[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21571]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 21571]]

     TRIBUTE TO THE SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL #20 OF GARY, INDIANA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 1, 2001

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor to congratulate 
some of the most dedicated and skilled workers in Northwest Indiana. On 
November 2, 2001, in a salute to their workers' durability and 
longevity, the Sheet Metal Workers Local #20, of Gary, Indiana, will 
honor their members with fifty, forty, and twenty-five years of 
continued service. These individuals, in addition to the other Local 
#20 members who have served Northwest Indiana so diligently for such a 
long time, are a testament to the proto-typical American worker: loyal, 
dedicated, and hard-working.
  The men and women of Local #20 are a fine representation of America's 
working families. I am proud to represent such dedicated men and women 
in Congress. The Sheet Metal Workers Constitution states, ``. . . to 
establish and maintain desirable working conditions and thus provide 
for themselves and their families that measure of comfort, happiness 
and security to which every citizen is entitled in return for his 
labor, from a deep sense of pride in our trade, to give a fair day's 
work for a fair day's pay.'' For fifty years, the following individuals 
have followed this creed: Robert Molnar, Eugene Rucker, and Leland 
Thompson, In 1961, Donald Odell and Gerard Wardell began their own 
forty years of membership in the Sheet Metal Workers trade union. In 
addition to the great service and dedication displayed by the fifty and 
forty-year Sheet Metal Workers Local #20 members, the individuals with 
twenty-five years of continued service that will be honored include: 
Bruce Bassett, Richard Beres, Michael R. Birky, Randall Bohn, George 
Fedorchak, Joseph P. Lain, Nancy Fields, James P. Fredianelli, Jeffrey 
R. McClelland, Paul Popa, Jay K. Potesta, Mark E. Williams, and James 
A. Zimmer. I would also like to congratulate those individuals that 
graduated from the Residential Apprentice program. These individuals 
include: William Aicher, Jason Atwood, Brian Bajda, Daniel Elkins, 
Daniel Geeding, Timothy Howard, Richard Mann, Rober McGuire, David 
Mostello, Daniel Nelson, Shawn Novak, Mark Rehtorik, and William Wolfe.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my distinguished colleagues join me 
in congratulating these dedicated, upstanding members of the Sheet 
Metal Workers Local #20 for their hard work in fulfilling the 
``American Dream.'' I offer my heartfelt congratulations to these 
individuals, as they have worked arduously to make this dream possible 
for others. They have proven themselves to be distinguished advocates 
for the labor movement, and they have made Northwest Indiana a better 
place in which to live and work.

                          ____________________