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Congressman Hoyer Attends Maryland and District of Columbia AFL-CIO’s Annual “Salute to Leadership” Awards Dinner

GREENBELT MD – On Friday evening  Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) attended the Maryland and District of Columbia AFL-CIO’s Annual “Salute to Leadership” Awards Dinner. At the event John J. Sweeney President Emeritus of AFL-CIO was recognized as the 2013 Salute Honoree and Dwight R. Bowman former National Vice President of the American Federal of Government Employees District 14 was honored with the 2013 Carr/Fouche Legacy Award posthumously. Congressman Hoyer joined Maryland and District of Columbia AFL-CIO leadership in presenting the Carr/Fouche Legacy Award to Bowman’s wife Gwendlyn. “I was so grateful for the opportunity to salute the leadership of two individuals who have inspired us through their commitment to country equal opportunity and their brothers and sisters in labor ” stated Congressman Hoyer. “Friday evening was bittersweet as we remembered our dear friend Dwight Bowman. I had the honor of working with Dwight for many years to advance the cause of workers’ rights and defend the hard-earned victories won in Maryland’s Fifth District and throughout our region.  We will always remember him as an effective leader and a powerful voice for working families. I thank his wife Gwendlyn and his family for sharing Dwight with all of us throughout the nearly 40 years he spent with AFGE fighting for justice and opportunity.” “I was also pleased to join in honoring another extraordinary individual who has dedicated his life to America’s workers ” continued Congressman Hoyer. “President-Emeritus John Sweeney has spent his career turning the concerns and hopes of working men and women into action for positive change. His leadership of the AFL-CIO saw it turn a declining membership into a growing one. Today largely as the result of his vision and his hard work AFL-CIO represents 12.2 million workers and their families through fifty-seven affiliated unions.”  Hoyer concluded: “John and Dwight represent the best of America’s labor movement. We honored them not only for what they achieved in positions of leadership but for their daily devotion to building a stronger nation through equal access to opportunity for all Americans. Let us be inspired by the lessons they have imparted to us through their service to the men and women of labor to all who have known them and worked with them and to the country we all love.”   Congressman Hoyer and the members of the Maryland and District of Columbia AFL-CIO were joined by federal state and local elected officials including Senator Ben Cardin former Senator Paul Sarbanes Congressman Chris Van Hollen Congressman John Sarbanes Congresswoman Donna Edwards Lt. Governor Anthony Brown Attorney General Doug Gansler and Comptroller Peter Franchot.