[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5934-S5935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MARK GUETHLE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Mark Guethle probably isn't the sort of 
person you picture when you hear the word ``feminist.'' Mark is a big 
guy: 6-foot-1, strong and muscular. It is easy to imagine him as the 
star linebacker he was in high school. He spent decades as a labor 
leader in the building trades, one of the toughest, most manhood-driven 
segments of the American labor movement. But Mark Guethle has worked 
harder to help good women get

[[Page S5935]]

elected to public office in my State of Illinois than almost any man I 
know.
  At a time when many Americans feel understandably dismayed about the 
state of our politics, Mark Guethle has helped to introduce new 
candidates, new leaders, new ideas, and a cautious new sense of hope in 
government and hope in the future in Kane County, IL, one of the 
``collar counties'' surrounding Chicago. That is what Mark has achieved 
in nearly 20 years as chairman of the Kane County Democratic Party. But 
that is just one part of Mark's story and his busy life.
  In addition, since 2003, Mark has served as a member of his town's 
council, the North Aurora Village Board of Trustees. On top of all of 
that, for nearly a quarter century, Mark Guethle has been a union 
leader with Painters District Council 30, Local Union 97, which covers 
most of north-central Illinois outside of Chicago. This past month, 
Mark retired from his union job: director of government affairs for of 
Painters District Council 30. He leaves with a proud record of 
achievement.
  Interestingly, he didn't start out to be a labor leader or a painter. 
At Proviso West High School in Hillside, IL, he was a star athlete in 
three sports: baseball, basketball, and football. It was his 
performance as a linebacker that drew the most attention. He was 
recruited by coaching legend Bo Schembechler to play for one of the 
best college football teams in the Nation, the University of Michigan 
Wolverines, but a bad accident during the summer after his high school 
graduation set his life on a different course. During a robbery at a 
gas station where he was working, Mark's arm was badly injured by a 
piece of shattered glass. The University of Michigan said it would wait 
for Mark's arm to heal but Mark's dad, a union carpenter, suggested 
that Mark try a different path and join his union. Mark agreed, but the 
carpenters weren't taking new members at that time.
  Mark's uncle, a union painter, suggested he try the painters union. 
He was hired as an apprentice at the age of 19. As it turned out, Mark 
had just the personal qualities that a good painter needs: attention to 
detail, a tenacious work ethic, and an unusual ability to listen to 
people and understand what they want. He started as an organizer for 
District Council 30 in 1997. Five years later, he was hired as the 
district council's governmental affairs director, the position he held 
until he retired from the union at the start of this month.
  As a labor leader, Mark fought for respect and fair treatment not 
only for members of his union but for all working people in the State 
of Illinois. The list of State laws that he has helped enact is long 
and impressive. It includes increasing Illinois' minimum wage, 
protecting overtime pay, strengthening collective bargaining rights and 
the prevailing wage in our State, and encouraging better labor-
management relations through the use of project-management agreements. 
Mark has also taken courageous stands on issues including immigrant 
rights, women's rights, and marriage equality.
  Mark's commitment to social and economic justice and his nuts-and-
bolts understanding of how politics works are qualities he acquired 
growing up in a politically active union family. He learned how to 
knock on doors and distribute yard signs for candidates when he was 
just a kid, and at age 60, he still spends an incredible amount of time 
and energy on such tasks. When there is work to be done, whether its 
phone banking or neighborhood canvassing, you can be sure that Mark 
will be the first to arrive and the last to quit.
  When Mark was elected Kane County Democratic chair in 2002, there 
were no Democrats in the county serving at the State or Federal level--
none. Today, Democrats hold every congressional seat serving the 
county. One of those House members, Lauren Underwood, is the only nurse 
now serving in Congress. In the Illinois General Assembly, Kane County 
is represented by two Democratic senators and four house members, all 
of them women.
  ``We run women because we want to win,'' is how Mark once described 
his recruitment strategy. I suspect there is a little more to it. You 
see, Mark's mother was a brilliant woman who graduated from the 
University of Chicago when she was 16 years old, but like so many women 
of her generation, her career choices were limited because of her 
gender. She died when Mark was 22 years old, but she inspired in Mark 
and her other four children a profound belief in what women could 
achieve if given a fair chance.
  Mark Guethle is the embodiment of grassroots democracy. The people of 
Kane County and all Illinois' working families owe a lot to Mark and to 
his mom, Loretta. Mark is also respected by Republicans as a man of 
principles. One of his close friends, North Aurora mayor Dale Berman, 
was a lifelong Republican who Mark actually persuaded, by example, to 
become a Democrat.
  Stepping down from the union job will leave Mark more time for his 
work with his town's board of trustees and the Kane County Democratic 
Party. It will mean more time for Mark and Louise, his wife of 31 
years, to perform in their church choir. Mark will have more time to 
watch his beloved Chicago Cubs--on TV for now, rather than in the 
bleachers, which he prefers. He will have more time for playing 
keyboards in his cover band and more time to practice on his guitar and 
ukulele, and he will have more time to spend with his sons, Marcus and 
Brian, and his four grand-daughters, whom he adores.
  Lastly, I am certain that Mark will spend even more time listening to 
his neighbors in Kane County and finding new ways to make government 
work for them, regardless of their political party, because that is 
what he cares most about. I am proud to call Mark my friend, and 
Loretta and I wish him and Louise all the best as they begin this new 
chapter of their lives.
  (At the request of Mr. Durbin, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

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