[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING JOSEPH A. POWER, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my warmest 
congratulations to Joseph A. Power, Jr. of Chicago on being honored by 
The Illinois Bar Foundation with their 2004 Distinguished Award for 
Excellence.
  The Illinois Bar Foundation was established over fifty years ago with 
the mission ``to serve the people of Illinois by contributing to 
programs dedicated to the improvement of the administration of justice 
and to sustain and further enhance the ideals of the legal 
profession.'' A founding partner in the law firm of Power Rogers & 
Smith, Mr. Power is a highly committed and respected trial attorney, 
who embodies this mission, and is a worthy recipient of this award.
  Throughout his career Mr. Power has consistently prided himself in 
his representation of the `underdog' who has suffered catastrophic 
personal injury or loss. He has taken on and won such important cases 
as representing the family of the victims of an accident caused by an 
unqualified truck driver.
  Mr. Power's prestige within the law community was acknowledged in 
1999 when he was named one of the best plaintiff's lawyers in the 
United States, and one of the top four in Illinois. Mr. Power was later 
invited to join the Inner Circle of Advocates, an organization that 
limits its membership to the top hundred plaintiff's trial lawyers in 
the United States.
  Mr. Power's past recognition serves as testimony to his significance 
within both the Chicago and national law communities. In 2001, he was 
honored both as, ``Board Member of the Year,'' by the Little City 
Foundation and as ``Protector of the Working Man,'' by the Illinois 
State Crime Commission. He was appointed by Senator Joseph Biden as a 
legal adviser to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and was later 
appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to its Rules Committee in 1995, 
serving as Chair Person from 1996 to 2001.
  A native Chicagoan, Mr. Power's importance to Chicago extends beyond 
the legal community. He has been recognized as Citizen of the Year by 
the City Club of Chicago, awarded the ``Medal of Excellence'' by the 
Loyola University of Chicago Law School, and awarded with the ``Medal 
of Merit'' by the Illinois State Bar Association.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with the people of Chicago in 
commending Joseph A. Power, Jr. on his continual strive for excellence 
within the field of law and congratulate him on this well deserved 
recognition.

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