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Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I have the honor of recognizing Mr. Ron Wanek, a great business leader, innovator, and philanthropist from the great State of Wisconsin, as he, his family, and his company celebrate his induction into the Wisconsin Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Wisconsin has a long history of being the home of many successful manufacturing businesses. With his induction into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame, Mr. Wanek joins the ranks of past inductees, such as Jerome Case, Patrick Cudahy, Sam Johnson, Walter Kohler, Oscar Mayer, Frederick Miller, and Gustave Pabst, just to name a few of the 78 iconic titans of business who helped to make Wisconsin a proud manufacturing State.

For his part in continuing the long legacy of Wisconsin manufacturing, Ron Wanek founded Arcadia Furniture in the small town of Arcadia, WI, back in 1970. Back then, Mr. Wanek employed just a total of 35 people. Through hard work and innovation, in 1982, Arcadia Furniture merged with Ashley Furniture Cooperation and became Ashley Furniture Industries.

During these last 42 years, Ashley Furniture has grown into the world's largest manufacturer of home furnishings, with over 30 million square feet of worldwide manufacturing and distribution capability, with retail locations throughout the United States and in 67 countries worldwide. Ashley proudly employs 16,000 people in the United States, including 3,000 hard-working Wisconsinites.

Throughout his successful professional career, Mr. Wanek has become the personification of the phrase ``business is a force for good.'' With his focus on philanthropy, the Ronald & Joyce Wanek Foundation has contributed tens of millions of dollars in support for important charitable causes in Wisconsin and across the country.

Through his charitable work, Mr. Wanek has become an unmatched supporter of technical and STEM education at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels. Through his various programs, partnerships, and scholarships, the Ronald & Joyce Wanek Foundation aims to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM fields and improve the quality of life in their own communities.

In addition, Mr. Wanek is an ardent supporter of America's veterans. His establishment of the beautiful Soldiers Walk at Memorial Park in Arcadia, WI--a premier war memorial in the United States, with 29 monuments and statues honoring all of those who have served our country--is just one example of his dedication to those who have sacrificed and, in some cases, paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedoms Wisconsinites and Americans enjoy every day. Some would say the Arcadia Soldiers Walk rivals the magnificence of the war memorials around our Nation's Capital.

Finally, Mr. Wanek is not only a great personification of the American dream, but he actively and enthusiastically supports a steadfast American free enterprise system--a system which has made this country the economic engine of the world.

I congratulate Ron Wanek on his recent induction into the Wisconsin Manufacturing Hall of Fame. It is well-deserved.

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