Full Text of HR0881 102nd General Assembly
HR0881 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former | 4 | | Illinois State Representative and United States Congressman | 5 | | John Edward Porter of Alexandria, Virginia, formerly of | 6 | | Evanston, who passed away on June 3, 2022 at the age of 87; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was born in Evanston on June | 8 | | 1, 1935; he graduated from Evanston Township High School; he | 9 | | then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; he | 10 | | received his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from | 11 | | Northwestern University in 1957; he served in the U.S. Army | 12 | | Reserve from 1958 to 1964; he earned his Juris Doctor from the | 13 | | University of Michigan Law School in 1961, where he made Law | 14 | | Review and graduated with distinction; passing the bar, he | 15 | | commenced the practice of law in Illinois; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, As an Evanston community leader, Congressman | 17 | | Porter served as a director or an officer of the United | 18 | | Community Services of Evanston, the Evanston March of Dimes, | 19 | | the Southeast Evanston Association, the East Evanston | 20 | | Community Conference, the University Club of Evanston, the | 21 | | Evanston Historical Society, the Cove School for children with | 22 | | challenges, and the Evanston YMCA; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter ran and won as a Republican in | 2 | | the Illinois House of Representatives in the first election | 3 | | following the redistricting of the Illinois House and the | 4 | | Illinois Senate after the 1970 census; he served as a member of | 5 | | the Illinois House from 1973 to 1979, specializing in issues | 6 | | of conservation, fiscal restraint, and the criminal justice | 7 | | system; during his tenure, his voting record was honored by | 8 | | the League of Conservation Voters in 1973, the Independent | 9 | | Voters of Illinois in 1974, and the Chicago Crime Commission | 10 | | in 1976; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter successfully ran as a | 12 | | Republican for the vacancy in the then 10th U.S. House | 13 | | District within the State of Illinois due to the appointment | 14 | | and confirmation of Congressman Abner J. Mikva to the U.S. | 15 | | Court of Appeals in September 1979; he joined the U.S. House of | 16 | | Representatives on January 22, 1980; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter, as a member of Congress | 18 | | representing the North Shore of the Chicago metropolitan area | 19 | | and one of the best-educated U.S. House districts in the | 20 | | nation, found himself asked to speak out on a variety of | 21 | | issues, including issues of a bipartisan nature; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter won a coveted seat on the U.S. | 23 | | House Appropriations Committee, which gave him an insider's |
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| 1 | | voice on federal budget policy; his voice grew as time passed | 2 | | alongside the growth in numbers of his fellow Republicans in | 3 | | Congress; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Through seniority and his own expertise, | 5 | | Congressman Porter rose to become the chairperson of the | 6 | | federal House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and | 7 | | Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, giving him | 8 | | sign-off power over sections of the federal budget worth | 9 | | hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars; throughout this period, | 10 | | he continued to speak out as a voice for public sector fiscal | 11 | | restraint; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter became an advocate for growth | 13 | | and change in the 1980s and 1990s; when scientists came to him | 14 | | concerning advances in large-molecule research capabilities, | 15 | | he worked with them to achieve greater funding for the | 16 | | National Institutes of Health (NIH); his efforts allowed the | 17 | | NIH to pursue the Human Genome Project, which was aimed at | 18 | | identifying, mapping, and sequencing the DNA of the entire | 19 | | human genome, and the organization declared a complete genome | 20 | | had been sequenced in May 2021; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter also remembered Northwestern | 22 | | University while working in Congress, securing funding for the | 23 | | Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center on the Northwestern |
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| 1 | | Medical Campus in downtown Chicago and funding for the | 2 | | Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion in Evanston; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter, after two decades in | 4 | | Congress, did not run for re-election in 2000; he was named as | 5 | | a recipient of the Mary Lasker Public Service Award for wise | 6 | | and perceptive leadership on behalf of medical research | 7 | | funding in 2000; he was also chosen as the namesake of the | 8 | | NIH's Neuroscience Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland in | 9 | | March 2014; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Upon his retirement in January 2001, Congressman | 11 | | Porter joined the Washington, D.C.-based private sector, | 12 | | practicing law and serving as an advisor to many policymaking | 13 | | and advisory institutions and panels; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter's legacy will live on in a | 15 | | myriad of ways; he helped many individuals get started in | 16 | | public service and professional life; he served as a mentor to | 17 | | young Congressional staff member Mark Kirk, who succeeded him | 18 | | in Congress as the U.S. Representative of Illinois' 10th | 19 | | District in 2001 before serving Illinois as a U.S. Senator | 20 | | from December 2010 to January 2017; he was a voice of fiscal | 21 | | restraint and forward vision and advocated for action on | 22 | | issues of global importance, which will have a lasting impact | 23 | | on the State of Illinois, the nation, and humankind; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Congressman Porter is survived by his spouse, | 2 | | Amy; his children and stepchildren, John, David, Annie, Robyn, | 3 | | Donna, McKay, and Michelle; and his 14 grandchildren; | 4 | | therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 6 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 7 | | we mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative | 8 | | and United States Congressman John Edward Porter and extend | 9 | | our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who | 10 | | knew and loved him; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to Congressman Porter's spouse, Amy, and his son, | 13 | | David Porter, as an expression of our deepest sympathy.
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