made since I was elected to 
Congress in 1981 that has not had Bob Tobias' hand in it.
  The list of accomplishments is impressive: helping to create the 
Federal Employee Retirement System; suing the Nixon administration and 
recovering $533 million of back pay owed to Federal employees; allowing 
CSRS-covered Federal employee to have another FERS open season when he 
won a Supreme Court case challenging the President's use of the line 
item veto power; IRS restructuring; assisting me in passing the Federal 
Employees Pay Comparability Act; working to institute alternative work 
schedules; telecommuting; and on-site child care for Federal employees.
  The one area where I think Bob's influence was most deeply felt was 
the creation of partnership in the workplace and in the reinvention of 
government. When Vice President Gore's reinvention efforts began, the 
Federal workplace was at a crossroads. The old adversarial relationship 
between labor and management simply was not working. Government needed 
to be more efficient and accomplish more with less resources and 
personnel.
  Participating with the reinvention effort was not easy. It took 
courage and vision, because, Mr. Speaker, part of the effort called for 
downsizing the Federal work force to its lowest level since the Kennedy 
administration. At that time, reinvention and partnership had a lot of 
detractors, but Bob Tobias and the late AFGE president, John 
Sturdivant, had a vision and took the risk. They took the risk, and I 
believe for the first time the talent of the rank-and-file employees 
started to be harnessed.
  It paid off, Mr. Speaker, because bargaining unit employees for the 
first time got a seat at the table. They got a say in how their agency 
was run. This risk did not only benefit the members that Bob 
represented but ultimately paid off for the American taxpayer, who 
benefited from a more efficient and responsive government.
  In his letter to chapter presidents in February, Bob wrote, and I 
quote:

[[Page H6560]]

 ``From my first day at NTEU, my goal has been to move us from 
helplessness and despair to dignity and respect; from being ignored to 
being recognized and included; and from acting alone to experiencing 
our collective power of collective action.''
  Mr. Speaker, Bob Tobias has achieved those goals and NTEU members and 
the American people are better off today because of his efforts. We 
wish him well, and we wish him all the best in the future, and we thank 
him for his service.
  Mr. Speaker, I often observed to groups of employees to whom I spoke 
that there was no better labor leader in America than Bob Tobias. He 
cared about his people, he worked tirelessly on their behalf, he 
advocated in their best interest and, like most successful leaders, 
accomplished much for all of those he represented. But as I said 
earlier in my statement, not only did he accomplish great things for 
them, but he made the workforce of the American people, the Federal 
employees, a better, more effective, more efficient, more disciplined, 
more focused workforce. And for that, we in America owe him a great 
debt of gratitude. America and its government are a better place for 
the service of Robert Tobias.
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the work Bob Tobias has 
done for federal employees. Bob has been the president of the National 
Treasury Employees Union since 1983 and has been with this organization 
for the last 31 years. No doubt about it--Bob Tobias has positively 
affected the character of the NTEU.
  As chairman of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Subcommittee, I have had the honor and privilege of working closely 
with Bob on many issues. He has always been honest, compassionate, and 
unrelenting in fighting for what he believed to be the right course of 
action. I will always look back favorably on the times I have spent 
working with Mr. Tobias.
  It is my understanding that Bob will be 56 years old in August, which 
is when his fourth term will expire. I wish him the best in his next 
endeavor. I'm told that he plans to write or teach, and even though he 
is an alumnus from the University of Michigan, and not from another 
more formidable ``Big 10'' school--Northwestern University from which I 
graduated--I am pleased to recognize Mr. Robert M. Tobias for his work 
with the NTEU.

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