[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2722]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO J. SHANE CREAMER

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I seek recognition today to express my 
thanks to Shane Creamer, on his extraordinary volunteer service to the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the State president for the American 
Association of Retired Persons, the AARP. I also express deep regret 
that Mr. Creamer will no longer serve on the Executive Council as the 
Pennsylvania State president for the AARP as he will be stepping down 
February 22, 2008. He currently holds the highest volunteer position 
within the AARP and has since 2002.
  In 1951, Shane Creamer graduated from Villanova University and in 
1953 graduated from Temple University School of Law. During his time at 
each institution he served as student body president. Immediately after 
earning his law degree, Shane spent 2 years in the U.S. Army assigned 
to the Staff Judge Advocate. Before entering private practice, Creamer 
spent 11 years with the U.S. Justice Department in Philadelphia, 
including 8 years as the first assistant U.S. attorney and in 1968 
served as the first director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission. In 
1968 he published the first edition of his first book ``The Law of 
Arrest, Search and Seizure,'' which was used as a training manual for 
the U.S. Secret Service for a number of years in the 1970s and 1980s. 
In 1971, he published his second book, ``A Citizens Guide to Legal 
Rights.''
  From 1971 to 1973 Shane served as the attorney general of the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which was followed by a successful career 
as a trial lawyer specializing in civil and criminal cases with the law 
firms Carroll, Creamer and Duffy; Sprague, Creamer and Sprague; 
Montgomery McCracken; and Dilworth, Paxson, LLP. In 1980 he returned to 
Villanova University as a professor at the law school for 5 years. 
Shane has also served as chairman of the board of trustees of the 
Philadelphia Prison System and as a member of the board of Goodwill 
Industries. He continues his dedication to service as a member of both 
the board of the Pennsylvania Prison Society and Joint State Government 
Commission's Advisory Committee on Wrongful Convictions.
  As president of AARP Pennsylvania, Shane championed the interests of 
Pennsylvania's 1,905,000 seniors. Older Pennsylvanians have certainly 
benefited from Shane's passion and tireless dedication. During his 
tenure, AARP fought for Medicare Part D drug coverage and won approval 
of a new State law that ends discrimination against older workers 
receiving Social Security. The AARP has recently helped strengthen the 
Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly, PACE, and the PACE 
Needs Enhancement Tier in Pennsylvania, expanded the property tax and 
rent rebate program, and improved the State's long-term care system.
  Shane Creamer is an outstanding advocate in the fight to protect the 
interests of older Pennsylvanians and truly a great supporter for the 
elderly. He will be missed in his capacity as Pennsylvania's AARP 
president as he goes forward in his future endeavors. I congratulate 
him on a brilliant tenure and applaud Shane's outstanding service to 
the people of Pennsylvania. I wish him, his wife Mary-Ellen, and all 
his family the very best in the years to come.

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