[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 30 (Thursday, March 17, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     TRIBUTE TO RAYMOND F. McCASKEY

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, I would like to honor a 
distinguished Illinoisan, Raymond F. McCaskey, who is the 1994 
recipient of the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Community 
Service Award. Mr. McCaskey is the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of 
Illinois president and chief executive officer.
  Ray joined Blue Cross in 1976 as an associate actuary, and rose 
through the ranks to vice president, chief financial officer, and 
president. He was named chief executive officer in 1993, overseeing the 
operations of Illinois' oldest and largest health insurer.
  Ray McCaskey has a strong commitment to people, and to service. Blue 
Cross has nurtured many community projects and programs under his 
tenure. Every day, Blue Cross CareVans travel to Chicago's poorest 
neighborhoods helping in the battle against disease. Since the program 
began in 1989, CareVan nurses have administered nearly 100,000 
immunizations.
  Blue Cross is a corporate sponsor of Chicago Housing Authority's 
Midnight Basketball League, the Cabrini Green Summer Youth League and 
Cabrini Greens, the gardening program which has planted seeds of hope 
and pride at one of the city's largest public housing projects. Ray 
McCaskey also has continued the fight against illiteracy begun by his 
predecessor, S. Martin Hickman. Blue Cross is the major underwriter of 
Chicago United's Family Learning Center project to promote early 
childhood development and adult literacy.
  Under Ray's leadership, Blue Cross has been a strong advocate of 
health care reform on the national and State levels. He serves on 
Illinois Governor Jim Edgar's Health Care Reform Task Force as one of 
two key committee chairmen. Ray also serves on the board of directors 
of the Mental Health Association in Illinois.
  As head of one of the major employers in Illinois, Ray McCaskey has 
promoted equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Blue 
Cross has a strong commitment to hiring and promoting minorities, 
women, veterans, and persons with disabilities. In numerous 
communications with Blue Cross employees, and most importantly by 
personal example, Ray has made clear that everyone must respect and 
appreciate individual differences.
  In presenting its 1994 Distinguished Community Service Award to Ray 
McCaskey, the Anti-Defamation League said it is ``proud to honor this 
distinguished American whose life and works embody our very highest 
ideals and aspirations.''
  I wish to convey my heartfelt congratulations to Ray as he receives 
this special honor.

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