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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of former United States Representative
4Philip M. "Phil" Crane, who passed away at the home of his
5daughter, Rebekah, on November 8, 2014; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Rep. Phil Crane was born in Chicago on November 3,
71930; his parents were George W. Crane and Cora Ellen Miller;
8he graduated from Hillsdale College in 1952 and earned his
9Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1963; he also served in the
10United States Army from 1954 until 1956; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Rep. Phil Crane taught as an Associate Professor
12of History at Bradley University; while there, he gained
13national recognition in politics as a charismatic and popular
14public speaker on behalf of the Barry Goldwater presidential
15campaign in 1964; those efforts, combined with the release of
16his 1964 book, "The Democrat's Dilemma", elevated him as a
17leading national figure in the fledgling conservative movement
18and the Republican Party; he also wrote the "The Sum of Good
19Government" in 1976 and "Surrender in Panama: The Case Against
20the Treaty" in 1978; and
 
21    WHEREAS, In 1969, then-Congressman Donald Rumsfeld was
22appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve in his

 

 

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1administration, leaving a vacancy in Congress; Rep. Phil Crane
2ran for, and won, the vacated seat, taking up the seat in 1969;
3he continued to represent Illinois in Congress until January
42005; and
 
5    WHEREAS, While serving in Congress, Rep. Phil Crane spent
6most of his career serving on the Ways and Means Committee,
7where he championed lower taxes, a simplified tax code, free
8market economics, and free trade; he was the ranking member and
9eventually Chairman of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee,
10where he led the effort to pass numerous free trade agreements,
11including the North American Free Trade Agreement; he was also
12very active in efforts to reduce or limit government spending
13and authored and supported hundreds of bills and amendments to
14accomplish those ends; and
 
15    WHEREAS, As a leader of the conservative movement in
16Congress, Rep. Phil Crane was instrumental in the founding of a
17number of conservative organizations; in 1973, he founded the
18Republican Study Committee, the preeminent Republican
19conservative organization in the United States House of
20Representatives; that same year, he was a leader in the effort
21to form the Heritage Foundation, which has grown into one of
22the most well known and respected conservative think tanks in
23the country; he also served as head of the American
24Conservative Union; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In 1978, Rep. Phil Crane threw his hat in the ring
2in 1978 for the Republican nomination for President of the
3United States; as Republicans were commencing the process of
4choosing Ronald Reagan as the 1980 presidential nominee, he
5mobilized political support for President Reagan's election;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, Rep. Phil Crane was preceded in death by his
8parents; his wife, Arlene; a brother, George; and a daughter,
9Rachel; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Rep. Phil Crane is survived by his siblings, Judy,
11Daniel, and David; his children, Catherine, Susanna, Rebekah,
12Jennifer, Sarah, George, and Carrie; and many grandchildren;
13therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
16former United States Representative Philip M. "Phil" Crane; and
17be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to the family of Rep. Phil Crane as an expression of
20our sympathy.