[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 56 (Monday, April 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO DR. WILLIAM ``BILL'' TUCKER

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Dr. William 
Tucker as he celebrates his 90th birthday. Bill is an entrepreneur and 
former government official and presently serves as president of Penn 
Century Corporation.
  In 1951, Bill married the Honorable C. Delores Tucker, who later went 
on to become the first African-American woman to serve as 
Pennsylvania's Secretary of State. As a young man, Bill proudly served 
in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953. Shortly after, he attended Lincoln 
University where he graduated in 1960 with a bachelor of arts degree. 
In May 2011, he received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from 
Lincoln University.
  Before retiring from government service in 1991, Bill served as a 
confidential assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce during the 
Carter administration and later served as associate director of the 
U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Business Liaison, working as an 
assistant to the secretary. Bill provided years of invaluable service 
to the Department and embodied what it means to be a public servant.
  Bill went on to become vice chair of the Bethune DuBois Institute, 
and it was in this role that he founded the annual Children's Christmas 
Dinner Party for disadvantaged children, first held in Washington, DC. 
In 2004, through the Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association 
for Nonviolence, Inc., he orchestrated the first Annual Children's 
Christmas Dinner Party for underserved children from the Philadelphia 
and surrounding areas at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel, which 
serviced over 3,800 children that year.
  As a committed community activist, Bill has dedicated his life to 
defending others. He has served as president of the Associated Real 
Estate Brokers of Philadelphia and a board member of the National Negro 
Business League, the Urban League of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia 
Chapter NAACP, and many others. His commitment to helping shape his 
community has been an inspiration to us all.
  Bill set the prime example of leadership and courage during his life. 
His activism and many years of community and public service are 
significant to many who have been touched by his work. I wish Bill a 
happy 90th birthday and express my gratitude for all the work he has 
done.

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