RECOGNIZING MICHAEL CARRIGAN FOR YEARS OF DEDICATION AND SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 192
(Extensions of Remarks - December 03, 2019)
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING MICHAEL CARRIGAN FOR YEARS OF DEDICATION AND SERVICE TO THE
PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS
______
HON. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Michael
Carrigan for a lifetime of vigorous and effective advocacy protecting
the rights of workers in my home state of Illinois and working men and
women across the United States.
Michael Carrigan's life is a quintessentially American story of
talent, determination and deeply felt ambition to build a better world.
He began his career as a journeyman wireman and a member of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Displaying an early
talent for organizing, Michael quickly rose through the ranks to become
business manager and financial secretary for IBEW Local 146, and then
assumed greater positions of responsibility in the Illinois AFL-CIO as
Secretary-Treasurer and President. Michael also held a variety of
positions of national leadership in organized labor, somehow found time
to serve nearly four terms on the Decatur City Council, and briefly as
the Mayor of Decatur.
During his tenure as president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, Michael
played a key role organizing support to increase the Illinois minimum
wage to $15 an hour, and to enact a $45 billion dollar capital
improvements bill that will fund the repair of aging infrastructure in
our state. He continues to work tirelessly to build support for a
progressive state income tax that asks our wealthiest citizens to
shoulder their fair share of the cost of government, while providing
revenue streams sufficient to balance our budget and fund education,
important social services, and our state's pension obligations to its
workers.
In 2018, Michael was the first Illinois resident to receive the
World Peace Prize ``Roving Ambassador for Peace'' award. In accepting
this honor, Michael observed that all peaceful societies are built upon
foundations of economic justice: ``The Labor Movement and its allies
build peace through economic and social justice causes . . . Our fight
for justice knows no borders, and the enemies of peace are the enemies
of [social and economic] justice.''
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the 900,000 members of the Illinois AFL-
CIO and the millions of hard-working men and women in our country who
owe so much to Michael Carrigan, I offer my gratitude for his years of
dedicated and selfless service to our country. Although Michael may be
retiring from the Illinois AFL-CIO, I know he will not retire from his
commitment to public service, and I wish him great success in all his
future endeavors.
____________________