[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CAPTAIN LOUIE A. WRIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM GRAVES

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 18, 2012

  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize 
Captain Louie A. Wright on his retirement as President of the 
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 42.
  A self-made man from humble beginnings, Louie graduated from Ruskin 
Heights High School and joined the Kansas City Fire Department in 1972. 
Louie was first elected as President of Local 42 in 1976. In 1988, 
Louie resigned as President of Local 42 in order to run for General 
Secretary of the IAFF. This hiatus from the Presidency gave Louie the 
opportunity to finish his Juris Doctor with distinction from the 
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, finishing a 
collegiate journey that included receiving his Master of Public 
Administration from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of 
Government. Louie was again elected President in 1995, leading Local 42 
ever since.
  His time with Local 42 has been marked by many memorable moments. 
When the negotiations over 40-hour work weeks and mandatory overtime 
grew fierce in the late 1970s, Louie and around 70 other firefighters 
were arrested. An agreement was later reached and Louie was pardoned by 
the governor. However, it was not the only time this happened and Louie 
often jokes that he is the only member of the Missouri Bar Association 
to have been arrested and pardoned twice. For the past 35 years Louie 
Wright has led the Local 42 to unprecedented growth with skill, street 
smarts and toughness. Local 42 members, their friends, families, fellow 
firefighters and the citizens of greater Kansas City will always 
remember Louie Wright as a ``fireman's fireman.''
  Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me, Louie's children Joanna 
and Nick and his family and friends in congratulating Captain Louie A. 
Wright on his retirement after 29 years with the Kansas City Fire 
Department and the IAFF and in wishing him the best of luck in the 
years to come.

                          ____________________