HR0464 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0464 LRB094 12409 HSS 46720 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois learned with deep sadness of the death of their former colleague, State Senator Margaret Smith of Chicago, on Monday, May 16, 2005; and

WHEREAS, Senator Smith served 22 years in the Illinois General Assembly; she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1980 and served one two-year term there; in 1982, she was elected to the Senate; she was re-elected to the Senate six times and served as Senator for 20 years, retiring from the Senate in December of 2002; and

WHEREAS, Her late husband, Fred, served in the General Assembly for 36 years, from 1943 to 1979; the Smiths were married in 1955; and

WHEREAS, In the General Assembly, Margaret Smith was nationally recognized for her support of women's health care and health care affecting children, infants, and the poor; for nearly a decade, she served as chairperson of the influential Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Corrections committee, guiding some of the most pressing and sweeping legislation on health care through her committee, much of which served as a model for the nation; she also sponsored legislation requiring the State to cover mammograms for poor women and requiring insurance companies to cover mammograms; and

WHEREAS, Many health care organizations recognized her efforts on health care issues; she received the coveted "Legislator of the Year Award" from every major health care organization in the State, including the Illinois Nurses Association, the Illinois Hospital Association, and the Illinois Health Care Association; and

WHEREAS, In the Senate, she also was a leader in promoting African-American history in Illinois; she authored the legislation commissioning the sculpture of statues of Adelbert H. Roberts and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the portrait of her late husband, Fred J. Smith; and

WHEREAS, An extensive traveler, Senator Smith visited Africa nine times and had been to Europe and Asia, as well as traveling throughout the United States; many of her travels were done as part of missionary work she did on behalf of the Foreign Mission Bureau of the National Baptist Convention; in honor of her efforts, a school In Haiti was named after her; and

WHEREAS, A graduate of DuSable High School, she graduated from Tennessee State University in Nashville and has an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the Chicago Baptist Institute; she was a member of the Bethesda Baptist Church, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, and the Metropolitan Business Professional Women; she was a board member of the Ada S. McKinley Foundation and the Beatrice Caffrey Youth Center; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of State Senator Margaret Smith, a woman who demonstrated a devotion to the needs of others in the General Assembly and in her day-to-day life; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to her family as an expression of our sincere condolences for the loss of their loved one and our friend.