Date: 1982-04-06
Speaker: PHILLIP BURTON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. with considerable grief and a sense of loss I learned this past weekend of the death of Andrew J. Biemiller. a former Member of this body and chief lobbyist for the AFLCIO for many years. In addition to his warm and enriching friendship. I had the privilege of working with Andy on important civil rights and social welfare legislation. Andy had a keen understanding of the legislative and political processes and used that knowledge to promote legislation that not only assisted union members. but millions of disadvantaged Americans as well. His interest in legislation extended well beyond the interests of labor unions to include in later years support for environmental legislationmuch of which would never have passed without labor support. In an interview shortly before he retired. he said: We are American citizens as well as members of trade unions. We have a real interest in clean air. clean water. and so forth. And were going to be in those fights. I share the sorrow of his wife Hannah and their two children. I am certain they are joined In their grief by the millions of union members who benefited from his great work. For the benefit of my colleagues I would like to include a statement released by the AFLCIO: Andrew J. Biemiller. who served as the labor movements chief lobbyist for more than 20 years and played a leading role in the passage of civil rights and social welfare legislation. died of congestive heart failure at Suburban Hospital on April 3. He was 75. Biemiller retired in December 1978 as director of the APLCIO Department of Legislation. a post he had since 1956. He served in Congress for two terms in the 1940s representing a* district in Milwaukee. Wis. In the 1930s he served in the Wisconsin legislature. AFLCIO President Lane Kirkland and SecretaryTreasurer Thomas R. Donahue said in a statement that: Andrew J. Biemiller was the voice of American labor on Capitol Hill for a generation. and trade unionists of today and tomorrow will benefit from the pioneering legislative work he did on behalf of all Americans. The esteem in which he is held by members of both parties and both Houses of Congress gives ample testimony to the integrity he maintained in his work. He brought honor to the term "lobbying" and left labors legislative representatives the legacy of his credo of effective. factual presentation of labors case. We admired him as a national legislative tactician. we cherished him as a friend and we shall always remember him for his unswerving dedication to trade union ideals. Blemiller was born in Sandusky. Ohio. and graduated from Cornell University. He taught at both Syracuse Univesity and the University of Pennsylvania. He was an early Socialist before joining up with the trade union movement and the Wisconsin Progressive Party in Milwaukee in the 1930s. He worked as a union organizer for the American Federation of Labor and served in the legislature where he was a floor leader for the Progressives. He was a member of the American Federation of Teachers. In his years in Congress from the Milwaukee swing district he became a leader of the liberallabor coalition and developed an expertise on parliamentary rules and procedures. At the Democratic Party Convention in 1948 he joined with the late Hubert Humphrey to bring about adoption of a strong minority report supporting civil rights that led to the Dixiecrat walkout and shaped the forces that led to the Truman victory that year. Blemiller Is survived by his wife Hannah in Bethesda. Md.. a son Dr. Andrew Blemiller. Jr.. of Toronto. a daughter Nancy Boerup of Wooster. Ohio. and four grandchildren.*