Brothers and Sisters:

The principal role of our union is to provide service to our members. And for just over 125 years we have faithfully provided that service through good times and those more difficult.

As we enter our next 125 years, I believe it is important for us all to consider what we as leaders must accomplish in order to provide our very best for those we represent.

General Moore reminds us that there is always one more thing that we can do even when it appears there is nothing more that can be done. That convictions need courage. And that with courage and convictions, we can accomplish what may initially seem impossible.

Congressman Gephardt has demonstrated his courage and convictions throughout his life in service to our government and our nation. As you have seen, even in private life, he still speaks passionately to those long-held convictions.

I would give you another take on courage and convictions by telling you a true story about an act of representation that for me helps define the depths to which we as Boilermaker leaders must reach within ourselves to achieve our very best in providing service to our members.

After working for 10 years as a field construction Boilermaker, I was on my first assignment as a field organizer in 1981 when I met a more seasoned organizer by the name of Connie Ray Mobley. Connie told me a story about his long night writing a letter to the employees of Brown Steel Tank just before I had arrived at Newnan, Georgia to assist in the organizing campaign.

Well, it was a humorous story, and we both had quite a laugh. But it later dawned on me as I came to know Connie better what an act of courage and conviction he had undertaken in the writing of that letter. Before I tell you the story of the letter, I need to tell you a little about Connie Ray Mobley.