HJ0041 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0041 LRB102 18204 ECR 25828 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Joseph Gurney Cannon was born in Guilford County, North Carolina on May 7, 1836; his parents, Gulielma Hollingsworth and physician Horace F. Cannon, moved the family to Indiana when he was four; and

WHEREAS, After his father's death, Joe Cannon apprenticed himself to an attorney and then studied at the Cincinnati Law School; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon moved to Tuscola and was named States Attorney for the 27th Judicial District; in 1868, he ran for Congress and began a 46 year Congressional career; and

WHEREAS, In 1876, Joe Cannon moved to Danville, where he resided for the rest of his life; he married Mary P. Reed in 1862, and they had two daughters; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon's first leadership post was as chairman of the Appropriations Committee; in 1903, he was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and throughout his speakership, he remained a fierce defender of the rights of the House; and

WHEREAS, Members chafed under Joe Cannon's iron-fisted rule; in 1911, a coalition of reform-minded Republicans joined with the Democrats to depose him from the speakership; he was defeated for re-election the following year, but like a true political survivor, he ran and won again in 1914; he served another four terms in Congress before retiring permanently in 1922; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon declined to run in the 1922 congressional election and retired at the end of his last term in 1923; he was featured on the cover of the first issue of Time magazine on the last day of his last term in office; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon is the second longest-serving Republican representative, surpassed only by Alaska congressman Don Young; he was the first member of Congress, of either party, to surpass 40 years of service (non-consecutive); his congressional career spanned 46 years of cumulative service, a concurrent 50 years, and held a record not broken until 1959; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon died in his residence in Danville on November 12, 1926; and

WHEREAS, Joe Cannon was one of the most effective Speakers of the House in American history, so it was not a surprise when he was chosen as the namesake for the first House office building; later, buildings would be named for Speakers Sam Rayburn and Nicholas Longworth as well former Congressman and President Gerald Ford; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the section of Illinois Route 1 in Danville beginning at Gibson Drive and ending at West Steidl Road as "Speaker Joe Cannon Highway"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving notice of the name "Speaker Joe Cannon Highway"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the family of Joe Cannon, the Mayor of Danville, and the Secretary of Transportation.