[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 25, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRATULATING JIM PARENT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 25, 2012

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
Jim Parent on his retirement as President of the Connecticut State 
Council of Machinists.
  James M. Parent was born in 1946 in Van Buren, Maine, and now lives 
with his wife Robertine in Glastonbury where they raised their two 
children. A former member of the Glastonbury Democratic Town Committee, 
Jim has also served as Vice Chair of the Democratic State Central 
Finance Committee.
  Jim served his country in Vietnam and returned to continue his public 
service by joining the labor movement. Jim's knowledge and expertise as 
an activist for Connecticut's machinists started when he was employed 
at Pratt & Whitney in 1965 in East Hartford. Since then, Jim has been a 
fierce advocate for the Machinists' 14,000 members, and has served as 
the Business Representative for the Machinists Union, Executive Board 
member of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists and as Hartford 
Area Vice President from 1986 to 1991, when he was elected President of 
the Council.
  As President, he has been a leading advocate for workers in 
Connecticut. I witnessed his leadership firsthand when we worked 
together to fight the closing of the Pratt & Whitney Connecticut 
Airfoil Repair Operation (CARO) and Cheshire Engine Center.
  Jim's advocacy earned him the Connecticut AFL-CIO Leadership Award in 
1997. I am proud to call Jim Parent an ally in the fight to keep good 
jobs in Connecticut, and to stop the crippling trend of outsourcing. We 
have worked together to bring jobs back to the United States through 
efforts to strengthen ``Buy American'' laws. I know that Jim will 
continue to be a leader and an advocate for Connecticut's working 
families even after his retirement. I am honored to call Jim Parent my 
friend, and I wish him well in his retirement.

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