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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to honor our friend and colleague,
4Illinois State Representative John D. Anthony, for his service
5to the people of the State of Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Representative John Anthony was born and raised in
7Chicago and is a native of Illinois; he earned a bachelor's
8degree at Christian Bible College and Seminary in Independence,
9Missouri; and
 
10    WHEREAS, With an eye toward front-line public safety,
11Representative John Anthony became a law enforcement officer in
12the Champaign Police Department in 2005; in 2008, he became a
13deputy in the Kendall County Sheriff's Office; during his time
14in those departments, he was mentioned numerous times in news
15accounts and sheriff's records for examples of fearless public
16service in circumstances of threatened, actual, and even
17imminent personal danger; and
 
18    WHEREAS, As a Deputy Sheriff, Representative John Anthony
19received the Ervin H. Warren "Cop of the Future" award for
20community leadership; as a figure of growing importance in his
21communities, he made friends throughout his district and was
22appointed to serve as State Representative, representing the

 

 

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175th District in north-central Illinois, in August of 2013; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Upon taking office in the 98th General Assembly,
3Representative John Anthony became the first African-American
4member of the Illinois House Republican Caucus to serve since
51983; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Upon taking office, Representative John Anthony
7became the first State Representative of Puerto Rican heritage
8to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Complex challenges faced by the 75th District in
10Representative John Anthony's time of legislative leadership
11have centered on its status as an area that is partly inside
12and partly outside the greater Chicago metropolitan area during
13the current period of economic life that began in 2008-2009,
14with a large number of young families, growing schools,
15transportation frustrations, and the overall atmosphere of
16life in a world of half-built subdivisions; during this period,
17Representative Anthony stood steadfast in his determination
18for policies that would restore economic growth to Illinois and
19job opportunities to his constituents; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In 2014, Representative John Anthony accepted an
21invitation to join the Edgar Fellows Program, a leadership
22program overseen by the Institute of Government and Public

 

 

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1Affairs at the University of Illinois as a focal point for the
2nurturance and continued training of current and future leaders
3of this State; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Utilizing his personal experience in law
5enforcement, Representative John Anthony concentrated his
6lawmaking work on questions of public safety and law
7enforcement, working tirelessly to make Illinois a safer place
8to live and raise a family; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The commitment of Representative John Anthony and
10his wife, Deborah, to Illinois families is shown by their
11founding leadership of the YARN Foundation, an education and
12scholarship program for potentially challenged young
13Illinoisans; and
 
14    WHEREAS, As a further demonstration of his commitment to
15family-oriented law enforcement, Representative John Anthony
16became the chief House Republican co-sponsor of the bipartisan
17House Bill 1, a path breaking 2015 measure to fight against the
18growing scourge of heroin addiction and addictions to other
19opiate chemicals, including chemicals found in prescription
20medications, which has since been closely examined by many
21other states; House Bill 1 became law as Public Act 99-480; and
 
22    WHEREAS, In one key feature of House Bill 1, police

 

 

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1officers and other first responders have been given the right
2to carry and immediately administer Naloxone to persons in
3imminent danger of death from an opiate overdose; this feature
4of the law reflects Representative John Anthony's own
5experience as a street police officer and his confidence that
6Illinois' finest men and women will have the strength of
7purpose to use this power wisely; other features of House Bill
81 overseen by Representative Anthony as lawmaking chief
9co-sponsor include a prescription drug drop-off program,
10expanded availability of drug courts in district courtrooms
11throughout Illinois, and improved data collection on heroin and
12other drug offenses; and
 
13    WHEREAS, After serving in the Illinois House of
14Representatives from August of 2013 until June of 2016,
15Representative John Anthony has decided that it is time for him
16to move on to new challenges in public safety; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Although the people of the 75th District will miss
18Representative Anthony's courage and leadership, he is looking
19forward to spending more time with his wife, Deborah, and their
20children, Jada, John, Kirsten, and Kylie; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
23honor and thank our friend and colleague, Illinois State

 

 

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1Representative John D. Anthony, for his service to the people
2of the State of Illinois and wish him both new challenges and
3more time with those close to him in his new life with the
4Illinois Department of Corrections; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That we congratulate Representative John Anthony
6for his ability to work with lawmakers of both political
7parties; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9presented to Representative John D. Anthony and his family.