[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF STEPHEN COATS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 23, 2013

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of 
Stephen Coats, a great friend, tremendous leader, and tireless champion 
for working people throughout the world.
  Throughout his life, Stephen was driven by his unwavering commitment 
to social justice. From his years as political advocacy director for 
Bread for the World, where he fought global poverty, to his work at the 
US/Guatemala Education Project (US/GLEP) in the 1990s, where he worked 
to insert language to protect worker rights, Stephen's work emphasized 
our common humanity and international solidarity.
  After US/GLEP broadened to become the U.S. Labor Education in the 
Americas Project (USLEAP), Stephen served as Executive Director, 
working to protect the rights of working people across Latin America. 
His work has been enormously influential on U.S. policy toward 
Guatemala, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico. He gave workers throughout 
Latin America a voice in Washington. By bringing delegations of workers 
to Congress, most recently a representative from Colombia who came to 
my office, he presented a powerful and personal call for justice, 
putting a human face on the need for action.
  Stephen touched many lives through his work for worker justice, 
including mine. He recognized the dignity of work and the need to 
provide fair and respectful treatment for working men and women 
throughout the world, but particularly in Central America. He called on 
all of us to care for each other and to commit ourselves to improving 
the lives of people who we may never meet but who deserve our 
attention. Stephen was a real leader but, more importantly, he made 
leaders of others.
  We are still reeling from Stephen's loss--but we are also even more 
committed to following his legacy. My heart and my prayers go out to 
his loving wife, Kim, herself a faithful champion of working families, 
his sons Eric and Benjamin, and to the rest of his family and his 
multitude of friends.

                          ____________________