[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 64 (Monday, April 15, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2730-S2731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Bill Samuel

  Madam President, I rise today, also, to honor Bill Samuel and 
congratulate him on a long career fighting for workers.
  Bill dedicated his whole life to the labor movement. Early in his 
career, Bill served as a legislative representative for the National 
Treasury Employees Union and then for the American Federation of 
Government Employees. In both roles, Bill fought for Federal workers 
across different Agencies and Departments.
  Bill went to Oberlin College in my State, not far from where I work, 
and the values that school holds up and shines a light upon have also 
affected Bill's work.
  He went to work for the UMW and was instrumental in the fight for 
miners. Bill upheld the UMW's long legacy of fighting for better 
working conditions and better benefits, especially better healthcare.
  He and I have talked about the pin I wear on my lapel. It was given 
to me at a worker's Memorial Day rally, some 20 years ago. It is a 
picture of a canary in a birdcage. The mine workers took the canary 
into the mines.
  In those days, 120 years ago, the mine workers had no union strong 
enough to protect them and no government that cared enough to protect 
them. And Bill sees politics and sees the labor movement through the 
eyes of what that is all about.
  Bill made a huge difference in their fight, working with Senator 
Rockefeller and former UMWA President Trumka. Miners risk their health 
to power our country. Many of them didn't have access to the healthcare 
they needed. It is something we know all too well in southeast Ohio and 
have fought to change.
  Bill led the successful campaign to pass Federal legislation 
guaranteeing lifetime healthcare to more than 200,000 retired miners 
and their families. He fought to secure what miners had earned and 
deserved.
  His advocacy made a difference for so many miners and so many 
families. Whether it was in the labor movement or in government, that 
fight for workers was always his North Star.
  He worked at the Department of Labor, where he could carry out and

[[Page S2731]]

implement a lot of the things he fought for. And then he worked for 
Vice President Gore.
  For nearly a quarter century, Bill has been a leader at the AFL-CIO, 
where he served as director of government affairs. He has been a 
constant at the AFL-CIO through multiple federation presidents and 
periods of transition. AFL presidents, AFL affiliates, and 
congressional offices have all come to rely upon his insight and upon 
his wisdom. He leads the AFL-CIO's legislative committee. He advocates 
for the federation's 10 million union members.
  Bill makes that balancing act look easy. He builds consensus across 
the affiliates. He coordinates with every union. He engages with 
workers and members and representatives. He is at the center of every 
operation, every initiative, every campaign. We rely on him. We get 
good information. And we rely on his wise counsel.
  He is the first person my team calls on issue after issue. They know 
what I know: Bill understands the issues. He understands how to build 
consensus. He understands how to get things done. He understands how to 
mobilize the entire union movement. And he is always fighting for 
others.
  I have had the privilege of working alongside Bill on issues that 
matter so much to my State. We worked to pass the Butch Lewis Act, 
named after an Ohioan. With it, we saved the pensions of 100,000 Ohio 
union members whose earned retirement benefits were at risk because of 
Wall Street greed.
  Most people in Washington ignored the challenges facing union 
retirees. They didn't take the problem seriously or treat this as the 
emergency that it was. In Washington, most people don't understand 
collective bargaining. They don't understand the collective bargaining 
process. They don't understand that workers sit down at the table. 
Worker representatives sit down at the table, negotiate, and are 
willing to give up benefits today--pay and even some healthcare 
benefits today, perhaps--to have a pension in the future.
  That is why Butch Lewis was so important. That is why Bill never gave 
up. And along with Ohio leaders like Mike Walden and Rita Lewis, he 
mobilized workers. He helped put this on the agenda and keep it there, 
and we got it done.
  Whenever politicians proposed anti-labor, anti-worker legislation, 
Bill stood up. Bill stood up for workers. His entire career he fought 
for the people who make our country work.
  And, today, at a time when there is unprecedented momentum behind 
unions, there is stronger support among this generation of young people 
for unions than there has been in my entire lifetime. That is partly 
because of the work that Bill did in organizing and in showing people 
how important it is and the unwavering dedication to workers.
  Thousands of workers across our Nation don't know Bill personally, 
but they benefit from his efforts and his advocacy on their behalf.
  We congratulate Bill on his career of service and wish him a happy 
and healthy retirement. He will be able to spend more time with Tracy 
and with his children, Jack and Lucy.
  I look forward to working with Bill's successor, Jody Calemine, to 
continue fighting for workers.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.