HR1395 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1395 LRB098 23513 MST 62703 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Representative Tom Cross of Oswego on his distinguished service to the people of the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been a member of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1993 and has served this body with honor and distinction; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross was born on July 31, 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee; he grew up in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago before his family moved to Yorkville in Kendall County, where he graduated with Yorkville High School's Class of 1976; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in 1983; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross married the former Genie Hovater in 1983, and through more than 31 years of marriage, have celebrated the births of 2 children, daughter, Reynolds and son, Hudson; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross was inspired to pursue a life of public service by his father, the Rev. Thomas Cross, Jr. and his mother, Ruth Cross, a public school teacher and principal; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1983 and served as a prosecutor with the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office from 1984 to 1992; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1992, rising to Assistant Republican Leader in 1999 before being elected by his caucus as House Republican Leader in 2002, a position he served in until September of 2013; and

WHEREAS, As a member of the General Assembly, Representative Tom Cross was the sponsor of new laws that cracked down on fraud and abuse of the State's pension system; and

WHEREAS, As House Republican Leader, Representative Cross fought for budgetary honesty; he was a leading voice within the General Assembly in opposition to the pseudo-accounting tactics and fund sweeps used to repeatedly violate the constitutional requirement that the State balance its operating budget; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been noted for his leadership on key children's health and safety initiatives, including enhanced research for juvenile diabetes, new safeguards to protect youth football players from concussions, and stronger reporting and monitoring requirements for child sex offenders; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross is a partner with the firm of Mahoney, Silverman, and Cross in Joliet; and

WHEREAS, Representative Cross has been honored by scores of organizations over the years in recognition of his outstanding service in the General Assembly, including the Illinois State's Attorneys Association, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Farm Bureau, and the Illinois Health Care Association, among many others; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Representative Tom Cross on his outstanding service as a member of the General Assembly and as House Republican Leader from 2003 from 2013, and we wish him the best in all his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Representative Cross and his family as an expression of our esteem and respect for our colleague and friend.