HR0419 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0419 LRB101 12663 MST 61228 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On September 7, 1969, United States Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen died of complications from lung cancer; and

WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen served the citizens of Illinois as a United States Senator from 1951 to 1969 and as a United States Representative from 1933 to 1949; and

WHEREAS, In 1950, Senator Dirksen was elected for the first time to the United States Senate, defeating the sitting Majority Leader Scott Lucas of Havana; and

WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen rose through the ranks of leadership, eventually serving as U.S. Senate Minority Leader from 1959 until his death ten years later; and

WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen played key roles in passing the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Open Housing Act of 1968, while never leading more than 36 Republicans in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate; and

WHEREAS, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a crowning achievement during which Senator Dirksen helped deliver 27 Republican votes to end a four-month filibuster, thereby allowing the passage of this landmark legislation; and

WHEREAS, The legacy and leadership of Senator Dirksen continues to live on through The Dirksen Congressional Center in his beloved hometown of Pekin; and

WHEREAS, Following Senator Dirksen's death, he lay in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda; he was returned to Pekin to be buried at Glendale Memorial Gardens; and

WHEREAS, September 7, 2019 will be the 50th anniversary of the death of Senator Dirksen; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the memory and lasting legacy of one of our State's favorite sons, United States Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, upon the 50th anniversary of his death; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the family of Senator Dirksen and to The Dirksen Congressional Center as a symbol of our respect and esteem.