[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6808-6809]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS OF CHICAGO ALDERMAN HELEN 
                                SHILLER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2011

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Chicago 
Alderman Helen Shiller, who has been the Alderman of the 46th Ward 
since 1987. Alderman Shiller is retiring after 24 years of dedicated 
service to the residents of the 46th Ward and the City of Chicago. She 
is a tireless, passionate advocate for her constituents and for the 
community. She has been an especially powerful champion for those whose 
voices too often go unheard--the poor, immigrants, those who need 
affordable housing or shelter, the hungry.
  Alderman Shiller is the Chair of the Chicago City Council's Committee 
on Human Relations, where she has a long and outstanding record of 
achievement. She played a key role in the passage of the human rights 
ordinance, recycling programs and city responsibility for public health 
and safety in the Chicago Public Schools. She initiated and passed a 
tough anti-apartheid ordinance in 1990. Her budget amendment tripled 
the city's AIDS budget in 1992. She co-sponsored the domestic partners 
ordinance extending benefits for unmarried couples. Throughout her 
aldermanic career, Alderman Shiller has fought for affordable housing 
and for city budget investments to make Chicago a more affordable place 
to live.
  A strong voice for sustainability and green technologies, Alderman 
Shiller took the lead on a voluntary pilot program for multi-unit 
residential building recycling and created a task force to improve the 
city's recycling program. She is an advocate for LEED certification in 
all planned developments as well as in other development projects 
throughout the city.
  In 1989, Alderman Shiller sponsored a resolution that created a sub-
committee to focus on ways to end domestic violence. As a result of her 
leadership, the city now funds domestic violence counseling centers and 
programs for supervised visitations.
  Alderman Shiller has continuously worked to keep the 46th Ward both 
economically and culturally diverse, while at the same time working to 
develop virtually every area of the ward. It is important to Alderman 
Shiller that the 46th Ward continue to be defined by its unique mix of 
people with very different economic and cultural backgrounds. She has 
worked on many models to retain this diversity and, with the City's 
Department of Housing, developed the Planned Purchase Price Assistance 
Program (now called CPAN), which provides opportunities for home 
ownership for working families.
  Alderman Shiller led a comprehensive and inclusive community planning 
process resulting in the development of affordable housing and thriving 
retail development at Wilson Yard in the heart of Uptown.
  Helen Shiller received her high school diploma from Woodstock Country 
School in Vermont in 1965. She attended the University of Wisconsin at 
Madison as a history major

[[Page 6809]]

and received her BA in 1969. In 2005, she graduated from DePaul 
University's School for New Learning's Master's Program where her focus 
was public policy.
  I am confident that Helen will continue to contribute to her 
community and city. I wish her the very best, and I am proud to call 
her my friend.

                          ____________________