[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BILL LAMBERT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 7, 2004

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I ask my 
colleagues to join me in saluting my very good friend and an all around 
great guy, Bill Lambert, who for 40 years has served the United 
Teachers of Los Angeles as their Political Director. His colleagues 
will honor him at the UTLA Leadership Conference this summer.
  Bill has worked tirelessly for decades on behalf of the teachers and 
the students of Los Angeles. He has counseled me on the intricacies of 
many difficult education issues, provided special insights on many 
bills I've sponsored, and hounded me mercilessly to work harder for his 
schools, find more funding for his projects and solve more problems for 
his teachers. He has demonstrated a special commitment to improving 
vocational education for students who are not college bound.
  When Bill began his involvement in Teachers' organizations in 1957, 
teachers in Los Angeles had no family health insurance plans and no 
added bonuses for teaching over 30 years. He was a founder and key 
member of advocacy groups including the Elementary Teachers Association 
of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Teachers Association. An extremely 
successful negotiator, he has succeeded in winning both an excellent 
salary increase and improved benefits for Los Angeles' teachers.
  Bill was born in the Bronx, but spent most of his life in Los 
Angeles. An alumnus of UCLA with a Masters Degree from Cal State Los 
Angeles, he began his long career in education in 1955 as a teacher at 
Montague Elementary School. He soon gained leadership positions among 
his fellow teachers and eventually became a legislative advocate on 
their behalf. He helped lobby along with United Teachers of Los Angeles 
for the revolutionary Rodda Act, which in 1975 became the first 
collective bargaining bill for teachers in California history.
  Among his finest accomplishments is Bill's work for Children of the 
Dream, a program that puts children of diverse backgrounds--Israeli and 
Arab, Pakistani and Indian--together to help shatter stereotypes and 
create understanding. In 1997 he won the NEA Applegate Doros 
International Understanding Award.
  Bill and his wonderful wife, Lenore, have four fine, successful 
children.
  Please join me today in honoring my close friend, Bill Lambert, for 
his outstanding contributions to our community and for his steadfast 
commitment to the education of our children and to their teachers.

                          ____________________