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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On September 7, 1969, United States Senator
3Everett McKinley Dirksen died of complications from lung
4cancer; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen served the citizens of Illinois as
6a United States Senator from 1951 to 1969 and as a United
7States Representative from 1933 to 1949; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In 1950, Senator Dirksen was elected for the first
9time to the United States Senate, defeating the sitting
10Majority Leader Scott Lucas of Havana; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen rose through the ranks of
12leadership, eventually serving as U.S. Senate Minority Leader
13from 1959 until his death ten years later; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Senator Dirksen played key roles in passing the
15Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the
16Open Housing Act of 1968, while never leading more than 36
17Republicans in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a crowning
19achievement during which Senator Dirksen helped deliver 27
20Republican votes to end a four-month filibuster, thereby

 

 

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1allowing the passage of this landmark legislation; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The legacy and leadership of Senator Dirksen
3continues to live on through The Dirksen Congressional Center
4in his beloved hometown of Pekin; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Following Senator Dirksen's death, he lay in state
6in the U.S. Capitol rotunda; he was returned to Pekin to be
7buried at Glendale Memorial Gardens; and
 
8    WHEREAS, September 7, 2019 will be the 50th anniversary of
9the death of Senator Dirksen; therefore, be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
11HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12we honor the memory and lasting legacy of one of our State's
13favorite sons, United States Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen,
14upon the 50th anniversary of his death; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16presented to the family of Senator Dirksen and to The Dirksen
17Congressional Center as a symbol of our respect and esteem.