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Rep. Christopher S. Murphy

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jim Parent on his retirement as President of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists.

James M. Parent was born in 1946 in Van Buren, Maine, and now lives with his wife Robertine in Glastonbury where they raised their two children. A former member of the Glastonbury Democratic Town Committee, Jim has also served as Vice Chair of the Democratic State Central Finance Committee.

Jim served his country in Vietnam and returned to continue his public service by joining the labor movement. Jim's knowledge and expertise as an activist for Connecticut's machinists started when he was employed at Pratt & Whitney in 1965 in East Hartford. Since then, Jim has been a fierce advocate for the Machinists' 14,000 members, and has served as the Business Representative for the Machinists Union, Executive Board member of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists and as Hartford Area Vice President from 1986 to 1991, when he was elected President of the Council.

As President, he has been a leading advocate for workers in Connecticut. I witnessed his leadership firsthand when we worked together to fight the closing of the Pratt & Whitney Connecticut Airfoil Repair Operation (CARO) and Cheshire Engine Center.

Jim's advocacy earned him the Connecticut AFL-CIO Leadership Award in 1997. I am proud to call Jim Parent an ally in the fight to keep good jobs in Connecticut, and to stop the crippling trend of outsourcing. We have worked together to bring jobs back to the United States through efforts to strengthen ``Buy American'' laws. I know that Jim will continue to be a leader and an advocate for Connecticut's working families even after his retirement. I am honored to call Jim Parent my friend, and I wish him well in his retirement.