Full Text of HR1306 97th General Assembly
HR1306 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are proud to honor our esteemed colleague, | 4 | | State Representative Karen Yarbrough, and thank her for her | 5 | | many years of service to the residents of her district and the | 6 | | people of the State of Illinois; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough is a native of Washington D.C., but | 8 | | established herself as a third generation entrepreneur in Cook | 9 | | County; she earned a degree in business administration from | 10 | | Chicago State University, a master's degree in inner city | 11 | | studies at Northeastern Illinois University, and completed a | 12 | | senior executive government program at Harvard's Kennedy | 13 | | School of Government; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough blazed trails in carrying on her | 15 | | family's tradition of work in the real estate, appraisal and | 16 | | insurance industry, making great strides as a woman in a then | 17 | | male-dominated profession; she was the founder and longtime | 18 | | chief executive officer of Hathaway Insurance, and was driven | 19 | | to succeed despite those who looked over her shoulder to see if | 20 | | the man who ran the business was around; she often shares this | 21 | | anecdote to inspire young women to persevere through adversity; | 22 | | and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough became State Representative in | 2 | | 2001, and for more than 10 years has been a strong advocate for | 3 | | social justice and a society that measures itself by how it | 4 | | cares for its most vulnerable, especially young children, the | 5 | | disabled, and the elderly; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough served on numerous committees in | 7 | | the House of Representatives, including committees on housing, | 8 | | public safety appropriations, education, public health, | 9 | | environment, insurance, and the railroad industry, among many | 10 | | others; she was also selected by her peers to serve as | 11 | | Assistant Majority Leader; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough earned a reputation as a | 13 | | hardworking leader unafraid to fight for what she believes is | 14 | | right; among the tough issues she tackled was the legislative | 15 | | effort that made Illinois the first Midwestern state to ban | 16 | | indoor smoking and protect employees from the health risks of | 17 | | secondary smoke; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Public health has long been a priority for Rep. | 19 | | Yarbrough; she has helped numerous HIV/AIDS prevention and | 20 | | education organizations and hosts an annual breast cancer | 21 | | awareness event to bring local women together; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough believed that Illinois would be a |
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| 1 | | better place if it ended the death penalty, taking up an effort | 2 | | that had made little progress in 30 years; she worked | 3 | | tirelessly to help others find the courage to stand for true | 4 | | justice and made Illinois the 16th state to repeal capital | 5 | | punishment, earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and an | 6 | | audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough believes that many of society's | 8 | | problems stem from poverty, and she focused much of her | 9 | | legislative efforts to eliminate it, helping to create the | 10 | | Commission on the Elimination of Poverty; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, To help battle violence in Chicago and Cook | 12 | | County, Rep. Yarbrough was one of the first state officials to | 13 | | endorse the CeaseFire anti-violence initiative, an effort | 14 | | using violence interrupters to mediate conflicts before they | 15 | | turn deadly; when CeaseFire dollars were slashed and violence | 16 | | started to rise, Yarbrough successfully fought to restore much | 17 | | State funding; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough was one of the first legislators to | 19 | | recognize that predatory mortgage lending practices had a | 20 | | deleterious effect on communities, especially communities of | 21 | | color, and fought to crack down on state-chartered banks and | 22 | | establish a program to track lending and offer mortgage | 23 | | counseling to potential buyers at risk; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough helped usher in the first major | 2 | | statewide capital construction program in Illinois in a decade | 3 | | to repair the state's crumbling roads, bridges and schools and | 4 | | create well-paying jobs; she helped to enact strong ethics | 5 | | reform to restore trust in state government; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough has received numerous awards | 7 | | recognizing her efforts to promote social justice, public | 8 | | health, fair housing, anti-violence, volunteerism and women's | 9 | | rights, and she proudly mentors young people who seek to become | 10 | | more involved in their communities; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Yarbrough enjoys spending time with her | 12 | | family, especially her husband, Henderson, who shares her | 13 | | passion for public service as Mayor of the Village of Maywood; | 14 | | she is especially proud of her children and grandchildren; | 15 | | therefore, be it
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we thank State Representative Karen Yarbrough for her service | 19 | | to her community and State, and wish her continued success in | 20 | | her new position as Cook County Recorder and in all her future | 21 | | endeavors; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to Rep. Karen Yarbrough as an expression of our | 3 | | respect and gratitude.
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