Martin Anthony Russo (born January 23, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer and lobbyist from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Education & legal career

He attended and graduated from

St. Ignatius College Prep Saint Ignatius College Prep is a selective private, coeducational Jesuit college-preparatory school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in Chicago in 1869 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Dutch ...

in 1961. He graduated from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1965 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1967. From 1971 to 1973 he served as an Assistant State Attorney for

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Political career

He was elected as a Democrat to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

and served from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1993. From 1979 to 1992, Russo served on the Ways and Means Committee, which from 1981 through 1994 was chaired by fellow Chicagoan Dan Rostenkowski. During his tenure, the Committee passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986. As Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Chairman of the Task Force on Income Security, Russo became a vocal advocate for affordable health care for all Americans. He authored the single-payer health care reform proposal, the Universal Health Care Act of 1991 (H.R. 1300), which gained broad national attention and support.

Primary loss

After the 1990 redistricting, his district was merged with the neighboring

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

of fellow Democrat

Bill Lipinski William Oliver Lipinski (born December 22, 1937) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2005, representing a district in Chicago. Life and career Pre-congr ...

. Although the reconfigured district retained Russo's district number, he lost the March 17, 1992 Democratic primary to Lipinski, 38 percent to 56 percent.

Lobbyist

Russo worked at the lobbying firm of

Cassidy & Associates Cassidy & Associates is a government-relations firm based in Washington, D.C. In 2018, the company received $14,170,000 in income from various companies for lobbying of the United States government. According to The Washington Post its founder, Ge ...

, rising to the position of CEO. He left the firm in 2010. On December 15, 2010,

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

reported that Russo has accepted a "generous" buy-out and will be stepping down at the end of the year, as part of an overall shake-up. The firm, which helped pioneer earmark lobbying, faces a Republican House and Senate Republicans who have banned the practice."Chris Frates. "Cassidy CEO leaves lobbying firm." Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46452.html#ixzz18FfjPMwm

Personal

He currently resides in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

References

External links

* 1944 births Living people Politicians from Cook County, Illinois DePaul University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois {{Illinois-politician-stub