[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 11362-11363]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATING BRUCE V. RAUNER OF CHICAGO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 1, 2004

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my good friend 
Bruce V. Rauner of Chicago and the Rauner Family Foundation for being 
honored by the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, which is awarding 
Bruce with its prestigious Humanitarian Award at the Second Annual 
Hometown Heroes Awards breakfast.
  The Chicago Red Cross Hometown Heroes Awards are presented to 
individuals ``whose actions went beyond the call of duty, and whose 
leadership and commitment made a significant difference to a person, 
cause or community.'' This year's special Humanitarian Award is being 
awarded for the ``critical support'' provided by Mr. Rauner and the 
Rauner Family Foundation ``for Chicago's education, health and youth 
development organizations.'' I applaud the Red Cross for its excellent 
selection of Bruce Rauner, one of Chicago's finest citizens, and a 
shining example of leadership and commitment to public service in our 
city.
  Bruce Rauner's philanthropy benefits the entire Chicagoland area. In 
addition to supporting the Red Cross, Mr. Rauner has dedicated his time 
and resources to many other local non-profit organizations. Among them 
include his service on the board of The Chicago Public Education Fund, 
The Teacher's Academy of Mathematics and Science, The Ravinia Festival, 
The Golden Apple Foundation, The Academy for Urban School Leadership 
and the YMCA. The Rauner Family Foundation has also made generous 
contributions, to the YMCA of Metro Chicago and Pilsen, and the Chicago 
Public Education Fund.
  Earlier this year, the Rauner Family Foundation donated $3 million 
for the construction of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago's new 
state-of-the-art command center, which is designed to enhance disaster 
response capabilities for the entire state of Illinois. The new Rauner 
Center houses local Red Cross offices and the Illinois Emergency 
Management Agency to coordinate response in the event of a major 
disaster. The Rauner Foundation's generous contribution will go a long 
way toward helping establish this center as the model for the country 
of effective and lifesaving disaster response.
  Professionally, Mr. Rauner continues to be one of the leaders of 
Chicago's financial center. He currently serves as the Chairman of GTCR 
Golder Rauner, LLC, a $6 billion private equity and venture capitol 
firm in Chicago. Mr. Rauner joined GTCR in 1981 after working in 
strategic consulting with Bain and Company and in econometric analysis 
with Data Resources, Inc.
  Before his impressive career was launched, Mr. Rauner graduated with 
top honors--from Dartmouth College Summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa 
and from Harvard Business School. He and his wife Diana live in 
Winnetka and are the parents of Elizabeth, Stephanie, Eric, Margaret, 
Matthew, and Katherine.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the Fifth Congressional 
District of Illinois and indeed all of Chicago, I am privileged to 
congratulate Bruce V. Rauner and the Rauner Family Foundation for this 
impressive honor, and I applaud the American Red Cross of Greater 
Chicago for bestowing this celebrated award on such deserving 
recipients.

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