[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 121 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO SAM T. HART

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 4, 2003

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding 
leader in Michigan's labor community on the occasion of his retirement 
after over 30 years of service. Sam Hart, Business Manager, 
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324, is an operating 
engineer through and through. Starting as a pipe liner in Michigan, he 
rose through the ranks to distinguish himself within the state and the 
nation as a thoughtful and effective labor leader.
  Mr. Hart was initiated in the International Union of Operating 
Engineers in 1959. He was appointed the Business Representative for 
Local 324 in 1971 and was first elected to the Executive Board in 1977. 
His leadership in organizing members in the Operating Engineers and on 
issues of health care and retirement security, so vital to the working 
men and women he represents, catapulted him to the highest tier of 
leadership and gained the local union a reputation throughout the state 
and nation.
  Local 324 is considered one of the strongest local unions in 
Michigan, with the largest percentage of its workers organized 
throughout the skilled trades. Local 324 is consistently listed as one 
of the top 25 locals in the State.
  Sam Hart's good work has called him into numerous positions of 
service. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the North and Central 
States Conference in 1990, the largest conference of operating 
engineers in the United States. He served on the negotiating Committee 
for the National Pipe Line Agreement for the entire U.S. and Canada. He 
served as President of the Michigan State Building Trades and on the 
Detroit AFL-CIO Executive Board. He was elected as a General Vice 
President to the International Union of Operating Engineers beginning 
in 1994 and was appointed Chairman of the General Pension in 2000.
  I have been honored to know Sam Hart as a friend over so many of 
these years. What friends say about Sam Hart is probably most telling 
about the man whose career will be honored on Saturday, September 6, 
2003. He is ``thoughtful,'' ``level-headed,'' ``decent,'' a 
``gentleman'' and a ``family man to the core.'' I ask my colleagues to 
join me in paying tribute to the work of Sam Hart and to wish him, his 
wife, Darlene, and their entire family health and happiness in the 
years ahead.




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