[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 58 (Thursday, April 10, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO CLINTON FAIR ON THE OCCASION OF HIS INDUCTION INTO THE UPPER 
                      PENINSULA LABOR HALL OF FAME

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 2003

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the live and 
achievements of Clinton Fair, who will be honored posthumously for his 
service to the cause of American working men and women with induction 
into the Upper Peninsula Labor Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Marquette, 
Michigan on April 26, 2003.
  Clinton Fair earned degrees from Eastern Michigan University and the 
University of Wisconsin before taking his first job as a schoolteacher 
in St. Ignace, Michigan in 1931. He taught there and in Dearborn, 
Michigan before and after World War II. During that war, he served for 
five years with distinction in the U.S. Navy, leaving service as a 
lieutenant commander.
  After the war, Clinton Fair began his career in organized labor as a 
delegate to the local branch of the American Federation of Teachers in 
association with the Detroit unit of the American Federation of Labor.
  In 1947, he began working as assistant to John Reid, secretary of the 
Michigan Federation of Labor, and was soon named director of the 
Michigan Labor League's political action committee. In that capacity, 
he worked on the successful 1948 gubernatorial campaign of G. Mennen 
``Soapy'' Williams.
  After the election, Clinton served on Governor Williams's staff until 
1951, when he returned to the Michigan Federation of Labor as its 
legislative director. In 1953, he became education director for Region 
7 of the Allied Industrial Workers. From there, he rose to the national 
labor scene and became secretary of the American Federation of 
Teachers.
  Over the next twenty years, Clinton Fair contributed his considerable 
skills to his labor brethren in many capacities, including work on the 
Social Security task force of the national AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., 
a stint as legislative representative for the California State AFL-CIO, 
and a final term at the AFL-CIO national office before retiring in 
1975.
  Coming full circle, he moved back to St. Ignace in retirement, but 
for Clinton Fair, retirement was not an entirely accurate description. 
He continued his work on behalf of labor, handling special assignments 
for the Michigan and national AFL-CIO offices.
  He also branched out into community service, and was elected to the 
Mackinac County Board of Commissioners, serving in the capacity until 
1980. His death in 1982 was a severe loss to his family, his community, 
his colleagues and the friends he made over a lifetime of hard work and 
dedication to bettering the lives of working Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my House colleagues to join me in 
acknowledging Clinton Fair's lifetime of contributions to organized 
labor and his community, and in celebrating the accomplishments that 
have earned him the distinction of becoming an honored member of the 
Upper Peninsula Labor Hall of Fame.

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