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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 our colleague, State | ||||||
4 | Representative Keith Sommer, on the occasion of his retirement | ||||||
5 | from the General Assembly after 24 years of service; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer joined the House of Representatives | ||||||
7 | in January 1999, but his service to the people of his district | ||||||
8 | stretches back almost half a century; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Before he came to Springfield, Rep. Sommer served | ||||||
10 | on the Tazewell County Board and the Morton Village Board; he | ||||||
11 | also served as the recorder of Tazewell County and chaired his | ||||||
12 | local regional planning commission; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer was a tireless advocate for adoptive | ||||||
14 | families in Illinois, passing a historic adoption reform bill | ||||||
15 | in 2015 that eased the process of international adoptions for | ||||||
16 | Illinois families; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer opened educational opportunities for | ||||||
18 | dyslexic children in Illinois through legislation that created | ||||||
19 | a guide for school personnel to identify signs of dyslexia and | ||||||
20 | to help them improve their dyslexic students' academic | ||||||
21 | performance; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer aligned his legislative record with | ||||||
2 | his style as an elected official; when someone came to him for | ||||||
3 | help, he listened and then developed a way to assist them, not | ||||||
4 | stopping until the solution became a reality; despite the | ||||||
5 | bills he championed not always representing high profile | ||||||
6 | issues with headline-grabbing attention, he worked diligently | ||||||
7 | to pass them as he understood their importance to the families | ||||||
8 | they directly impacted; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer has also left an indelible mark on | ||||||
10 | the State of Illinois through successful designation of the | ||||||
11 | pumpkin pie as our state pie, which honors his hometown of | ||||||
12 | Morton, the pumpkin capital of the world; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer spent almost a quarter of a century | ||||||
14 | in service to the people of Illinois as an advocate for lower | ||||||
15 | taxes, local control, Second Amendment rights, and small | ||||||
16 | businesses; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Rep. Sommer will leave the General Assembly for a | ||||||
18 | much-deserved retirement; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | we thank Representative Keith Sommer for his many years of |
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1 | service to the people of his district and the State of | ||||||
2 | Illinois; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That we wish him, his wife, Deb, and their two | ||||||
4 | daughters all the best in the years to come; and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
6 | presented to Rep. Sommer as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
7 | respect.
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