[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 122 (Friday, September 17, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1896-E1897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO FRANK GARRISON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 17, 1999

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, September 21, 1999, a dinner will 
be held in honor of Frank Garrison, President of Michigan AFL-CIO.
  The dinner will mark the more than four decades of Frank Garrison's 
public service. The chairs of the dinner will include two former 
Governors, William Milliken and James Blanchard. The sponsorship of two 
leaders from different political parties is a reflection of the broad 
nature of Frank Garrison's activities. During his service as the 
legislative director for the UAW in the 1970s and early 1980s, he was a 
key player in a wide variety of efforts, including the lobbyist 
disclosure law enacted in 1976, the Open Meetings Act, and the 
Essential Insurance Act and other insurance reforms that protected 
consumers' access to insurance at fair prices. He also fought for 
measures to bring health care to more of Michigan's citizens.
  An equal, if not greater passion, was that of participation in the 
political process in general and the Democratic Party in particular. I 
first came to know Frank well when I was running for Governor in the 
1970s. There were many a plant gate that we visited together, often in 
the dark wee hours of the early morning. We

[[Page E1897]]

were determined to meet voters face to face, often ourselves facing the 
obstacles of climbing around, and a few times over plant gates to reach 
incoming or outgoing workers, not always reaching our destination with 
complete ease.
  Of all Frank Garrison's public passions, however, the greatest was 
the labor movement. He delved deeply into its efforts to represent 
Michigan's workers and give them a fair share of the economic pie. He 
deeply believes that the reforms of the 1930s giving workers the right 
to organize and be heard was one of the key ingredients of the success 
of American capitalism. He has fought to unite labor movement and to 
make certain that it was a vital participant in all facets of the 
public arena.
  As Frank Garrison retires, I join his many friends in saying to him 
how much we admire his years of service, often at very considerable 
sacrifice for himself, his wife Dora and their three daughters. He can 
leave and move on to the next challenge with an inner feeling of true 
accomplishment