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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to honor our
esteemed colleague, | ||||||
| 4 | State Representative Katherine Cloonen, and thank her for her | ||||||
| 5 | dedicated
service to our State and her community; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Representative Cloonen has lived in Kankakee | ||||||
| 7 | County for more than 40 years; she and her husband, Gary, | ||||||
| 8 | raised their two daughters, Jacquelyn and Kelly, on their | ||||||
| 9 | family farm
in Bonfield; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Representative Cloonen taught music for 16 years | ||||||
| 11 | in the Herscher and Reddick
school districts before starting | ||||||
| 12 | her own small business, JK Steel Erectors, Inc.; as owner of a
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| 13 | small construction company, she created more than 100 local | ||||||
| 14 | union jobs; and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, Upon her election to the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 16 | Representatives in 2012, Representative
Cloonen took her 25 | ||||||
| 17 | years of business experience creating jobs, balancing budgets, | ||||||
| 18 | and
negotiating contracts to the State Capitol; she has worked | ||||||
| 19 | with local and State employers to help
revitalize the local | ||||||
| 20 | economy and cut the local unemployment rate in half; she passed | ||||||
| 21 | legislation to
help bring a one billion dollar Competitive | ||||||
| 22 | Power Ventures energy plant to Grundy County, and fought
to | ||||||
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| 1 | revitalize the Army Aviation Readiness Center project in | ||||||
| 2 | Kankakee; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Representative Cloonen worked throughout her time | ||||||
| 4 | in the General Assembly to
remain in touch with the needs and | ||||||
| 5 | concerns of local residents by constantly speaking with them
at | ||||||
| 6 | their homes, on the phone, and in her constituent service | ||||||
| 7 | office; she worked to regularly bring
services to the people of | ||||||
| 8 | the 79th Representative District and help constituents | ||||||
| 9 | navigate State
government to receive quality service; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Representative Cloonen has been an advocate for | ||||||
| 11 | education, securing greater
funding for local schools and | ||||||
| 12 | fighting for quality preschool to secondary education for local
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| 13 | communities; she worked closely with superintendents and | ||||||
| 14 | principals and advocated for greater
investments in community | ||||||
| 15 | colleges, including Kankakee Community College, job training
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| 16 | programs and career and technical education programs; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Representative Cloonen, the wife of a Vietnam | ||||||
| 18 | veteran, has been a tireless advocate
for Illinois veterans and | ||||||
| 19 | active military personnel and their families; she sponsored and | ||||||
| 20 | passed
legislation making it easier for returning veterans to | ||||||
| 21 | further their education, obtain job training
and secure | ||||||
| 22 | civilian jobs; she fought for greater resources for the Manteno | ||||||
| 23 | Veterans Home as well as
organizations serving the local | ||||||
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| 1 | veterans community; therefore, be it
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| 2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 3 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 4 | thank State
Representative Katherine Cloonen for her dedicated | ||||||
| 5 | service; and be it further
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| 6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 7 | presented to Representative Cloonen as
an expression of our | ||||||
| 8 | respect, esteem, and best wishes.
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