[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 127 (Monday, September 8, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5370-S5371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JOSEPH CALNAN

 Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, today I honor Mayor Joseph Calnan, 
of Anaconda, MT. It is with pride that I recognize his dedication and 
service to those Montanans who most needed a helping hand.
  Joseph Calnan believed in the value of hard work. He spent 30 years 
working for the Butte Anaconda Pacific Railroad. Each night he returned 
home for dinner with his wife and seven children before heading out to 
his second job at a local store. The only interruption in his long 
career was the 4 years he spent working as the mayor of Anaconda.
  Mayor ``Joe'' Calnan took office in 1963 and immediately began 
fighting for a better Anaconda. He worked to beautify Anaconda's 
Common, taking it from a weedy field to the lush, tree-filled park it 
is today. Joe fought to open land for business development at a time 
when one in five Americans was living below the poverty line. He knew 
the importance of creating jobs so hardworking folks would have a 
chance to provide for their families. His own children still remember 
him saying time and again, ``We have plenty of picnic tables in 
Anaconda. But without jobs, there won't be food to put on those 
tables.''
  As he worked on the local level, Joe also kept an eye on national 
politics. On August 20 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 
Economic Opportunity Act into law, creating the Job Corps. Job Corps 
allows young people from low income families to get the training they 
needed to enter the workforce, free of charge. Joe began his campaign 
to bring a Job Corps center to Anaconda immediately.
  First, Joe wrote to Sergeant Shriver, Special Assistant to the 
President, to request the establishment of a Job Corps center at the 
Forest Creek Picnic Area just west of Anaconda. He received an 
encouraging reply, and traveled to Washington to meet with Senators 
Mike Mansfield and Lee Metcalf and Representative Arnold Olsen to 
finalize his proposal. When the first three Job Corps students arrived 
in Anaconda in 1966, they got off the bus to find Joe waiting there for 
them in his personal car. Through a partnership with the Forest 
Service, the Job Corps program thrived at the Anaconda Job Corps 
Civilian Conservation Center.
  The Anaconda Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center has graduated 
over 14,000 students since it opened its door, over 160 students are 
currently enrolled, and most importantly, 86 percent of enrolled 
students get jobs.
  On August 20, Job Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary. At the 
Anaconda Center, the Forest Service dedicated its newly completed 
dining hall to Mayor Calnan in honor of his hard work to bring the Job 
Corps to his town. While Joe has passed away, his children, 
grandchildren, and great grandchildren were there to celebrate

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the event. Job Corps students had created the metal sign dedicating the 
dining hall, the same sort of hard-working young people that Joe spent 
so much time helping during his time as mayor. They put it best. The 
sign reads simply, ``Joseph F. Calnan Thank You for Your 
Vision.''

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