[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6280]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATING MARK SMITH ON HIS RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT OF THE IOWA 
                          FEDERATION OF LABOR

  (Mr. BRALEY of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend 
and my hero, Mark Smith, and to congratulate Mark on his retirement as 
President of the Iowa Federation of Labor.
  Over the past 34 years, Mark has been a fierce advocate for Iowa's 
working families. He started as an instructor at the University of Iowa 
Labor Center in 1974; was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Iowa Fed 
in 1979, and served in that position until he was elected President of 
the Iowa Federation of Labor in 1997.
  Mark has dedicated his life to the cause of working men and women in 
Iowa. Protecting the rights of workers has been a long and difficult 
struggle, and no one has given more time and energy to the cause than 
Mark Smith.
  Mark is living proof that one person can make an enormous difference 
in the lives of thousands of individuals. Many of the people he helped 
never knew what he did for them and never had a chance to thank him 
personally. I stand here today on their behalf, because I want Mark to 
know that nameless people here are honoring his lifetime of heroic 
efforts. His lifetime of service leaves a legacy that challenges future 
generations of labor leaders to continue his efforts to further the 
cause of working families.
  Mark may have retired from office, but he will never retire from his 
real passion, speaking out against injustice and pushing people to do 
more to take care of each other.

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