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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to pay tribute to and acknowledge former | ||||||
| 4 | U.S. Senator Alan J. Dixon's contributions to his hometown of | ||||||
| 5 | Belleville, the State of Illinois, and the nation and | ||||||
| 6 | congratulate him for having the Senator Alan J. Dixon Student | ||||||
| 7 | Center at Lindenwood University-Belleville named after him; | ||||||
| 8 | and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Lindenwood University-Belleville will honor Alan | ||||||
| 10 | J. Dixon by naming its student center the Senator Alan J. Dixon | ||||||
| 11 | Student Center; we congratulate him for this honor and his | ||||||
| 12 | distinguished service to the State of Illinois; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, The Senator Alan J. Dixon Student Center will | ||||||
| 14 | provide Lindenwood University-Belleville students with a state | ||||||
| 15 | of the art research library, an ergonomically-designed | ||||||
| 16 | computer lab, a dining hall, a contemporary student lounge, and | ||||||
| 17 | a spirit shop; as a tribute to Senator Dixon, the library will | ||||||
| 18 | also showcase a museum of his political accomplishments; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon was born and raised in Belleville; | ||||||
| 20 | he graduated from Belleville Township High School, now the | ||||||
| 21 | Lindenwood University-Belleville campus; he began his 43-year | ||||||
| 22 | political career in law school, when he was elected to serve as | ||||||
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| 1 | Belleville Police Magistrate; at the age of 22, he was elected | ||||||
| 2 | one of the youngest legislators ever elected to serve in the | ||||||
| 3 | Illinois House of Representatives; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon rose through the ranks of State | ||||||
| 5 | government as an Illinois State Representative for 12 years, | ||||||
| 6 | where he was an advocate for higher education and co-sponsored | ||||||
| 7 | legislation which produced Illinois' community college system; | ||||||
| 8 | and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon served in the Illinois State Senate | ||||||
| 10 | for eight years, rising to Assistant Democratic Leader; he was | ||||||
| 11 | elected to serve as Illinois State Treasurer in 1970; from 1977 | ||||||
| 12 | to 1981, he served as Illinois Secretary of State, an office he | ||||||
| 13 | won by a margin of 1.3 million votes; his 1.5 million | ||||||
| 14 | re-election majority marked the only time a candidate from | ||||||
| 15 | either political party ever carried all 102 Illinois counties | ||||||
| 16 | in an election, including all 30 townships in suburban Cook | ||||||
| 17 | County and all 50 wards in the City of Chicago; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon was well known as a gregarious | ||||||
| 19 | politician and was revered as "Al the Pal" among friends, | ||||||
| 20 | colleagues, and news pundits; his staff wore "I'm Al's Pal" | ||||||
| 21 | campaign buttons in the 1980 campaign for the United States | ||||||
| 22 | Senate; he was elected to the United States Senate that year; | ||||||
| 23 | and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon won his first election to the United | ||||||
| 2 | States Senate by more than 600,000 votes; he won his | ||||||
| 3 | re-election to the United States Senate in 1986 by more than | ||||||
| 4 | 950,000 votes; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, In 1988 and again in 1990, Alan J. Dixon was | ||||||
| 6 | unanimously selected by his party colleagues to serve as the | ||||||
| 7 | chief deputy whip of the United States Senate, the number three | ||||||
| 8 | leadership post; Senator Dixon enjoyed an unbroken string of 29 | ||||||
| 9 | election victories; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, At the request of President Bill Clinton, Alan J. | ||||||
| 11 | Dixon served as chairman of the Defense Base Closure and | ||||||
| 12 | Realignment Commission in 1994 and 1995, a job that called for | ||||||
| 13 | both national defense knowledge and good political ties with | ||||||
| 14 | Democrats and Republicans; as a former chairman of an important | ||||||
| 15 | Senate Armed Services Subcommittee, he had the defense | ||||||
| 16 | knowledge required for the job; on the second requirement of | ||||||
| 17 | good ties with both parties, Democrats and Republicans have | ||||||
| 18 | always mutually respected Senator Dixon; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, Alan J. Dixon is presently a partner with the St. | ||||||
| 20 | Louis, Missouri based law firm, Bryan Cave, LLP, where he | ||||||
| 21 | serves corporate and government clients; he is married to Joan | ||||||
| 22 | Fox Dixon and has three children, Stephanie, Jeffrey, and | ||||||
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| 1 | Elizabeth, eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren; | ||||||
| 2 | therefore, be it
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| 3 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 4 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 5 | we congratulate former United States Senator Alan J. Dixon on | ||||||
| 6 | the occasion of having the Senator Alan J. Dixon Student Center | ||||||
| 7 | at Lindenwood University-Belleville named after him and | ||||||
| 8 | recognize and thank him for his innumerable achievements and | ||||||
| 9 | efforts on behalf of his hometown of Belleville; and be it | ||||||
| 10 | further
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| 11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 12 | presented to Alan J. Dixon as an expression of our utmost | ||||||
| 13 | respect and esteem.
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