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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives have learned of the death of an Illinois | ||||||
| 4 | resident who
holds the distinction of being the person elected | ||||||
| 5 | to serve as the mayor of the largest American
city to be | ||||||
| 6 | governed by a woman; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Jane M. Byrne highlighted a lengthy career of | ||||||
| 8 | public service and civic involvement by serving as Mayor of | ||||||
| 9 | Chicago from 1979 until 1983; she is remembered as a dynamic | ||||||
| 10 | leader, loving
mother and grandmother, innovator, and friend; | ||||||
| 11 | and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, During her mayoral term, Jane M. Byrne tackled | ||||||
| 13 | issues like collapsing school
finances and contentious labor | ||||||
| 14 | relations head on; she also moved into the Cabrini Green public | ||||||
| 15 | housing project to focus the need for better
police and public | ||||||
| 16 | service in troubled neighborhoods; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Jane M. Byrne understood the need to showcase the | ||||||
| 18 | unmatched natural beauty
of the City's Lake Michigan shoreline; | ||||||
| 19 | she also helped create the "Taste of Chicago" and propelled the | ||||||
| 20 | City into becoming a
leading domestic tourism destination, | ||||||
| 21 | which enabled Chicago to be recognized as "America's Most | ||||||
| 22 | Livable City" by the
U.S. Conference of Mayors; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Jane M. Byrne's vision of Chicago as a modern | ||||||
| 2 | international destination led to the creation of unique direct | ||||||
| 3 | rapid transit
links to O'Hare and Midway Airports; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, Jane M. Byrne recognized the need for new jobs to | ||||||
| 5 | take Chicago from being
a manufacturing hub to a prosperous | ||||||
| 6 | center of creativity through efforts like the High Tech
Task | ||||||
| 7 | Force; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Jane M. Byrne is recognized as a pioneer on gun | ||||||
| 9 | safety for approving the first
ordinance to get handguns off | ||||||
| 10 | the streets; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, While breaking gender barriers was a highlight of | ||||||
| 12 | her career, Jane M. Byrne was by any standard a dynamic elected | ||||||
| 13 | official; therefore, be it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 15 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 16 | we express our sympathies to Jane M. Byrne's daughter, Kathy | ||||||
| 17 | Byrne, her grandson, Willy, her brother Edward Burke, and her | ||||||
| 18 | sisters Carol Burke Sexton and Jill Burke Wolf, and honor Jane | ||||||
| 19 | M. Byrne for her years of service and for making Illinois a | ||||||
| 20 | better place; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | presented to the family of Jane M. Byrne as an expression of | ||||||
| 3 | our deepest sympathy.
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