Full Text of HR0991 94th General Assembly
HR0991 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Henry John Hyde, who was born in Illinois on April | 3 |
| 18, 1924, has been a Republican member of the United States | 4 |
| House of Representatives since 1975, representing the 6th | 5 |
| District of Illinois; Congressman Hyde grew up in Chicago as an | 6 |
| Irish-Catholic Democrat; he began having doubts about the | 7 |
| Democrat Party in the late 1940s, and by 1952, he had switched | 8 |
| parties and backed Dwight D. Eisenhower for president; and
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| WHEREAS, Congressman Hyde attended Duke University, | 10 |
| graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and | 11 |
| obtained his law degree from Loyola University; Congressman | 12 |
| Hyde served in the United States Navy before entering the U.S. | 13 |
| House of Representatives; he enlisted in the U.S. Navy on | 14 |
| November 11, 1942, attended the Navy V-12 Program at Duke | 15 |
| University and Notre Dame University, attended Midshipman's | 16 |
| School in 1943-44, was a commissioned Ensign, USNR, October, | 17 |
| 1944, and served in the South Pacific, New Guinea, and in | 18 |
| combat in the Philippines until August 1946; he served in the | 19 |
| U.S. Naval Reserves from 1946-68 and retired at the rank of | 20 |
| Commander after serving as officer in charge, U.S. Naval | 21 |
| Intelligence Reserve Unit, Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, Before serving in the U.S. Congress, Henry J. Hyde | 23 |
| also served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1966 | 24 |
| through 1974; during that time, Representative Hyde was one of | 25 |
| its most outspoken and articulate debaters, rising to majority | 26 |
| leader; in 1974, longtime GOP Representative Harold Collier | 27 |
| retired from the suburban 6th Congressional District; Henry | 28 |
| Hyde ran for Collier's vacated seat, winning with 53 percent of | 29 |
| the vote; and
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| WHEREAS, Sworn into the House of Representatives in 1975, | 31 |
| Congressman Hyde is regarded as a strong and respected leader | 32 |
| by members of both sides of the aisle; during his tenure, he |
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| has worked hard to improve the lives of seniors, veterans, | 2 |
| children, working families, and small business owners -- the | 3 |
| people who make up the 6th Congressional District of Illinois; | 4 |
| these also are the people he remembers every time he considers | 5 |
| legislative proposals or casts his ballot; and
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| WHEREAS, Congressman Hyde's mission has always been the | 7 |
| same - to bring jobs, better education, and more opportunities | 8 |
| to the people who live in suburban Cook and DuPage counties; | 9 |
| the results of his dedicated service can be seen in communities | 10 |
| throughout the 6th district, including public works projects to | 11 |
| provide flood control and clean drinking water, citizenship | 12 |
| projects in local school districts, and new housing | 13 |
| developments for senior citizens and special needs children; | 14 |
| Congressman Hyde also has helped numerous fire departments and | 15 |
| police departments obtain grants for new equipment such as | 16 |
| bulletproof vests; additionally, Congressman Hyde continues to | 17 |
| oppose expansion at O'Hare International Airport, supporting | 18 |
| instead the building of a third regional airport in Peotone; | 19 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, As the current chairman of the House International | 21 |
| Relations Committee, of which he has been a member since 1982, | 22 |
| Congressman Hyde and the Committee's senior Democrat, U.S. Rep. | 23 |
| Tom Lantos (D-CA), authored America's worldwide response to the | 24 |
| HIV/AIDS crisis in 2003 and landmark foreign assistance | 25 |
| legislation creating the Millennium Challenge Corporation and | 26 |
| expanding U.S. funding for successful micro-enterprise | 27 |
| initiatives; during his long career, Congressman Hyde has also | 28 |
| been involved in crucial debates over U.S.-Soviet relations, | 29 |
| Central America policy, the War Powers Act, NATO expansion, the | 30 |
| investigation of the Iran-Contra affair, and, most recently, | 31 |
| sponsorship of a bill that ties payment of U.S. dues for United | 32 |
| Nations operations to efforts mandating reform of the | 33 |
| institution's management; an original sponsor of the Brady Bill | 34 |
| requiring background checks for gun buyers, Congressman Hyde |
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| broke with his party in 1994 and supported a ban on the sale of | 2 |
| assault weapons; an original sponsor of family leave | 3 |
| legislation, Representative Hyde said the law promoted | 4 |
| "capitalism with a human face"; and
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| WHEREAS, Congressman Hyde, as chairman of the House | 6 |
| International Relations Committee, has also played a vital role | 7 |
| in this nation's war on terrorism; from closed-door briefings | 8 |
| at the White House to high-level meetings with foreign | 9 |
| diplomats, Congressman Hyde has been involved in crucial | 10 |
| debates about how the country must respond to the terrorist | 11 |
| attacks perpetrated on our nation September 11, 2001; through | 12 |
| his leadership, the International Relations Committee has | 13 |
| brought attention to the fact that America does not do a good | 14 |
| enough job telling its story abroad; the committee also has | 15 |
| spent time exploring the threat of biological and chemical | 16 |
| weapons in an effort to ensure our government is doing all it | 17 |
| can to protect the public; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 19 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 |
| Congressman Henry J. Hyde be honored for his distinguished | 21 |
| record of public service for the State of Illinois and all of | 22 |
| its citizens; as a true example of a public servant, | 23 |
| Congressman Hyde is recognized for fervently fighting for what | 24 |
| is right for the taxpayers and citizens of both the great State | 25 |
| of Illinois as well as each and every individual within this | 26 |
| nation; furthermore, Congressman Hyde's honesty and integrity | 27 |
| as a public servant were evident from his first day in the | 28 |
| Illinois General Assembly, were strengthened when he was sworn | 29 |
| into the United States House of Representatives, and have | 30 |
| become the standard to which every public servant of Illinois | 31 |
| should strive to achieve; though Congressman Hyde has decided | 32 |
| to retire and leave the U.S. House of Representatives after his | 33 |
| current term expires in 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives | 34 |
| will never be able to replace his knowledge, skill, tenacity, |
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| integrity, and the love he had for all persons in this nation, | 2 |
| and especially the citizens of Illinois that he loyally and | 3 |
| honorably represented; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to U.S. Congressman Henry J. Hyde and his family as | 6 |
| an expression of our respect and esteem.
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