[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S34-S35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Remembering Ed Smith

  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, and also, I thank my colleague, the 
senior Senator from Illinois, for being here. I would like to just talk 
today about a dear, dear friend of ours, Ed Smith, who recently passed 
away. I am going to try not to say too much about what Ed and Dick's 
relationship was, but Ed is a stalwart for working families in 
Illinois.
  You know, the Ed that I knew is one who was always there for working 
families. He was a man who embodied the word ``solidarity,'' a man who 
paired passion with compassion, and who knew that no company, no 
community, no country would ever be as strong as it could be if any of 
its workers were treated without the dignity and decency that they 
deserved.
  Born in Cairo, IL, Ed had one central gravitational force throughout 
his life: working hard on behalf of those who worked hard for others. 
He joined a union at only 13 years old and, from that moment on, stayed 
in the fight for labor rights for the rest of his life.
  He held title after title throughout his career. He was a laborer 
when he was young, then a manager, and eventually a CEO. But through it 
all, the title that undoubtedly described him best was ``champion,'' 
for no matter how busy Ed was, no matter how high he climbed, there was 
nothing more important to him than looking out for all of those who 
signed up for the tireless yet often thankless jobs that keep our 
Nation running, all those people who clock in day after day without 
complaint, all those people who deserve a good pay and steady benefits 
that should come with the sweat of a job well-done.
  I know this firsthand. Ed never hesitated to call me to keep me up to 
date on any issue I should be following up on in the labor world. And I 
knew that I could always, always count on him to give me an honest 
opinion whenever I needed some advice.
  Not only was he a mentor and a friend, but he held each of us 
fortunate enough to hold elected office accountable. He made sure that 
we were doing right by working families, doing right by rural 
Illinoisans, doing right for every worker--not just those who were in 
unions, but all workers--and making sure that in every inch of 
Illinois, folks who have earned dignified retirements after decades-
long careers are able to enjoy that retirement.
  One of my favorite stories about Ed is that every night before bed, 
he would ask himself: Who have I helped today? Now it is my turn to 
answer that question for him. Ed helped more people than he and I could 
ever meet in our lifetimes. He helped grandparents access the pensions 
they have earned. He helped green-on-the-job 20-somethings know and 
demand their worth. He set up the labor movement in Illinois to be the 
movement of the future, working toward that carbon-neutral future, 
toward that green economy. And he helped people like me remember that, 
in public service, we all have one true North Star, and that is to do 
what we can to bring about a tomorrow where every worker, every 
American, is treated with fairness, dignity, and respect.
  Thank you, Ed, for all that you have done for the rest of us. You 
will be dearly missed. I hope to live my life in a way that ensures 
that when I get home from work at night, I can give a good answer when 
I follow your lead and ask myself: Who have I helped today? And I know 
Ed will be smiling down on me when I do so.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am honored to join my colleague, Senator 
Duckworth, to talk about Ed Smith. It is rare that Senators come to the 
floor and pay tribute to someone who passes away. It doesn't happen 
every day. And when we have two Senators from the same State here at 
the same time doing it, it speaks to the quality of the person that we 
are talking about.

[[Page S35]]

