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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, President Barack H. Obama served as the 44th
3President of the United States of America from January 20, 2009
4to January 20, 2017; he was the first African American elected
5to the American Presidency, and the first President born out of
6the continental United States; and
 
7    WHEREAS, President Obama attended Occidental College in
8Los Angeles, California and graduated from Columbia University
9in New York in 1983; he attended Harvard Law School, where he
10was the first African American editor of the Harvard Law
11Review; he taught constitutional law at the University of
12Chicago Law School for 12 years and served the City of Chicago
13as a community organizer; and
 
14    WHEREAS, President Obama represented the 13th Senate
15District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004; and
 
16    WHEREAS, President Obama was elected to represent Illinois
17in the United States Senate in 2004 with over 70% of the vote;
18and
 
19    WHEREAS, President Obama was elected President in 2008 with
20just under 53% of the popular vote; he was re-elected in 2012;
21and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, As President, President Obama signed into law the
2American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which saved the nation
3from the worst of effects of the Great Recession; he also
4signed into law the Dodd-Frank financial institution
5regulations to help the nation avoid another economic
6catastrophe; and
 
7    WHEREAS, President Obama has been a progressive leader on
8numerous issues including, domestic policy, LGBTQ rights,
9women's rights, healthcare, economic policy, environmental
10policy, energy, gun control, internet policy, and foreign
11policy; and
 
12    WHEREAS, President Obama reduced the number of U.S. troops
13committed internationally; he signed the Paris Agreement and
14negotiated a successful nuclear deal with Iran; he oversaw the
15opening of relations between the U.S. and Cuba; and
 
16    WHEREAS, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act,
17providing healthcare to millions and protecting millions more
18from being denied for pre-existing conditions; and
 
19    WHEREAS, President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace
20Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen
21international diplomacy and cooperation between people; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Barack Obama Presidential Center will be
2hosted by the University of Chicago and will be located in
3Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago; once completed it
4will become the 14th site in the National Archives and Records
5Administration presidential library system; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
7HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE
8CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate Interstate 55 as it
9travels from the Tri-State Tollway to East St. Louis as the
10"Barack Obama Presidential Expressway"; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation
12is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with
13State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs
14giving notice of the name "Barack Obama Presidential
15Expressway"; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17presented to President Obama and the Secretary of the
18Department of Transportation.