[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 181 (Thursday, December 19, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S9048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      REMEMBERING GEORGE M. LEADER

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, as this year ends, I wish to 
remember and honor George M. Leader, a former Governor of Pennsylvania, 
who passed away on May 9, 2013. Throughout his life, Governor Leader 
worked to give voice to the voiceless and protect some of the most 
vulnerable Pennsylvanians.
  Governor Leader was raised on his parents' poultry farm and educated 
in a one room schoolhouse before going on to study philosophy, 
economics and political science at Gettysburg College. He served in the 
Navy during World War II and returned to open a chicken hatchery in 
York County, PA. He got his start in politics serving on the York 
County Democratic Committee then winning a seat vacated by his father 
to the State Senate. In 1954, he decided to run for Governor and won 
that election becoming, at age 37, the second youngest Governor in 
Pennsylvania.
  While in office, Governor Leader enacted the Industrial Development 
Authority in 1956 which provided State financing in order to attract 
new and diverse industries. The program attracted 71 new businesses and 
created 12,000 new jobs within the first 30 months. Governor Leader 
also championed civil rights in all forms. He created the Fair 
Employment Practices Council to police employment discrimination, and 
fought for William and Daisy Meyers' family when they were threatened 
for moving into a white neighborhood. He required Pennsylvania schools 
to educate children with disabilities, which raised the enrollment by 
250,000. He created the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's 
Vocational Rehabilitation Center, which was the first facility in the 
country that provided rehabilitation and job training for people with 
disabilities. He also established the State Office of Aging and began 
the inspection of nursing homes.
  Governor Leader left office in 1959, but that did not end his service 
to the people of Pennsylvania. He established Leader Health Care 
Organization and later Country Meadows and Providence Place Retirement 
Communities to provide high quality retirement services for our older 
citizens.
  Hubert Humphrey once said that the moral test of government is how it 
treats those in the dawn of life, those in the twilight of life and 
those in the shadows of life. Governor Leader not only passed this 
test, he set a standard for other elected officials to follow. My 
thoughts are with the Leader family during this holiday season and we 
thank George Leader for his life of service to our Commonwealth and our 
country.

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