[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO HEDY M. RATNER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 9, 2007

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to add my voice in 
honoring Hedy M. Ratner, who will be recognized in Chicago as a ``Women 
Who Dared'' on March 14, 2007 by the Jewish Women's Foundation, Women's 
Division of the Jewish United Fund, and the Jewish Women's Archive. I 
congratulate those organizations for choosing to celebrate Women's 
History Month by hearing the stories of three fabulous local Jewish 
women--Judith Panko Reis, the founding Director of the Women With 
Disabilities Center; Amy Rubin of Jewish Women International; and Hedy 
Ratner.
  My dear friend Hedy Ratner is a force of nature. When she swirls into 
a room--beautiful, feminine, and powerful--everyone knows that a woman 
of substance has arrived. A feminist through and through, a fighter for 
social justice, Hedy has worked for the advancement of women all of her 
adult life.
  In 1986, along with her friend Carol Dougal, Hedy founded the first 
and now the largest Women's Business Development Center in the United 
States. ``When we started the Center,'' said Hedy, ``it was an 
extension of our frustration that women still were not reaching parity 
in the marketplace.''
  As of today, the Center has served tens of thousands of women; 
facilitated tens of millions of dollars in loans; impacted policies at 
the Federal, State and local levels; and helped certify countless 
companies as Women's Business Enterprises. Her straightforward 
philosophy is summed up when she says, ``It's good business to do 
business with women.''
  Hedy Ratner was appointed by President Clinton to the National 
Women's Business Council. She helped found and then was appointed by 
two Illinois Governors to the Illinois Women's Business Ownership 
Council and the Governor's Commission of the Status of Women in 
Illinois. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley appointed Hedy as Co-Chair of the 
Women's Health Task Force. She is also a board member of the 
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and The Chicago Convention and Tourism 
Bureau, and a founding member of the Coalition for Equal Opportunity 
and the Alliance of Minority and Female Contractors Association.
  All of the prestigious appointments and major accomplishments only 
hint at the dynamic and inspiring person Hedy Ratner is. Her legions of 
friends, co-workers and admirers love her enthusiasm, her humor and her 
generous spirit. She is unstinting in her efforts to encourage and help 
those around her to be the best that they can be and to achieve their 
own aspirations.
  Hedy Ratner has served as a role model for untold numbers of women 
who seek to make their mark in business, politics, and the professions. 
Perhaps it is, in part, because Hedy had her own role model--her 
mother. About her mother she said, ``She was an immigrant woman, came 
from poverty, didn't have an opportunity to be really well educated. 
[She] was a business owner, but she was informally educated. She was an 
entrepreneur and she was always committed to me, and women in general, 
being independent.'' Her mother said, ``That's the most important thing 
you can do: depend on yourself.''
  Hedy's Jewish upbringing and pride have contributed mightily to her 
strength of character, her moral center and her determination to 
succeed. I had the real pleasure to attend her Bat Mitzvah not too many 
years ago. Hedy, your mother would be very proud of you for being 
singled out as outstanding Jewish woman by such prestigious Jewish 
women's organizations, but she wouldn't have been surprised that you 
are officially a ``Woman Who Dared.''

                          ____________________