[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 146 (Monday, October 3, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF MR. TIMOTHY DOWNING

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 3, 2011

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mr. Timothy 
Downing who is being awarded the 2011 Cleveland Stonewall Democrats 
Leadership Award at the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats' Freedom Fund 
Reception on September 26, 2011.
  The Cleveland Stonewall Democrats is one of more than ninety chapters 
of the National Stonewall Democrats throughout the country. They are a 
grassroots movement devoted to securing equal rights for all people, 
regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
  Mr. Downing graduated with his undergraduate degree from Allegheny 
College in 1985 and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from 
Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University. He began his career in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the law firm of Rose, Schmidt, Hasley and 
Disalle. For the past 23 years Mr. Dowing has been co-chair of the 
Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Cleveland law firm Ulmer & 
Berne LLP, where he is also a partner. Mr. Downing is an active member 
of the American, Ohio State, and Cleveland Bar Associations' Labor & 
Employment Sections/Committees. He has also served as the chair of the 
Financial Committee for Ohio's Local Government Reform and 
Collaboration Commission for 18 months under former Governor 
Strickland. Mr. Downing has been recognized throughout his career; he 
was named a ``Super Lawyer'' by Cincinnati Law & Politics magazine and 
a ``Leading Lawyer'' by Inside Business magazine for the past 10 
consecutive years.
  In addition to his career, Mr. Downing is also an outspoken activist 
and advocate for the LGBT community. He founded Equality Ohio, an 
organization dedicated to ``an Ohio where everyone feels home; living 
in families and communities where equality, diversity and inclusiveness 
are universally valued; and where government protects all people and 
responds to their needs, regardless of sexual orientation and gender 
identity or expression.'' Mr. Downing is currently the co-chair of the 
Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's 
largest LGBT civil rights and education organization.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in congratulating Mr. 
Timothy Downing on the occasion of being honored with the 2011 
Cleveland Stonewall Democrats Leadership Award.

                          ____________________