[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6938]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2200
 CONGRATULATING DODIE DITMER ON HER RETIREMENT FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS 
                           WORKERS OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gohmert). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise 
here on the floor of the people's House to congratulate Dodie Ditmer on 
her retirement from the Communication Workers of America after over 43 
years of service to the union and to our Nation.
  Dodie was born in Clairfield, Tennessee. She was one of eleven 
children. She later married Gregory Kent Ditmer, and together they have 
one daughter, Tamara Kaye, and one granddaughter, Emily.
  On February 13, 1963, Dodie became an operator at Ohio Bell in 
Dayton, Ohio. She became a member of CWA Local 4311 on that same day. 
She was appointed as a steward in the union in 1964, going on to be 
elected local president from 1973 through 1988. On May 1, 1988, Dodie 
was appointed to CWA staff representative. Dodie also has the 
distinction of becoming the first woman to be appointed as assistant to 
the vice president of district 4 in October of 1994. She also served 
the union as director of education and the COPE political director.
  Dodie returned to Dayton, Ohio, in August of 2005 to work with the 
IUE-CWA and various other locals. Dodie has served the membership 
extensively on various union, community and political boards and 
committees.
  I have had the great privilege of working with Dodie across the 
years. Together, we have fought and won many battles on behalf of 
working men and women, and I have always appreciated her 
thoughtfulness, her candor and her good humor. I am confident that she 
will not retire quietly, but I think that she will continue to be an 
active person in her community.
  Ohio has many outstanding citizens, and Dodie Ditmer is certainly one 
of Ohio's finest. I congratulate her tonight on her retirement, and I 
wish her Godspeed in the days, weeks and months to come.

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