FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY TO SPEAK ON CITIZEN ACTIVISM EVANSTON, Ill. --- Rep. Jan D. Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will give a lecture titled "Why Citizen Activism Matters: The View from Washington" as part of the 2002 Institute for Policy Research Distinguished Public Policy Lecture Series at Northwestern University.

Free and open to the public, the lecture will take place at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, at the Allen Center Auditorium, 2169 N. Campus Drive, on the Evanston campus.

In her lecture, Schakowsky will address the disconnect many Americans feel between government and their personal lives, and the inherent dangers. "There are many examples of where citizen activism has made a difference," she says, "but unless political participation increases, the American tradition of government, 'of the people, by the people, and for the people' will change into government 'of the few, by the few, and for the few.' "

Schakowsky, who represents Chicago's North Side and suburbs, was elected to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District in November 1998. Well known in the Chicago area for her advocacy on behalf of the elderly, consumers and other citizens, she serves as chief deputy whip to Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi.

She serves on a number of congressional committees and task forces, including the House Financial Services and Government Reform committees and the Healthcare, Medicare and Homeland Security task forces.

Schakowsky is vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Election Reform and the author of comprehensive legislation to provide protection to consumers from predatory lenders and to safeguard the rights of victims of identity theft.

She is engaged in the national campaign to give 39 million senior citizens and persons with disabilities access to affordable prescription drugs. She also is working to ensure that seniors receive quality home, hospice and nursing home care.

She has won a number of legislative victories to increase federal assistance for abused women and children, expand housing opportunities for low-income people and to assist small business owners and farmers.

Before being elected to Congress, Schakowsky served for eight years in the Illinois State Assembly and prior to that was a consumer advocate who began the fight that put freshness dates on products sold in the supermarket. She also served as program director of Illinois Public Action, the state's largest public interest organization.

The 2002 Distinguished Public Policy Lecture series is sponsored by the Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research (IPR). An interdisciplinary public policy research institute, IPR was founded in 1968 to stimulate and support social science research on significant public policy issues and to disseminate the findings widely -- to students, scholars, policymakers and the public at large.