Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR1395
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Full Text of HR1395  98th General Assembly

HR1395 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Representative Tom Cross
4of Oswego on his distinguished service to the people of the
5State of Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been a member of the
7Illinois House of Representatives since 1993 and has served
8this body with honor and distinction; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Representative Cross was born on July 31, 1958 in
10Nashville, Tennessee; he grew up in the West Pullman
11neighborhood of Chicago before his family moved to Yorkville in
12Kendall County, where he graduated with Yorkville High School's
13Class of 1976; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Representative Cross earned a Bachelor of Arts in
15Political Science from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1980 and
16a Juris Doctor from Samford University's Cumberland School of
17Law in 1983; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Representative Cross married the former Genie
19Hovater in 1983, and through more than 31 years of marriage,
20have celebrated the births of 2 children, daughter, Reynolds
21and son, Hudson; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Representative Cross was inspired to pursue a life
2of public service by his father, the Rev. Thomas Cross, Jr. and
3his mother, Ruth Cross, a public school teacher and principal;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, Representative Cross was admitted to the Illinois
6Bar in 1983 and served as a prosecutor with the Kendall County
7State's Attorney's Office from 1984 to 1992; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Representative Cross was first elected to the
9Illinois House of Representatives in 1992, rising to Assistant
10Republican Leader in 1999 before being elected by his caucus as
11House Republican Leader in 2002, a position he served in until
12September of 2013; and
 
13    WHEREAS, As a member of the General Assembly,
14Representative Tom Cross was the sponsor of new laws that
15cracked down on fraud and abuse of the State's pension system;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, As House Republican Leader, Representative Cross
18fought for budgetary honesty; he was a leading voice within the
19General Assembly in opposition to the pseudo-accounting
20tactics and fund sweeps used to repeatedly violate the
21constitutional requirement that the State balance its

 

 

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1operating budget; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been noted for his
3leadership on key children's health and safety initiatives,
4including enhanced research for juvenile diabetes, new
5safeguards to protect youth football players from concussions,
6and stronger reporting and monitoring requirements for child
7sex offenders; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Representative Cross serves on the Board of
9Directors of the Illinois Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes
10Research Foundation; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Representative Cross is a partner with the firm of
12Mahoney, Silverman, and Cross in Joliet; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been honored by scores of
14organizations over the years in recognition of his outstanding
15service in the General Assembly, including the Illinois State's
16Attorneys Association, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of
17Police, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Farm
18Bureau, and the Illinois Health Care Association, among many
19others; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1we congratulate Representative Tom Cross on his outstanding
2service as a member of the General Assembly and as House
3Republican Leader from 2003 from 2013, and we wish him the best
4in all his future endeavors; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6presented to Representative Cross and his family as an
7expression of our esteem and respect for our colleague and
8friend.