[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S10407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF THE RETIREMENT OF THE HONORABLE GUS CIFELLI

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
Honorable Gus Cifelli, who will retire later this year from a career 
which has included a Purple Heart, a world championship, and nearly 30 
years of exemplary service as a District Court Judge in the State of 
Michigan. Throughout each phase of this career, he has been a leader 
and an inspiration to those around him.
  During World War II, Judge Cifelli served in the United States Marine 
Corps in the Pacific theater of operations, and was awarded the Purple 
Heart for bravery. Upon returning home, he attended school at the 
University of Notre Dame, where he played tackle for four undefeated 
football teams. Following graduation, he played professional football, 
and was a member of the 1952 World Champion Detroit Lions, the Green 
Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
  Following his professional football career, Judge Cifelli worked as a 
casualty insurance agent and investigator and a labor relations 
representative for the Ford Motor Company. In 1972, the citizens of the 
State of Michigan's 48th District elected him to serve as their 
District Court Judge.
  During his time on the bench, Mr. Cifelli has been credited with 
initiating and implementing the Court's small claims mediation 
procedures, staffed by volunteer attorneys. He has also created the 
Volunteer in Probation Program, which involves citizens as probation 
officers, and been responsible for the establishment of many procedures 
and standards for the Court's operation. To say the least, he has 
indelibly left his mark upon the 48th Circuit Court.
  Judge Cifelli is a member of the American and Michigan Bar 
Associations, the American Judges' Association, the Justinian Society 
of Jurists and the American Judicature Society. He is also a member of 
the Italian American Foundation, the Oakland County Association for 
Retarded Citizens, and is a former board member of Families in 
Transition and the Jewish Association for Residential Care.
  Judge Cifelli has often been recognized for his efforts. In 1994, he 
was named Italian American Man of the Year. In 1997, he was the 
recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award from the State of 
Israel Bonds. And in 1998, he received the Law Enforcement Award.
  I would like to thank Judge Cifelli for a lifetime of extraordinary 
achievement. Wherever he has gone, he has stood as a role model within 
the community, and his leadership will be dearly missed. On behalf of 
the entire United States Senate, I congratulate the Honorable Gus 
Cifelli on a wonderful and successful career, and wish him the best of 
luck in retirement.

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