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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Bernard "Bernie" Nash on | ||||||
| 4 | the occasion of his 100th birthday on November 7, 2022; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Bernie Nash was born in Minnesota on November 7, | ||||||
| 6 | 1922; he joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 19 in 1941; he | ||||||
| 7 | trained at the Glenview Naval Air Station, located north of | ||||||
| 8 | Chicago, where he learned to fly a single-engine, two-person | ||||||
| 9 | dive bomber called the Douglas SBD Dauntless; he later saw | ||||||
| 10 | combat in World War II; he stepped away from active duty, | ||||||
| 11 | continuing to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserves until he | ||||||
| 12 | retired as a two-star rear admiral in 1982; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Bernie Nash took a job with the federal | ||||||
| 14 | government in the 1960s, during which the Older Americans Act | ||||||
| 15 | of 1965 had created the Administration on Aging within the | ||||||
| 16 | U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, where he | ||||||
| 17 | worked as deputy commissioner; he became a key figure in the | ||||||
| 18 | fight to establish the Medicare and Medicaid programs that | ||||||
| 19 | began in 1965; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Bernie Nash became the first executive director | ||||||
| 21 | of AARP after leaving the Administration on Aging, and he | ||||||
| 22 | served in that position until his retirement in 1982; during | ||||||
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| 1 | his tenure, he was credited with establishing the Tax-Aide | ||||||
| 2 | Program in the 1970s, a program in which AARP volunteers help | ||||||
| 3 | older Americans file income taxes and save millions of dollars | ||||||
| 4 | a year by claiming deductions they otherwise might have | ||||||
| 5 | missed, serving 2.7 million annually today; he was also | ||||||
| 6 | credited with helping to found the Foster Grandparents | ||||||
| 7 | program, in which older volunteers serve as mentors and role | ||||||
| 8 | models to children; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Bernie Nash was the first speaker at the 2015 | ||||||
| 10 | White House Conference on Aging, where he introduced Valerie | ||||||
| 11 | Jarrett, senior adviser to then-President Barack Obama, and | ||||||
| 12 | was also acknowledged as a leading figure in the fight to | ||||||
| 13 | establish the Medicare and Medicaid programs; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Bernie Nash currently lives at the Smith Crossing | ||||||
| 15 | senior living community in Orland Park; therefore, be it
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| 16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 17 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 18 | we congratulate Bernard "Bernie" Nash on celebrating his 100th | ||||||
| 19 | birthday, and we wish him many more happy and healthy years; | ||||||
| 20 | and be it further
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| 21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 22 | presented to Bernie Nash as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
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| 1 | respect.
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