LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Thomas E. Perez upon the occasion of his
designation for special recognition at the 7th Annual Race & Reconcil-
iation Conference sponsored by the Commission on Citizens' Rights &
Community Relations on May 11, 2010

WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon the people of the State of New York to
recognize and acknowledge those within our midst who have made signif-
icant contributions to the quality of life therein; and
WHEREAS, From time to time this Legislative Body takes note of certain
extraordinary individuals it wishes to recognize for their valued
contributions to the success and progress of society and publicly
acknowledge their endeavors which have enhanced the basic humanity among
us all; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to honor Guest Speaker
Thomas E. Perez upon the occasion of his designation for special recog-
nition at the 7th Annual Race & Reconciliation Conference, "The Unfin-
ished Business of Civil Rights... With Liberty and Justice For All,"
sponsored by the Commission on Citizens' Rights & Community Relations to
be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on Tuesday, May 11,
2010; and
WHEREAS, Thomas E. Perez was nominated by President Obama to serve as
the Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice-Civ-
il Rights Division, and was sworn in on October 8, 2009; and
WHEREAS, Thomas E. Perez previously served as the Secretary of
Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR), which
protects consumers through the enforcement of a wide range of consumer
rights laws, including the mortgage setting; enforces workplace safety
laws that provide critical safeguards to workers and communities;
enforces wage and hour, and other worker protection laws that ensure
wage security; and collaborates with businesses and workers to address
critical workforce development needs and build a world-class workforce;
and
WHEREAS, Thomas E. Perez was a principal architect of a sweeping pack-
age of state lending and foreclosure reforms to address the foreclosure
crisis in Maryland; and
WHEREAS, He has spent his entire career in public service; from 2002
until 2006, he was a member of the Montgomery County Council; he was the
first Latino ever elected to the Council, and served as Council Presi-
dent in 2005; and
WHEREAS, Earlier in his career, he spent 12 years in federal public
service, most of them as a career attorney with the Civil Rights Divi-
sion; and
WHEREAS, As a federal prosecutor for the Division, Thomas E. Perez
prosecuted and supervised the prosecution of some of the Department's
most high profile civil rights cases, including a hate crimes case in
Texas involving a group of white supremacists who went on a deadly,
racially motivated crime spree; and
WHEREAS, He later served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights under Attorney General Janet Reno; among other responsibil-
ities, he chaired the interagency Worker Exploitation Task Force, which
oversaw a variety of initiatives designed to protect vulnerable workers;
he also served as Special Counsel to the late Senator Edward Kennedy,
and was Senator Kennedy's principal adviser on civil rights, criminal
justice and constitutional issues; and
WHEREAS, For the final two years of the Clinton administration, Thomas
E. Perez served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the
United States Department of Health and Human Services; he was a law

professor for six years at University of Maryland School of Law and was
a part-time professor at the George Washington School of Public Health;
and
WHEREAS, He received a Bachelor's degree from Brown University in
1983, a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of
Government in 1987, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1987;
and
WHEREAS, With him throughout have been his wife, Ann Marie Staudenmai-
er, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and
their three children, all of whom feel privileged to be a part of his
life and rejoice in his achievements; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that those who
enhance the well-being and vitality of their community and have shown a
long and sustained commitment to excellence certainly have earned our
recognition and applause; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Thomas E. Perez upon the occasion of his designation for special
recognition at the 7th Annual Race & Reconciliation Conference; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General, United States
Department of Justice-Civil Rights Division.