[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         IN TRIBUTE TO LEO RIES

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 13, 2015

  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Leo Ries, the 
Executive Director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Ries is retiring after 15 years with this 
organization; the office he ran is part of LISC's national network.
  Mr. Ries has spent much of his career helping improve neighborhoods 
in Milwaukee. Prior to his employment at LISC, he worked for the City 
of Milwaukee for 10 years, ultimately serving as Director of Housing 
and Neighborhood Development. Mr. Ries' heart has always been in 
neighborhood work; he brought people and organizations together in 
order to create projects that had a real impact on struggling 
neighborhoods. He has remained optimistic regarding the future of 
Milwaukee's neighborhoods even while acknowledging the challenges of 
people struggling against ``hopelessness and helplessness''; he sees 
promise and opportunities in the resurgence of urban living especially 
by the millennial generation.
  The son of a Sheboygan mink rancher, Ries is the youngest of seven 
children. He attended a seminary high school and thought for a time he 
wanted to be a priest. Leo Ries has enjoyed an unusual and varied 
working life. He worked as a volunteer at Casa Maria Catholic Worker 
House, a cab driver, registered nurse in an intensive care unit and as 
business manager for two inner-city Catholic churches.
  Mr. Ries has worked on many initiatives during his tenure at LISC but 
he has identified two recent projects as being especially meaningful. 
The relaunching of the Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) 
program, which Marquette University oversaw from 2005 to 2010, to help 
introduce minorities to careers in commercial real estate and working 
with the Milwaukee Police Department on proactive community safety 
strategies. He sees both of these initiatives as providing a structure 
for building relationships among people; people from different races 
came together for these two projects with a shared interest in building 
Milwaukee's future.
  LISC has accomplished so much under the leadership of Leo Ries; 
programs initiated under his tutelage have become models for the nation 
and made Milwaukee a strong, prosperous community for all of its 
residents. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to know and work 
with Leo Ries for so many years and wish him much success as he 
transitions into a different phase of his life.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Leo Ries and I am proud to call him 
friend. The citizens of the Fourth Congressional District and the State 
of Wisconsin are privileged to have someone of his ability and 
dedicated service working on their behalf for so many years. Leo, I 
thank you for all that you have done. I am honored for these reasons to 
pay tribute to Leo Ries.

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