  Mr. President, you have been to Chicago, but you may not have toured 
the whole State of Illinois. It is a different State down south. About 
400 miles south of Chicago is a place called Alexander County, and the 
county seat is Cairo, IL.
  Now, most students of geography would say: That is ``Cairo.'' Not to 
people of southern Illinois; it is ``Cairo'' or ``Cairo.''
  It has had quite a history. It is at the confluence of the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers, so it was really a hotbed of economic activity for 
a century. It was a large, bustling town and with a lot of river 
traffic that made it a very successful town.
  Over time, the economy started to slump. Interstate highways took 
over for rivers, and Cairo was not quite where it should be.
  I graduated law school here in Washington in 1969 and went to work 
for the Lieutenant Governor of our State, Paul Simon. Brandnew lawyer, 
anxious to be successful and do the right thing, I said to Lieutenant 
Governor Simon: What do you want me to do? He said: Go to Cairo.
  Well, that was quite an assignment in those days because Cairo was in 
big trouble. It was in trouble because, as the economy started to 
slump, a lot of the racial tensions in that community started to 
emerge, and there were terrible instances of violence and a lot of 
division in the community.
  Rallies and parades led to gunshots and arson and evacuation of the 
white population from that town. Cairo was not another Illinois city; 
Cairo was the South. It was said by Paul Simon himself that Southern 
Illinois is a land of grits and gospel music. And it is true.
  It is also the land where racial tensions had reached a fevered pitch 
by the late 1960s. The State's attorney for Alexander County was a man 
named Peyton Berbling. He could have come right out of the cast of ``To 
Kill a Mocking Bird,'' a rumpled white suit. And he was head of what 
was known as the White Hats Organization. That was a thin imitation of 
the Ku Klux Klan.
  He had his boys ``checking out the county'' every day to make sure 
that someone who was a stranger, a foreigner, didn't linger in his 
county. It was a terribly racially divided community. And as I said, it 
led to violence and economic slump.
  Fifteen years later, I was in a situation--well, it was more than 15 
years later--I was in a situation where a young State Senator from 
Chicago was coming down to Cairo for the first time. I was bringing him 
down. And as we traveled in the car the 380 miles, I told him the story 
of Cairo and the economic problems and the racial problems it had. As 
an African American, he said later he didn't know what to expect when 
he got to Cairo.
  Well, our destination was the Laborers' International Union 
headquarters in Cairo, IL, and the president Ed Smith.
  So Barack came to that scene, a barbecue in the parking lot, and got 
out of the car and was shocked to see a Black and White crowd. Men and 
women, members of the union, friends of the union, African American and 
White, sitting together, eating a sandwich, and waiting for this 
candidate from Chicago. He walked around to a hero's welcome from so 
many people who were supporting his candidacy, including a lot of 
African-American people who were proud of Barack Obama.

  Not that many years later, when Barack was running for President, he 
pointed to that experience and said: I began to believe the politics of 
hope could overcome the politics of division.
  Who brought that crowd to that parking lot? Who invited us to come 
down to that barbecue? Who wanted to show us the success of this union? 
Who wanted to demonstrate the dignity of work way beyond quitting time 
on Friday afternoon? Ed Smith.
  Ed Smith was devoted to the workers in that community in that State. 
It was his life, and it was his father's life before him. They were 
legends in the labor movement--not just in Illinois but around the 
Nation. So when I saw what Ed had done in Cairo and realized how much 
progress he had made because of the power of his own values and the 
power of his own being, our friendship was cemented forever.
  He passed away last week. I don't have to tell you that those of us 
in politics meet hundreds if not thousands of people. It is rare to 
find someone who is consistently smiling--Ed Smith; consistently kind--
Ed Smith; consistently fighting for working people--without exception, 
Ed Smith. Time and again, that defined his time on Earth.
  Like Senator Duckworth said, he really did keep a tally of what he 
had done for people, and it was a lot of work to do because he helped 
everyone in every direction. He became eventually not only successful 
in the Illinois labor movement but was recognized nationally.
  He came out here to Washington to be the CEO of Ullico, which is the 
life insurance company for the laborers union. Ed decided to do 
something different. He noticed that a lot of predecessors had taken 
the deposits from the pensions of laborers around the country and 
invested them in Wall Street projects. Ed said: We are going to do it 
differently. We are going to invest in good ideas and good projects 
that create union jobs for my workers.
  When it was all over, he had $5 billion in his working fund, 
investing so that people could go to work and have quality of life.
  He was a wonderful man, and I am going to miss him a lot because I 
counted on him so much. But I know he has created a really idealistic 
vision of what you can do if you have a mission in life and live 
faithfully to it. He did that, and he also showed over and over again 
that he cared about everybody. No one was too small or insignificant. 
For him, the labor movement was not just a movement; it was a way of 
life, and he proved it over and over.
  So, Betty, his wife, and his great family, thanks for sharing Ed with 
us. He really made a difference in our lives, as Senator Duckworth and 
I have said today, and he made a difference in Illinois in the lives of 
countless thousands of families.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.