HR0850 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0850 LRB094 19178 HSS 54715 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In March of 2006 an historic event will take place in the South American nation of Chile as Michelle Bachelet, the first elected female president, is inaugurated; and

WHEREAS, Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria was born in Santiago on September 29, 1951, the second child of an air force officer who rose to a general's rank and a housewife who became an archaeologist; her early years were spent in the restrictive but sheltering environment of the Chilean Armed Forces, moving from one military base to another around the country; and

WHEREAS, During her teenage years, her father was assigned to the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C., and she lived in Bethesda, Maryland, where she attended middle school, learned to speak English fluently, and developed a lifelong love of pop and folk music; and

WHEREAS, The family returned to Chile where she attended college, but during the Pinochet dictatorship, which led to her father's death, she and her mother were tortured and then exiled; while in exile, she studied medicine at Humboldt University in East Berlin; upon their return to Chile, she finished medical school, specializing in pediatrics and public health; and

WHEREAS, In 1994, after having worked in AIDS and epidemiological programs, she became an adviser to the Ministry of Health; she went on to study at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., and after her return, she went to work in the Defense Ministry and was also elected to the political commission of the Socialist Party, specializing in defense and military issues; and

WHEREAS, She was then appointed by current president, Ricardo Lagos, to lead the Defense Ministry, becoming the first woman to hold that post; her election as president makes her the first woman to be elected president of Chile and the first woman president in South America who didn't rise on the political power of her husband; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that together with the Conference of Women Legislators, we congratulate Michelle Bachelet on being the first elected female president of Chile; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to President-Elect Bachelet as an expression of our esteem and with our best wishes for her term in office.