[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17991]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      DICK WARDROP JR. AND AK STEEL'S SUCCESS UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN A. BOEHNER

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 13, 2000

  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I submit these remarks in commemoration of 
The National Safety Council's announcement that AK Steel Chairman and 
CEO Dick Wardrop Jr. has been selected as the inaugural recipient of 
its Green Cross for Safety Medallion. The National Safety Council is a 
non-government, non-profit international membership organization 
dedicated to promoting safety, health, and environment quality in the 
nation's workplaces. Their award is presented annually to the American 
corporate leader who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to 
workplace safety and corporate citizenship. NSC President and CEO 
Gerald Scannell recognized AK Steel as one of the nation's leaders in 
creating and maintaining a safety culture throughout the company; as 
well as communicating its commitment to safety to its shareholders and 
the public, and making safety a core value within the AK Steel 
organization.
  Forbes Magazine, in its January 11, 1999 issue, named Dick Wardrop to 
its ``Platinum List'' for leadership in steering AK Steel to its 
position as the best-performing company in the metals industry. AK 
Steel has also been named to the Fortune 500 list, Fortune Most Admired 
Companies list, Industry Week's 100 Best Managed Companies in the World 
list and the Cleveland Plain Dealer 100. Wardrop joined AK Steel in 
1992 and was instrumental in turning the troubled firm, then known as 
Armco Steel Company, L.P. into one of the country's most successful 
steel companies. AK Steel has led the steel industry in operating 
profit per ton, a key industry measurement, for more than six 
consecutive years. Since 1992, AK Steel's financial performance has 
been as much as four times higher than the industry average. AK steel 
could not have reached such a high standard without the dynamic 
leadership and personal commitment to being ``first in safety,'' the 
consistent message of the company's top officer, Mr. Wardrop.
  In addition to his zero injury and injury prevention policy, Mr. 
Wardrop has led AK Steel as the nation's leader in quality of life for 
its plant environment and corporate grants and donations to the 
community. AK Steel has its headquarters in Middletown, Ohio and has 
about 11,000 employees in plants and offices in Middletown, Coshocton, 
Mansfield, Warren and Zanesville, Ohio: Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, 
Indiana; and Butler, Sharon and Wheatland, Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Dick Wardrop Jr. is a true leader whose hard work and dedication 
should serve as an example for us all. Every American should aspire to 
this kind of enthusiastic commitment to service. I am proud to know and 
represent a person like Mr. Wardrop and AK Steel Congress. As Mr. 
Scannell said, ``Dick Wardrop has set an extremely high standard of 
corporate citizenship against which all future nominees will be 
judged.''




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