[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15040-15041]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO BERTRAND SEIDMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2004

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
man who spent his entire life devoted to helping working men and women 
and their families. Bertrand Seidman a constituent of my district and 
legend in the labor movement, recently passed away after a lifetime of 
advocating for working people in the United States.
  After earning his Master's degree in economics from the University of 
Wisconsin at Madison, Mr. Seidman began his stellar career at the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC. In 1944, he started 
performing his service as a conscientious objector clearing a path for 
the Blue Ridge Parkway. During this time he began educating his fellow 
workers in industrial relations and later led a year-long strike after 
the government stopped paying conscientious objectors while still 
having them work.
  In 1948 he began his distinguished career with the AFL-CIO as an 
economist in their research department and later served as the European 
representative for the AFL-CIO. He continued his service to the nation 
as a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations' 
International Labor Organization from 1958 to 1976 and then from 1987 
to 1988.

[[Page 15041]]

  It was after this service that Bert Seidman was appointed to become 
head of the AFL-CIO's Social Security department. He worked there for 
twenty four years and ensured that the labor movement would continue to 
focus on social welfare issues. He was especially interested in health 
care, pensions and occupational health for all. Mr. Seidman was also 
active in making sure that Social Security would not be privatized and 
that all Americans would have health insurance, regardless of their 
economic status.
  Our nation lost an activist when Bert Seidman passed away on June 
24th. He will always be remembered for his role in our nation's labor 
movement. Bert wanted to make sure that when people worked their whole 
lives, they would be taken care of in their retirement, and if they 
were ill or injured, they would have ample health care to help their 
recovery. Most importantly, he was for the most basic right, equality. 
I am grateful for his vision, his dedication and the many years of 
service he gave to our nation. May his memory and the ideals he fought 
so hard to protect be preserved so future generations of working people 
are assured of basic rights and protections in a vastly changing 
workplace.

                          ____________________