093_HR0174

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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, Women have contributed greatly to  our  society;
 3    they  are  pioneers  in every sense of the word and have laid
 4    the foundation for the future; and

 5        WHEREAS,  Many  women  have  sacrificed  their  lives  to
 6    improve our society by challenging the status quo  and  using
 7    themselves   as   examples  for  future  generations;  it  is
 8    courageous women like Susan B.  Anthony  and  Elizabeth  Cady
 9    Stanton  who  in  1869  formed  the  National  Woman Suffrage
10    Association to achieve voting  rights  for  women  through  a
11    Congressional  amendment  to the Constitution; their goal was
12    achieved in 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution,
13    granting women the right to vote, was signed; there  is  also
14    Rosa  Parks who is considered by many to be the mother of the
15    civil rights movement; and

16        WHEREAS, Many women established  themselves  long  before
17    the right to vote was granted to them; and

18        WHEREAS,  Elizabeth Blackwell in 1849 was the first woman
19    in the United States  with  a  medical  degree  and  Arabella
20    Mansfield in 1869 became the first woman lawyer in the United
21    States  when  she  was  granted admission to practice law; in
22    1870, Ada H. Kepley of Illinois graduated from Union  College
23    of  Law  in  Chicago,  making her the first woman to graduate
24    from a law school; and

25        WHEREAS, In 1872, Victoria Claflin  Woodhull  became  the
26    first  woman presidential candidate in the United States when
27    nominated by the National Radical Reformers; another first is
28    Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, who became the first woman  to
29    be  nominated  by  a  major  political  party, the Republican
30    Party, when she was nominated for  President  of  the  United
31    States in 1964; and
 
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 1        WHEREAS,  Women  have  been  holding  public office since
 2    1887, when Susanna Medora Salter was elected the first  woman
 3    mayor  of  Argonia,  Kansas,  becoming  the first woman to be
 4    elected mayor of an American town; in 1916, Jeannette  Rankin
 5    of  Montana  was the first woman elected to the United States
 6    House of  Representatives;  Nellie  Tayloe  Ross,  the  first
 7    female  governor,  was elected in the fall of 1924 to succeed
 8    her deceased husband as Governor of the State of Wyoming;  in
 9    1932, Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman
10    elected to the United States Senate; Margaret Chase Smith was
11    the first woman elected to both houses of Congress, serving 8
12    years  in  the  House  of Representatives and 24 years in the
13    United States Senate, she  was  also  the  first  Senator  to
14    courageously   challenge  Senator  Joseph  McCarthy's  brutal
15    tactics and anti-communist crusade on June 1,  1950;  Shirley
16    Chisholm  of New York was the first African-American woman to
17    serve in Congress and run for President of the United States,
18    and  in 1989, Ileana Roslehtinen of Florida became the  first
19    Hispanic woman to be elected to the House of Representatives;
20    and

21        WHEREAS,    Many    presidents    know   the   invaluable
22    contributions that  women  make,  hence  appointing  them  to
23    important  positions  of  leadership  and  responsibility; in
24    1933, Franklin D.  Roosevelt  appointed  Frances  Perkins  to
25    serve  as  Secretary  of Labor, making her the first woman to
26    serve on a presidential cabinet; Sandra Day  O'Connor  became
27    the  first female justice on the Supreme Court when President
28    Reagan appointed her to the Supreme Court in 1981;  President
29    Bush  appointed  Antonia  Novell  in  1990 to the position of
30    Surgeon General of the United States  making  her  the  first
31    woman  and  the  first  Hispanic to hold this position; Janet
32    Reno was the first woman United States Attorney General  when
33    appointed   by  President  Clinton  in  1993,  and  Madeleine
34    Albright was sworn in as U.S. Secretary  of  State  in  1997,
 
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 1    making  her  the  first  woman  to hold this position and the
 2    highest ranking woman in the U.S. government;  Rosario  Marin
 3    became  the first Hispanic woman to be appointed as Treasurer
 4    of the United States and  currently  serves  with  Condolezza
 5    Rice, the first woman national security adviser; and

 6        WHEREAS, The great State of Illinois has also established
 7    its  firsts  in the history of women; Illinois was one of the
 8    first states to adopt an amendment granting women  the  right
 9    to   vote   in   1913,  long  before  the  amendment  to  the
10    constitution was adopted; since then, it  has  witnessed  the
11    election  of  Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American
12    woman elected to the United States Senate in  1992  and  Judy
13    Baar  Topinka  who is the first woman Treasurer for the State
14    of Illinois and the first woman to be elected to a third term
15    for a State-wide office; Corinne Wood became the first female
16    Lieutenant Governor in 1999, and in 2003, Lisa Madigan became
17    the first woman elected to the position of Attorney  General;
18    and

19        WHEREAS,  Women  have  made history by being the first to
20    achieve  explorations  of  great  risk  and  courage;  Amelia
21    Earhart made history in 1932 when she became the first  woman
22    to  fly  solo across the Atlantic; in 1923, Dr. Sally K. Ride
23    became the first American woman to be sent  into  space,  and
24    Lt.  Col.  Eileen  Collins  was  the first woman astronaut to
25    command a space shuttle mission in 1999; and

26        WHEREAS, Female leaders such  as  Linda  Chavez-Thompson,
27    the highest ranking person of color in U.S. labor history, is
28    a  leading  champion in the campaign to revitalize the United
29    States labor  movement  and  direct  the  union's  successful
30    organizing   and  legislative  efforts  in  states  that  are
31    unfriendly to  labor;  Harilyn  Rousso  is  an  activist  for
32    disabled  persons'  and  women's  rights;  Wilma  L.  Vaught,
33    Brigadier  General, USAF, is one of the most highly decorated
 
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 1    military women in  U.S.  History;  Yuri  Kochiyama,  who  has
 2    worked tirelessly to build alliances between diverse cultural
 3    groups  through  social  justice;  Mae  C. Jemison, a Chicago
 4    native, who was the first woman of color  to  go  into  space
 5    aboard  the space shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992, is
 6    now founder and president of two technology companies;  Ellen
 7    Ochoa  Ph.D.,  the first Hispanic female astronaut and Deputy
 8    Director of Johnson Space Center; and Rebecca Walker a strong
 9    voice in young women calling for social change, are among the
10    pioneering  women  who  have  led  the  way  and   confronted
11    challenges  to  bring  about equality and opportunity for all
12    women; women have made great contributions in  the  arts  and
13    sciences, won struggles for humanistic causes of equality and
14    civil   rights,   created   and   advanced   educational  and
15    professional opportunities, and encouraged women to expand on
16    these achievements to create possibilities for generations to
17    come; and

18        WHEREAS, Women have also  contributed  to  our  country's
19    freedom  by  risking their most precious gift, their life, to
20    defend the United  States  and  ensure  a  democratic  future
21    without  the  threats  of  terrorism  or  attacks; women like
22    Specialist Shoshana Johnson, Prisoner of War(POW),  from  the
23    War  on  Iraq  whom we honor and thank for her allegiance and
24    bravery; and

25        WHEREAS, The Conference of Women  Legislators  wishes  to
26    acknowledge March as Women's History Month and salute all the
27    courageous  women  who  are  pioneers  of  their time and who
28    devoted their lives to contribute to our  great  country  and
29    the world; therefore, be it

30        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
31    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
32    we   commemorate   Women's  History  Month  and  honor  those
33    individuals who have paved the way and inspired the women  of
 
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 1    today and the future.