[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 20 (Thursday, February 7, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN HONOR OF BILL LAMBERT IN RECOGNITION OF HIS EXEMPLARY SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 7, 2008

  Mr. BECERRA. Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to rise today and pay 
tribute to Bill Lambert, an outstanding educator and passionate 
advocate for our students and teachers. Bill retired on January 2, 
2008, after 45 years of exceptional service to the students of the Los 
Angeles Unified School District, LAUSD, and the educators of the United 
Teachers of Los Angeles, UTLA.
  Uniquely, Bill is a product of the same school district to which he 
has committed his professional career. Bill is a proud alumnus of 
several schools in LAUSD and is a graduate of Fairfax High School. His 
public education served him well on the path toward achieving a 
bachelor of arts degree and teaching credential from the University of 
California at Los Angeles and a master's degree from California State 
University Los Angeles.
  Bill has enjoyed a distinguished career as a teacher and as a union 
advocate, all along fighting for greater opportunities for students, 
teachers, better wages and expanded benefits. He began his career in 
1955 as a teacher at Montague Elementary School and later continued 
educating students at Canterbury Elementary School. Following his early 
experiences as a teacher, Bill became active in a number of teachers' 
organizations including a stint as associate executive director of the 
Los Angeles Teachers' Association. In 1971, Bill played an instrumental 
role as one of the initial organizers of UTLA. Once UTLA was formed, he 
dedicated the next 36 years to advocating on behalf of teachers as the 
director of governmental affairs for UTLA. Today, UTLA represents 
44,000 teachers, counselors, psychologists, and nurses in LAUSD.
  According to a Latin proverb, ``By learning you will teach; by 
teaching you will learn.'' Bill Lambert certainly embodies these wise 
words. He spent his life in and out of classrooms learning and 
teaching, and then walked the halls of the United States Congress and 
the California State Legislature doing the same. His tireless advocacy 
on behalf of retired teachers and their pension and Social Security 
inequities is legendary. It's not an easy task to achieve well over 300 
bipartisan co-sponsors on a bill, but through ``pounding the 
pavement,'' that is exactly what Bill has helped achieve. Learning and 
teaching, teaching and learning, when combined with Bill's unstoppable 
energy and enthusiasm, you have a powerful combination.
  Bill's passionate belief that a public education can he used as a 
tool for upward mobility by students and communities throughout Los 
Angeles is also illustrated in his work as an advocate to improve the 
lives of working families. He has lent a strong, dedicated voice to the 
educators and students of Los Angeles as a champion for education and 
labor equity. Further, Los Angeles families are forever indebted to 
Bill for his instrumental role in addressing racial, ethnic and 
religious division in Los Angeles. His work organizing the ``Children 
of the Dream'' outreach program, which brought Israeli-Ethiopians to 
Los Angeles and took inner-city Los Angeles students to Israel, was 
successful in creating dialogue and understanding between various 
communities in Los Angeles.
  Bill's retirement marks the final chapter in a distinguished career 
in education that began and ends in Los Angeles. He has always been 
respected and admired for his dogged commitment to improving the lives 
of working families throughout Los Angeles, and his wonderfully giving 
spirit. I wish Bill much luck and leisure in the days to come when he 
can enjoy his cherished pastime of traveling. I suspect, however, that 
even in retirement Bill will continue to be a powerful and unyielding 
voice for children.
  Madam Speaker, as family, friends, and colleagues gather to celebrate 
Bill's many accomplishments, it is with great admiration and pride that 
I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting this exceptional advocate. 
On behalf of the countless students and educators to whom Bill Lambert 
has dedicated his career, and the entire labor community which has 
benefited immensely from his lifelong contributions, I say thank you 
and may you enjoy many more years of fruitful endeavors.

                          ____________________