[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO RAY PERRY, C.O.P.E. UNITY AWARD RECIPIENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2000

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, today I honor a distinguished American, a 
proud Californian and a great labor leader, Ray Perry, who has been 
chosen to receive the C.O.P.E. Unity Award at the 21st, Annual 
Committee on Political Education banquet.
  Ray Perry has devoted more than two decades of his life in steadfast 
support of the San Mateo County California Central Labor Council. Since 
the beginning of his career as an apprentice mechanic at Alameda Naval 
Air Station in 1966, Ray Perry has brought his skills and energy to 
community activism and has become a leader of the labor community. 
First appointed as a Delegate to the San Mateo Central Labor Council in 
1979, Ray Perry is now President of the International Association of 
Machinists, Local Lodge 1781, representing over 10,000 employees of 
United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport.
  As a Delegate, he's worked tirelessly to guide and develop the COPE 
structure into one of the most well organized, innovative and effective 
political programs in San Mateo County. Because of his leadership in 
the campaign to gather signatures, the drive to restore CAL-OSHA was 
successful in preserving the toughest worker safety program in our 
nation.
  Today, Ray Perry continues his extraordinary work. As Chairman of the 
U.A.L. Grievance Committee, he is currently working to strengthen the 
United Airlines Labor Coalition of Machinists, the Association of 
Flight Attendants, and the Airline Pilots Association. He is widely 
admired for his boundless energy and his effective work as well as his 
passionate crusade to improve the lives of those around him.
  Ray Perry's life of leadership and community involvement is 
instructive to us all. His dedication to the ideals of democracy and 
public service stand tall. I ask my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to join me 
in honoring this good man whom I'm privileged to know and call my 
friend. We are indeed a better community and a better country because 
of him.

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