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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor Mary Jo Arndt of Lombard
4 for her many years of dedicated service to the people of
5 Illinois and the nation; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt is a graduate of Northern Illinois
7 University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in
8 education; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt has devoted much of her career to
10 political activism; she currently serves as the Chairman for
11 the Illinois Women for McCain campaign; she is a former member
12 of the Republican National Committee for Illinois and a member
13 of the RNC Executive Committee from the Midwestern Region; she
14 serves on the Board of Directors of the American Women for
15 International Understanding and is a member and advisor of the
16 Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois; she is also
17 a member of the Xilin Association Board of Directors; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt is a Past President of the National
19 Federation of Republican Women, a grassroots network of over
20 100,000 members organized in 2,000 local chapters throughout
21 the United States, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
22 Islands; she is also a past president of the Illinois

 

 

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1 Federation of Republican Women; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt is well known among her peers as a
3 pioneer in efforts to increase opportunities for women in
4 politics, government, and education, actively working to
5 expand the party's base by bringing a diverse group of women
6 into the political system; with the support of the late Lee
7 Atwater, she founded the Illinois Republican Committeewoman's
8 Roundtable in 1989, which successfully broadens the Party's
9 reach into new communities of women; during Atwater's term, she
10 served as a member of the RNC Small Business Advisory
11 Committee; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Through her work with the Roundtable, Mary Jo
13 Arndt established the Illinois Lincoln Excellence in Public
14 Service Series, an RNC-endorsed program that annually awards
15 ten to fifteen fellowships to women to study government and
16 politics; the organization seeks to increase the number of
17 Republican women in national and State government and party
18 decision-making positions; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt is well regarded as a pioneer of
20 grassroots involvement; she is currently serving her
21 seventeenth term as a DuPage County Precinct Committeeman; as
22 Precinct Committeeman, she managed the first door-to-door
23 voter blitz in Illinois, which became the model for the

 

 

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1 national Republican program; in 1988, she initiated the
2 Surrogate Speakers Program for President George Bush, the
3 forerunner of the successful "Women Who Win" program; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt served as a member of the U.S. Small
5 Business Administration National Advisory Council from 2001
6 until 2007; she was selected as one of 100 women to participate
7 in Leadership America by the Foundation for Women's Resources;
8 she served as a member of the National Board of Directors of
9 Leadership America from 2001 through 2006; she also serves as a
10 member of the Advisory Board of Leadership Illinois; and
 
11     WHEREAS, As a member of the Illinois Governor's Commission
12 on the Status of Women, Mary Jo Arndt served on the Working
13 Group on Balancing Work and Family, which explored issues such
14 as child care, elder care, and pension reform; she was
15 appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the President's
16 Commission on White House Fellows, then was reappointed by
17 President George Bush; she served as an observer of the
18 Romanian elections in May of 1990; during the Reagan
19 Administration, she became a U.S. Senate confirmed appointment
20 to the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational
21 Programs, where she served as chairman of the Women's
22 Educational Equity Act Committee and served as a member of the
23 Advisory Committee to the Illinois State Superintendent of
24 Schools; she also served, by appointment of the Governor, on

 

 

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1 the Illinois Commission for the Celebration of the 75th
2 Anniversary of the 19th Amendment; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt has been twice named a "Power
4 Personality", a woman who makes a difference in the business
5 and social environment of the Chicago area, by Today's Chicago
6 Woman; she was also selected by the Gallup Organization as a
7 "Visionary Leader for the 21st Century" and awarded her a full
8 scholarship to the Gallup Leadership Institute; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Mary Jo Arndt serves as the managing partner and
10 hospital administrator of the Lombard Veterinary Hospital with
11 her husband, Dr. Paul W. Arndt, and her daughter, Dr.
12 Georgianne Arndt Ludwig; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Mary Jo considers her best achievements to be her
14 three daughters, Dr. Kristi Arndt, D.V.M., Ed.M., Ph.D.; Kerri
15 Arndt Roselli, M.P.A.; and Dr. Georgianne Arndt Ludwig, D.V.M.,
16 as well as her four grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
17     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19 honor Mary Jo Arndt of Lombard for her many years of dedicated
20 service to the people of Illinois and the nation and wish her
21 continued success in her future endeavors; and be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to Mary Jo Arndt as a symbol of our esteem and
3 respect.