Leader GiaQuinta’s statement on the retirement of State Representative B. Patrick Bauer

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) today issued a statement thanking State Representative B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) for his five decades of service to Hoosiers after announcing his retirement from the Indiana General Assembly:

“As the longest serving member of the Indiana House and one of the nation’s longest serving state legislators, Bauer has not only made history – he has also made a lasting difference that will be felt for generations to come,” said GiaQuinta. “His esteemed career as House Speaker, Minority Leader, and Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which he served on with my father, Ben GiaQuinta, only begins to scrape the surface of the important roles he’s assumed as a member of our caucus.

“Bauer has served his constituents in South Bend faithfully for more than 50 years and always with a servant’s heart. His career brought lasting changes to education, health care, environmental reform and economic development for Hoosiers.

“These changes are felt in districts like my own. He worked closely with me in 2009 to fund the Capital Improvement Board that has enriched the City of Fort Wayne with more economic opportunity and good jobs, and for that I will always be grateful.

“I want to extend my thanks to his wife Karen, and his beloved children and grandchild for sharing him with the people and legislators of Indiana, and wish them the best of luck on their future endeavors.”