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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, It is appropriate to honor those who have bettered
3the State of Illinois through public service; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Congressman Johnson was born in Champaign to
5Robert and Margaret Evans Johnson on July 23, 1946; he spent
6his childhood in Urbana and graduated from Urbana High School;
7he attended the University of Illinois, where he graduated Phi
8Beta Kappa and was honored with the Bronze Tablet, the
9University's highest undergraduate honor; he was accepted to
10the University of Illinois College of Law and graduated with
11high honors and was elected to the Order of Coif, the national
12legal honor society, in 1972; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1971, while still in college, Congressman
14Johnson began his long career in public service by winning a
15seat on the Urbana City Council, representing the same Ward
16that his father had represented; in his four years on the city
17council, he demonstrated to people throughout Central Illinois
18that he had a gift for crafting sound policies and taking care
19of the day-to-day needs of the people he represented; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Upon urging by community leaders, Congressman
21Johnson decided to run for a seat in the Illinois State
22Legislature; in 1976, he won a seat in the Illinois House by

 

 

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1besting five other Republicans in a tough, but civil, primary;
2he held that seat in the Statehouse for more than two decades;
3he resigned as State Representative from the 104th District on
4November 13, 2000, one week after being elected to the United
5States House of Representatives to serve the 15th District of
6Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Congressman Johnson established a strong record
8of constituent service and was known for walking the Capitol
9hallways with a cell phone pressed to his ear as he talked to
10constituents, asking their opinions and addressing their
11problems; and
 
12    WHEREAS, While responding to the needs of his District
13residents was a top priority, Congressman Johnson was also a
14strong and independent voice on Capitol Hill and pushed for
15lower taxes, fought to bring federal dollars home to Illinois
16universities, was a strong advocate for civil liberties, voted
17consistently to protect our First, Second, and Fourth Amendment
18Rights, and voted to protect our environment; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Congressman Johnson was a leading advocate for the
20expansion of the use of bio fuels and paid special attention to
21the needs of veterans; he continued his tradition of opposing
22tax increases, promoting fiscal responsibility, and upholding
23conservative, common sense values in the United States

 

 

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1Congress; most of all, he wanted to rekindle the spark in the
2nation's agricultural economy that is vital to the health of
3the region, nation, and world; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Congressman Johnson retired from Congress at the
5end of his term in 2013; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
7HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
8SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the section of
9Interstate 57 from I-74 South to Exit 232 as the "Congressman
10Tim Johnson Highway"; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation
12is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with
13State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs
14giving notice of the name "Congressman Tim Johnson Highway";
15and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent
17to Congressman Tim Johnson, the Mayor of Champaign, and the
18Secretary of Transportation.