Full Text of SR0716 093rd General Assembly
SR0716 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SR0716 |
|
LRB093 23911 RAS 53992 r |
|
| 1 |
| SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| would like to congratulate State Senator Barack H. Obama, who | 4 |
| was elected to represent the State of Illinois in the United | 5 |
| States Senate on November 2, 2004; and
| 6 |
| WHEREAS, Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Hawaii and | 7 |
| grew up in Indonesia; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University | 9 |
| with a degree in political science and a specialty in | 10 |
| international relations; he worked as a community organizer in | 11 |
| some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, helping church | 12 |
| groups create job-training programs, reform area schools, and | 13 |
| improve city services; he went on to Harvard Law School, where | 14 |
| he graduated magna cum laude and served as the first | 15 |
| African-American president of the Harvard Law Review; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, After law school, Obama organized one of the | 17 |
| largest voter registration drives in Chicago history to help | 18 |
| Bill Clinton's election and worked as a civil rights lawyer on | 19 |
| cutting edge voting rights and employment discrimination cases | 20 |
| in federal and State courts; and
| 21 |
| WHEREAS, During his tenure in the Illinois State Senate, | 22 |
| Obama represented Illinois' 13th Senate District on Chicago's | 23 |
| South Side; recognized for his innovative, effective | 24 |
| leadership, Obama was Chairman of the powerful Health and Human | 25 |
| Services Committee; he also served on the Judiciary and Revenue | 26 |
| Committees; the Chicago Tribune has called him "one of the | 27 |
| General Assembly's most impressive members"; and | 28 |
| WHEREAS, Obama was mentored by his "political godfather", | 29 |
| Senate President Emil Jones, Jr., and inspired by his | 30 |
| colleagues in the Illinois Senate and public officials across |
|
|
|
SR0716 |
- 2 - |
LRB093 23911 RAS 53992 r |
|
| 1 |
| the State; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, Obama passed laws extending health coverage to | 3 |
| children and families without insurance, co-sponsored | 4 |
| legislation establishing a prescription drug discount for | 5 |
| seniors, passed legislation requiring a hospital report card | 6 |
| that makes hospitals more accountable to consumers, championed | 7 |
| increased funding for AIDS prevention and other public health | 8 |
| initiatives, and sponsored legislation to expand access to | 9 |
| affordable health care; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, In the wake of a series of shocking exonerations | 11 |
| of innocent persons on death row, Obama drafted and passed | 12 |
| landmark legislation requiring the videotaping of | 13 |
| interrogations and confessions in all capital cases and was | 14 |
| chief co-sponsor of comprehensive reform of the death penalty | 15 |
| system in Illinois; he has been a leader in reforming the | 16 |
| juvenile justice system to keep more young people in school and | 17 |
| out of prison and has fought to increase penalties for domestic | 18 |
| violence; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, As a senior lecturer in constitutional law at the | 20 |
| University of Chicago Law School, Obama has been a leading | 21 |
| voice in the Senate in protecting a woman's right to | 22 |
| reproductive freedom; he passed model legislation designed to | 23 |
| curb the practice of racial profiling by law enforcement; and | 24 |
| WHEREAS, Working with former United States Senator Paul | 25 |
| Simon, Obama was a chief architect and sponsor of the first | 26 |
| State campaign finance reform legislation in 25 years and has | 27 |
| helped toughen rules governing government contracting and | 28 |
| procurement; and | 29 |
| WHEREAS, Obama was a community organizer in Chicago in the | 30 |
| Roseland and Altgeld Gardens neighborhoods and in New York in | 31 |
| Harlem, promoting education and better housing; Obama has |
|
|
|
SR0716 |
- 3 - |
LRB093 23911 RAS 53992 r |
|
| 1 |
| served on the boards of some of Chicago's leading foundations | 2 |
| and chaired the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a $50 million | 3 |
| philanthropic effort to reform the public schools; and
| 4 |
| WHEREAS, Barack Obama has spent a lifetime fighting | 5 |
| effectively to empower working families and the poor - as | 6 |
| community organizer, civil rights attorney, and a leader in the | 7 |
| Illinois Senate; he has brought new ideas and approaches in | 8 |
| pursuit of traditional Democratic ideals to make a real | 9 |
| difference for people -- from better schools to affordable | 10 |
| health care to criminal justice reform; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Barack Obama is very devoted to church and family; | 12 |
| he is a longtime member of the Trinity United Church of Christ | 13 |
| in Chicago, which is pastored by Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright; | 14 |
| he enjoys the continued support of his wife, Michelle | 15 |
| (Robinson), and his daughters, Malia and Sasha; therefore, be | 16 |
| it | 17 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 18 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we would like to | 19 |
| congratulate Barack H. Obama on his election to the U.S. Senate | 20 |
| and wish him well in all of his future endeavors; and be it | 21 |
| further
| 22 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 23 |
| presented to United States Senator-elect Barack H. Obama as a | 24 |
| token of our respect and esteem.
|
|