[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_HR0697
LRB9216203BHbh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Former Illinois and Chicago resident, Catherine
3 A. Bertini, has lead the United Nations World Food Program
4 (WFP) with distinction as Executive Director since 1992; and
5 WHEREAS, Serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the
6 world's largest humanitarian organization and the leader in
7 providing aid in emergencies such as those in Afghanistan,
8 Kosovo, North Korea, and the Horn of Africa, Ms. Bertini has
9 managed the work of emergency, refugee, and development food
10 aid operations in 83 countries around the world; and
11 WHEREAS, As the WFP Executive Director, Ms. Bertini is an
12 Under Secretary General of the United Nations, the first
13 American and first female to lead the WFP; and
14 WHEREAS, During her 10-year tenure at the WFP, Ms.
15 Bertini raised $15 billion in voluntary contributions,
16 allowing 31 million tons of food to be shipped to the hungry
17 poor around the world; and
18 WHEREAS, Ms. Bertini has made a very significant
19 contribution in raising awareness and arousing action in
20 response to the needs of the hungry poor, particularly in
21 working to close the "gender gap" in Afghanistan, where the
22 WFP created bakeries run by women and supported school-based
23 feeding programs; and
24 WHEREAS, Prior to her appointment as Executive Director
25 of the WFP by the Secretary General of the United Nations,
26 Ms. Bertini served as the Assistant Secretary of the United
27 States Department of Agriculture from 1989 to 1992,
28 responsible for food assistance programs, including Food
29 Stamps, school breakfast and lunch programs, and the Women,
30 Infants and Children (WIC) Program; and
31 WHEREAS, Ms. Bertini began her distinguished federal
-2- LRB9216203BHbh
1 government career as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the
2 United States Department of Health and Human Services,
3 responsible for managing and developing the nation's policy
4 for the (former) Aid to Families with Dependent Children
5 program, as well as welfare reform, child support
6 enforcement, refugee resettlement and community services; and
7 WHEREAS, During her residency in Illinois and Chicago,
8 Ms. Bertini served as the Manager of Public Policy and State
9 and Local Public Affairs for Container Corporation of
10 America, a member of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, a
11 fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government,
12 and the President of the 43rd Ward Republican Party under
13 Committeeman Ron Gidwitz; and
14 WHEREAS, Ms. Bertini will complete the maximum 10-year,
15 two-term tenure as Executive Director of the WFP in April,
16 2002, completing a remarkable and distinguished career
17 increasing awareness, and financial and food contributions,
18 as well as health and nutrition to the hungry poor of the
19 world; therefore be it
20 RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
22 we join in saluting the important work and tenure of former
23 Illinois and Chicago resident, Ms. Catherine A. Bertini, in
24 her outstanding contributions as the Executive Director of
25 the United Nations World Food Program; and be it further
26 RESOLVED That a suitable copy of this preamble and
27 resolution be presented to Ms. Catherine A. Bertini as a
28 symbol of our heartfelt appreciation for her significant
29 humanitarian work at the WFP in the last 10 years and our
30 very best wishes for her continued good health and success.