[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING MARY BERGAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 14, 2007

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary 
accomplishments of Ms. Mary Bergan, who has dutifully served and 
enriched the California Federation of Teachers and the labor movement 
for over 35 years. Her work has affected the lives of teachers and 
their students throughout the 9th Congressional District, and the great 
State of California.
  Ms. Mary Bergan has been involved in community politics, 
volunteerism, and education for her entire adult life. After graduating 
from the prestigious University of California, Berkeley in 1965 with a 
B.A. in English, Mary promptly joined the Peace Corps. For 3 years Mary 
lived in Malaysia teaching English language and literature and coaching 
athletics. In this way, Mary has always been acutely aware of the 
importance of both healthy minds and bodies for her students. When Mary 
returned to the United States she became a teacher, and immediately 
started organizing for the California Federation of Teachers, CFT.
  For more than three decades her passion and activism has rightly 
placed her in leadership positions throughout the State of California, 
both within her profession as an educator and within the greater 
Democratic Party. In 1976, while Jerry Brown was Governor of 
California, Ms. Bergan was chosen as a delegate to the Democratic 
National Conventions. Shortly after, in the 1980's, Mary was elected as 
the chair of the Labor Caucus of the California Democratic Party. She 
continued her role as a delegate at the Democratic National Conventions 
in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.
  In 1991 Mary took her leadership skills, compassion, and dedicated 
experience to task. She was elected by her peers as president of the 
CFT. Only a year later, in 1992, Mary was elected vice president of the 
American Federation of Teachers, AFT, a national position of both great 
prestige and great responsibility. Not satisfied merely holding a title 
or position, Mary has participated in and continues to serve in 
numerous capacities within the AFT. She is a member of the Teachers 
Program and Policy Council, where she serves primarily on the council's 
working group on early childhood education. She is also a member of the 
organizing committee, the Task Force on Health Care Reform, and the 
State Federations Advisory Committee.
  When she was elected president of the CFT Ms. Bergen pledged ``to 
renew the organization's commitment to excellence in education, to 
reinforce its efforts to increase education funding and to raise the 
organization's profile in the media and public eye.'' This is exactly 
what Mary has done, and continues to do. She is an outspoken advocate 
of our children and the conditions of our teachers.
  Mary has always been quick to respond to the political issues of the 
day which most affect education, and she continues to be famously 
truthful and clear in those responses. Mary does not play with words, 
she does not play games with her positions on issues, and she does not 
play with the futures of our children and teachers. Mary has long known 
that the better the conditions are for our teachers, the better our 
schools will be. Ultimately, taking care of our teachers affords our 
students the greatest opportunities for success in their own lives.
  A true servant educator in every sense, Mary Bergan has immeasurably 
contributed to our community, our State, and our Nation. On behalf of 
California's 9th Congressional District, I thank and applaud Mary 
Bergan for the more than 35 years of unwavering service and 
inspiration.

                          ____________________