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92_HR1045
LRB9217643RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are honored to recognize the career of one of
4 their own; and
5 WHEREAS, Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw is retiring
6 from her duties in the Illinois House of Representatives; she
7 has represented the Naperville area in the Illinois House of
8 Representatives for 10 consecutive terms, nearly 20 years;
9 the 41st District, which she serves, includes nearly all of
10 DuPage County's Naperville Township and a part of Lisle
11 Township as well, thereby including most of the city of
12 Naperville; and
13 WHEREAS, Currently Representative Cowlishaw is the
14 ranking Republican member of the House Elementary and
15 Secondary Education Committee and a member of the House
16 Public Utilities Committee, the House Higher Education
17 Appropriations Committee, the Mental Health and Patient Abuse
18 Committee, the Electric Utility Deregulation Committee, and
19 the Select Committee on Aging; she is also a member of the
20 Telecommunications Task Force of the American Legislative
21 Exchange Council, the chairman of the Women's Agenda Task
22 Force, which was created by the House Republican Policy
23 Committee, and recently served as chairman of the Education
24 Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures
25 and as a commissioner from Illinois on the Education
26 Commission of States; she is also a member of the National
27 Education Goals Panel created by the National Governor's
28 Association and has served as past chairman of the NCSL
29 Education Committee; and
30 WHEREAS, Representative Cowlishaw is a member of numerous
31 organizations, including the National Conference of State
32 Legislatures, the National Republican Legislators
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1 Association, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the
2 University of Illinois Alumni Association, the National
3 Federation of Republican Women, the Naperville Heritage
4 Society, the Naperville Humane Society, the Conservation
5 Foundation of DuPage County, the League of Women Voters of
6 Naperville, the Fort Payne Chapter of the Daughters of the
7 American Revolution, and the Descendents of the Mayflower;
8 she is the Republican Precinct Committeeman of Precinct 28,
9 Naperville Township, DuPage County, the founding member and
10 former president of the Naperville Republican Women's Club,
11 and a board member of the Lisle School District 202
12 Foundation; she serves on the Advisory Board of Family
13 Shelter Service and the Board of Governors of the Lincoln
14 Series for Excellence in Public Service, the Advisory Board
15 of St. Patrick's Residence, the DuPage Senior Citizens
16 Council, the DuKane Valley Council, the Board of Directors of
17 the Corridor Partnership for Excellence in Education, and the
18 Federal Relations Network of the National School Boards
19 Association; she sponsored legislation that created and now
20 serves on the Board of the Illinois Community and Residential
21 Services Authority; in addition, she is a longtime member of
22 Community United Methodist Church in Naperville; and
23 WHEREAS, Her service in the Illinois legislature itself
24 has been something of a third career; Representative
25 Cowlishaw served on the Board of School District 203 from
26 1972 to 1983 and was also a staffer for the Naperville Sun
27 for several years; she has authored a regular column,
28 "Prairie House Report", in the nature of a communique from
29 her present position and was the author of a book, catalogued
30 in the Library of Congress, about the history of the
31 Naperville Municipal Band; and
32 WHEREAS, As a legislator, Representative Cowlishaw has
33 received many honors, resulting in no small part from her
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1 dedication to the advancement of education in Illinois; she
2 was a key legislative leader in establishing the Illinois
3 Mathematics and Science Academy in 1985 and has been a
4 steadfast supporter of the school every since; she has been a
5 strong advocate for education and has championed innovative
6 approaches to increase student learning, increase teacher
7 quality, and expand access to teaching in mathematics and
8 science; she has also led efforts to improve funding for
9 gifted education throughout the State of Illinois and has
10 raised awareness of the need and value of gifted education
11 programs; and
12 WHEREAS, Representative Cowlishaw has also been an active
13 member of the National Education Goals Panel since 1997 and
14 was recently honored by the National Conference of State
15 Legislatures for her steadfast and exemplary support for
16 educational excellence, access, and equity on behalf of
17 students in Illinois and across the nation; she has
18 championed education reform efforts and has served on several
19 local and national education committees; in addition, she has
20 crafted much of the Chicago public school reform legislation;
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Representative Cowlishaw was named the Illinois
23 Legislator of the Year in 1994, won four Golden Apple Awards
24 from the Illinois Association of School Boards, and has been
25 the recipient of more than two dozen other awards from State
26 and local governmental agencies and civic groups, including
27 the State Board of Education, the Illinois Community College
28 Trustees Association, and the Illinois Association of
29 Regional Superintendents of Schools; in 1997, Naperville
30 School District 204 gave her a singular honor by naming a new
31 school for her; she was also the winner of a first place
32 annual award for investigative reporting from the Illinois
33 Press Association; and
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1 WHEREAS, In March 2002, Representative Cowlishaw was
2 honored by the Illinois Coalition to End Homelessness for her
3 steadfast legislative efforts which have significantly
4 improved the educational rights of homeless students
5 nationwide; she was presented a bronze statue of "Charlie",
6 an image that has become synonymous with homeless children in
7 Illinois; and
8 WHEREAS, Representative Cowlishaw is a journalism
9 graduate of the University of Illinois, and has also been
10 awarded two honorary doctorates from Northwestern University
11 and Michigan State University; she and her husband, Wayne,
12 have lived in Naperville for more than 40 years; they are the
13 proud parents of three adult children, Beth (husband, David)
14 McDaniel, John (wife, Jane) Cowlishaw, and Paula (husband,
15 Andrew) Rader and the grandparents of eight grandchildren,
16 Jacob McDaniel, Zachary, Maxwell, Alexandria, and Rachel
17 Cowlishaw and Emily, Elizabeth, and John Paul Rader; and
18 WHEREAS, A violinist throughout her adult life,
19 Representative Cowlishaw has performed in concert with a
20 group of her young constituents in the rotunda of the State
21 Capitol in Springfield; and
22 WHEREAS, During her tenure in the Illinois General
23 Assembly, Representative Cowlishaw's dedication, innovation,
24 and commitment to education has set a precedent for future
25 legislators; she has not only impressed the members on both
26 sides of the aisle in the Illinois House of Representatives,
27 but also members of legislatures across the nation;
28 therefore, be it
29 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
30 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
31 we honor the career of Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw as
32 she retires from her duties in the Illinois House of
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1 Representatives and we wish her well in all of her future
2 endeavors; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4 presented to Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw as an
5 expression of our esteem.