[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S2409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO ROBERT L. TUNSTALL

 Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, Mr. Robert L. Tunstall of Oregon 
has spent a lifetime in service to his fellow Americans--as a member of 
the U.S. Marine Corps, as a U.S. postal worker, and as a dedicated 
representative of his many colleagues in the Postal Service.
  In November 1998, Mr. Tunstall was elected to the third-highest 
office of the American Postal Workers Union AFL-CIO, becoming the 
organization's secretary-treasurer. Prior to that election, Mr. 
Tunstall was twice chosen as director of the union's clerk division, 
serving from 1992 to 1998.
  Mr. Tunstall's illustrious service record with the APWU spans more 
than three decades. He became president of the Portland, OR local in 
1974 and served until 1976. He followed that service as a national 
representative from 1976-1978, national vice-president for the Seattle 
region from 1978-1985, and as assistant clerk division director from 
1985 until 1992. Mr. Tunstall also represented APWU members as a member 
of the rank and file bargaining advisory committee in 1975 and as 
chairman of the appeals committee in 1982.
  Mr. Tunstall's employment with the U.S. Postal Service began nearly 
40 years ago. In 1963, after completing four years in the U.S. Marine 
Corps. Mr. Tunstall was hired as a distribution clerk. He went on to 
hold numerous positions, including stamp supply clerk, bulk mail clerk, 
postage due clerk, box section clerk and pouch rack clerk.
  Mr. Tunstall was born in Sioux Falls, SD, but raised and educated in 
Portland, OR. After graduating from Portland's Jefferson High School, 
he attended Multnomah Junior College, where he made the dean's list in 
1967; he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Portland State University 
in 1969. Later, in 1977, Mr. Tunstall earned a law degree at 
Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College. Mr. Tunstall has 
taught at the Labor Education Research Center of the University of 
Oregon.
  In addition to a career of honorable service, Robert Tunstall has 
built a fine family as well. He is married to Rae Ann; they have a son, 
Brett, a daughter, Brooke, and a grandson, Matthew Martinez. I am proud 
to honor this fellow Oregonian today and I hope that Oregon and the 
nation benefit from many more years of his public service.

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