[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 169 (Thursday, October 19, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING LARRY MISHEL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 19, 2017

  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, for more than 30 years, trickle-down 
economics has influenced our policies to redistribute economic power to 
the top.
  My friend and outgoing Executive Director, Larry Mishel has long been 
at the forefront of developing progressive economic alternatives to 
counter the popularity and effectiveness of trickle-down theory. Thanks 
in large part to his research; we know trickle-down policies gave us 
slower growth and stagnant wages for working families.
  Throughout his career--before, becoming President of the Economic 
Policy Institute--Larry focused on researching the wages of working 
people and making the case for actions that would raise these wages. He 
realized how important power was in this equation, and so he argued for 
measures to improve the rights of working people to organize and 
bargain for higher wages.
  Larry's work on the discrepancy between wages and productivity, and 
his analysis of skyrocketing CEO pay, were the first of their kind. 
Larry has expanded on and refined this research over the last 30 years. 
Larry's recent work focuses on workers' rights and how the erosion of 
unions has hurt working people--union and non-union alike.
  Throughout his career, Larry Mishel has created a necessary counter 
balance to the ``common knowledge'' Wall Street approach to economic 
policy in the U.S. He did this through his own research, but also by 
building EPI up as a research organization willing to take on the 
conventional wisdom in either party.
  We all know the immeasurable contribution Larry and EPI have made to 
successive campaigns to raise minimum wages at the federal and state 
levels. For years, EPI's Policy Center has provided the economic 
analysis of the Progressive Caucus budget. We know the budget adds up, 
would boost wages, and would, in time, lower the deficit. We know it 
would build better infrastructure and a better education system because 
EPI, under Larry's leadership, runs all the numbers for us, and alerts 
us if our plans threaten to come up short in any way. Larry's 
contribution is incredibly valuable as it provides a concrete framework 
for our fight to support working folks across the country.
  After 30 years at EPI--15 as President--Larry is stepping aside at 
the end of 2017. He will continue to provide innovative research on the 
rights and wages of working people. And, he will remain at EPI as a 
senior researcher. Thea Lee, who is the incoming President, will have 
big shoes to fill. However, Thea is the perfect fit to build on Larry's 
legacy and EPI's work on behalf of low- and middle-income families.
  I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to Larry for his years of 
service, and I look forward to seeing the incredible work he will do in 
the months and years to come.

                          ____________________