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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Cardiss | ||||||
4 | Collins, who passed away on February 3, 2013; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Cardiss Collins was born on September 24, 1931, in | ||||||
6 | St. Louis, Missouri; her parents were Finley and Rosia Mae | ||||||
7 | Robertson; she married George Washington Collins in 1958; and
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8 | WHEREAS, After graduating from Detroit High School of | ||||||
9 | Commerce, Cardiss Collins worked in a mattress factory while | ||||||
10 | attending night classes at Northwestern University, where she | ||||||
11 | earned a business certificate in 1966 and a diploma in | ||||||
12 | professional accounting a year later; after college, she | ||||||
13 | remained in Chicago and worked for the Illinois Department of | ||||||
14 | Labor as a secretary; she later worked with the Illinois | ||||||
15 | Department of Revenue as an auditor until her election to | ||||||
16 | Congress; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Following the death of her husband, Cardiss | ||||||
18 | Collins took his place as Representative of Illinois' 7th | ||||||
19 | Congressional District, which includes Austin and the greater | ||||||
20 | West Side; she served from 1973 until her retirement in 1995; | ||||||
21 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, Cardiss Collins was the first black woman elected | ||||||
2 | to Congress from Illinois and the Midwest; she was the first | ||||||
3 | African American and woman selected as a Democratic Whip | ||||||
4 | At-Large; she also served as chair of the Congressional Black | ||||||
5 | Caucus from 1979 to 1981 and was only the second woman at the | ||||||
6 | time to hold that leadership position; and | ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, During her tenure in Congress, Cardiss Collins was | ||||||
8 | responsible for numerous public initiatives; in 1993, she | ||||||
9 | introduced the Equality in Athletic Disclosure Act, which | ||||||
10 | directed colleges and universities to publicize the rate of | ||||||
11 | program participation by gender; as chair of the Manpower and | ||||||
12 | Housing and Government Activities and Transportation | ||||||
13 | subcommittee from 1983 to 1991, she worked to improve safety in | ||||||
14 | air travel and fought for stricter controls on the | ||||||
15 | transportation of toxic materials; in the 1980s, she stridently | ||||||
16 | defended affirmative action by drawing attention to the hiring | ||||||
17 | practices of U.S. airlines, which rarely placed African | ||||||
18 | Americans in professional positions; her push for equality in | ||||||
19 | the aviation industry helped pave the way for an amendment to | ||||||
20 | the Airport and Airway Safety, Capacity, and Expansion Act of | ||||||
21 | 1987, requiring that 10% of all concession stands in airports | ||||||
22 | be run by minority- and women-owned businesses; she worked to | ||||||
23 | prevent federal tax write-offs for advertising firms that | ||||||
24 | discriminated against minority-owned media companies; she also | ||||||
25 | co-sponsored the Universal Health Care Act and the Health |
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1 | Security Act in 1993; and
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2 | WHEREAS, In recognition of her commitment to gender equity | ||||||
3 | in athletics, Cardiss Collins was inducted into the Women's | ||||||
4 | Sports Hall of Fame in 1994; therefore, be it
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5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
6 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
7 | we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of | ||||||
8 | Cardiss Collins; and be it further
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9 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
10 | presented to the family of Cardiss Collins as an expression of | ||||||
11 | our sympathy.
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