[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16732]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING SANDRA FELDMAN ON HER RETIREMENT FROM THE PRESIDENCY OF THE 
                    AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RALPH REGULA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 19, 2004

  Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in honoring the work of 
Sandra Feldman as she retires as president of the American Federation 
of Teachers (AFT). Ms. Feldman began her career as a teacher and has 
committed her life to working with and advocating for teachers across 
the country.
  I want to draw attention today to some of her most recent work and 
that is her service on a distinguished panel known as the Teaching 
Commission. The Teaching Commission is a diverse group, comprising 19 
leaders in government, business and education. The Commission recently 
released a Call to Action with specific recommendations to raise 
student performance by transforming the way in which America's public 
school teachers are recruited and retained. We know that a high-
quality, caring, effective teacher can mean the difference between a 
lifetime of success or failure in a child's life. Ms. Feldman has 
dedicated her career to help ensure that every child has such a 
teacher--and hopefully many such teachers--in his or her life, and I 
want to personally thank Ms. Feldman for her work on the Teaching 
Commission.
  As the AFT's first female president since 1930, Ms. Feldman has also 
broken ground for young women to follow in her footsteps. I want to 
thank Ms. Feldman for her tireless efforts and wish her all the best in 
the days and years to come.

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