[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING MARIO DeSANTIS FOR A LIFE OF SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 2004

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate 
Yonkers, New York, resident Mario DeSantis on his retirement after 57 
years of service on behalf of Americans in Westchester County and all 
over the country.
  As a young clerk at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Mr. DeSantis 
helped organize the employees of what was then the Manhattan District 
of the IRS as members of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). 
The NTEU is the largest independent non-postal Federal employees union 
in the country, representing about 150,000 workers in 29 different 
government agencies. NTEU Chapter 47, to which Mr. DeSantis belongs and 
which he helped found, now represents 1,600 IRS employees in New York 
City and Westchester County.
  Mr. DeSantis quickly took a leadership role in NTEU Chapter 47. As he 
rose through the ranks of the IRS to become a revenue officer, Mr. 
DeSantis also rose through the ranks of NTEU Chapter 47 as a steward, 
assistant chief steward, and associate vice president. His enthusiastic 
and effective work in these roles led to his election as national vice 
president for District 5 at the 1985 NTEU national convention.
  He has also served as the legislative coordinator for Chapter 47 for 
the past 20 years. In this post, Mr. DeSantis has led the chapter's 
legislative advocacy program on behalf of all Federal employees. He has 
lobbied for better pay and benefits, against schemes to contract out 
government work, and to protect overtime pay. He has been particularly 
successful at organizing voter registration efforts. Each year, these 
drives have registered hundreds of citizens across Westchester County 
to vote. Because of his success as legislative coordinator, he came to 
lead the New York State delegation to the NTEU legislative conferences.
  Mr. DeSantis is also a talented jazz musician and a member of the 
American Federation of Musicians (AFM). He has performed both 
professionally and at Chapter 47 holiday parties. His work on behalf of 
members of both AFM and NTEU came together in Las Vegas in 1995 during 
the NTEU national convention. Mr. DeSantis organized convention 
delegates to help walk a picket line at Caesar's Palace in solidarity 
with picketing members of AFM.
  This anecdote clearly demonstrates the devotion and enthusiasm that 
Mr. DeSantis has brought to his struggle in support of workers all over 
the United States, from Federal employees to professional musicians. We 
can all take inspiration from the way that he sees a problem in 
society, whether the high number of unregistered voters or a lack of 
adequate benefits for workers, and commits himself to help fix that 
problem.-
  I thank Mr. DeSantis for almost 6 decades of public service and wish 
him the best in his retirement. The IRS, the members of NTEU and AFM, 
and the residents of Westchester County will all miss him. I am 
confident that, although he is retiring, the legacy Mr. DeSantis leaves 
behind will continue to motivate others to embrace service to their 
country with the commitment and energy that he did.

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