[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 199 (Friday, December 23, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE MEMORY OF BENJAMIN GUPTA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE QUIGLEY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 23, 2011

  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that all Members of the 
House of Representatives join me in honoring the memory of Benjamin 
Kane Gupta. Ben served the people of the Illinois Fifth District as a 
staff member for my predecessor Rahm Emanuel in 2007 before going on to 
work at the U.S. State Department's Global Partnership Initiative. Ben 
was pursuing Law and Business degrees as a George Washington University 
graduate student when he died in his sleep Monday. He was 28 years old.
  Ben accomplished a lot in his short life. He grew up in Omaha, 
Nebraska, before attending the Phillips Exeter Academy and Boston 
University, graduating with degrees in economics and psychology. As a 
Staff Assistant for Congressman Emanuel he put in long hours staffing 
the Congressman, serving constituents, and doing whatever was necessary 
to get the job done. At the State Department, Ben helped bring together 
public and private resources to solve global economic, health and 
sustainability challenges.
  But the greatest achievement Ben leaves behind is in the memories of 
those who knew him as a kind and generous spirit who had an incredible 
work ethic and an infectious sense of humor. When his beloved Red Sox 
made it to the World Series, he was relentless in his pursuit of 
tickets not just for himself but for his coworkers as well. He 
collected every episode of The Simpsons and never passed up a trip to 
Rockland's to get barbeque for the office.
  I ask all my colleagues to join me in remembering this dedicated 
staffer who died too soon but made the most of the time he had. I offer 
my deepest condolences to his parents Vinod and Bonnie Gupta, his 
stepmother Laurel Gottesman Gupta, and his brothers Jess and Alex 
Gupta. Ben will always live on in the hearts and memories of those that 
knew him best.

                          ____________________