[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 45 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE AND CAREER OF GEORGE R. TUCKER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 1, 2004

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life's work of 
George R. Tucker, retiring as the Regional Director and Executive 
Secretary of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal 
Employees (AFSCME) Ohio Council 8, AFL-CIO. Mr. Tucker has spent his 
career furthering the goals of organized labor in the struggle to 
improve the lives and livelihoods of the brothers and sisters and thus, 
make our Nation stronger.
  AFL Founder Samuel Gompers explained in an 1898 speech, ``To protect 
the workers in their inalienable rights to a higher and better life; to 
protect them, not only as equals before the law, but also in their 
health, their homes, their firesides, their liberties as men, as 
workers, as citizens; to overcome and conquer prejudices and 
antagonism; to secure to them the right to life, and the opportunity to 
maintain that life; the right to be full sharers in the abundance which 
is the result of their brain and brawn, and the civilization of which 
they are the founders and the mainstay. . . . The attainment of these 
is the glorious mission of the trade unions.'' His words ring as 
eloquently true in the dawn of the 21st century as they did in the 
waning of the 19th century. His words provide the blueprint by which 
labor leaders like George Tucker have always led, setting the economic 
and social achievements of the membership as a whole as their primary 
goal.
  George Tucker completed high school at Toledo's Woodward High School 
and followed that with service in the United States Navy. After more 
than two decades ``in the trenches,'' he became the staff 
representative for AFSCME's Ohio Council 8 in 1984. In 1987 he took on 
the responsibilities of Regional Director, adding Executive Secretary 
in 2002. Other offices Mr. Tucker has held during his tenure with 
AFSCME Ohio Council 8 are Secretary-Treasurer and Regional Vice 
President. At the same time, he has served the Toledo Area AFL-CIO on 
its steering committee and executive board and as President. He also 
holds a position on the national AFL-CIO's advisory board. Mr. Tucker 
gives of his time and talents to the United Labor Committee, Northwest 
Ohio Center for Labor Management Cooperation, Toledo Labor Management 
Citizens Committee, and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. In all 
these pursuits, he has championed the causes of better wages, benefits, 
and working conditions for the thousands of workers whose lives he has 
touched.
  Mr. Tucker has not limited his service to the union movement; he is 
also a community leader. He has ably and actively served on the boards 
of the local EMS, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Ohio Public 
Employers Lawyers Association, the Private Industry Council, United 
Way, Lucas County Democratic Party, Toledo Port Council, and the Down 
River Inter-City Hockey Club in Detroit and the Greater Toledo Amateur 
Hockey Association. He is a member of American Legion Post 110, 
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, Augsburg Lutheran Church, and the 
Placers Car Club.
  Reviewing the exhaustive list of George Tucker's civic activities, it 
is clear his retirement is most deserved and maybe a little bit 
welcome. We wish him a most enjoyable journey on this new path in his 
life. We hope he is able to spend time with his wife and their children 
and grandchildren, and pursue golfing and the hobby of antique cars 
with the same vigor with which he has pursued his public life. Even 
though he may be officially retiring, we know we can continue to count 
on George Tucker's learned wisdom and personal counsel. Our community 
has been bettered immeasurably as a result of his dedication and good 
cheer. Onward, friend.

                          ____________________