[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_HR0452
LRB9209403RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to express their sincere condolences to
4 the family and friends of former Illinois Congressman Frank
5 Annunzio, who passed away on April 8, 2001; and
6 WHEREAS, Congressman Frank Annunzio was a consumer
7 advocate and champion of working people who represented
8 Chicago in the United States House of Representatives from
9 1965 until 1993; and
10 WHEREAS, Congressman Frank Annunzio was born on January
11 12, 1915 on the west side of Chicago; a protege of social
12 reformer Jane Addams, he grew up in the Hull House
13 neighborhood and worked as an apprentice in a polishing and
14 planting shop; he graduated from Crane Technical High School,
15 and earned his bachelors and master's degrees from DePaul
16 University; and
17 WHEREAS, Congressman Frank Annunzio served as a history
18 teacher in the Chicago public schools system for ten years;
19 in addition, he was the assistant supervisor of the National
20 Defense Program at Austin High School from 1942 to 1943, the
21 educational representative of the United Steelworkers of
22 America from 1943 until 1948, the chairman of the War Ration
23 Board 40-20 from 1943 to 1945, a member of the Advisory
24 Committee to Illinois Industrial Commission on Health and
25 Safety from 1944 to 1949, and a member of the Advisory
26 Committee on Unemployment Compensation from 1944 to 1949; and
27 WHEREAS, In 1949, Congressman Frank Annunzio became the
28 director of labor in Governor Adlai E. Stevenson's cabinet,
29 where he became close friends with the revenue director,
30 Richard J. Daley, who as Mayor of Chicago, selected Mr.
31 Annunzio for the United States House of Representatives in
32 1964 to represent a district that included the Loop and much
-2- LRB9209403RHrh
1 of the West Side; and
2 WHEREAS, Congressman Annunzio served in many capacities
3 during his tenure in Congress; he was the chairman of the
4 Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, where he
5 fought for the "average Americans" during a 1990 savings and
6 loan bailout legislation that proved costly to taxpayers; in
7 addition, he served as chairman of the House Administration
8 Committee from 1984 to 1990, the Joint Committee on the
9 Library, and as chairman of the subcommittee on Consumer
10 Affairs and Coinage, where he oversaw the minting of coins,
11 including those honoring presidents and major historical
12 events; and
13 WHEREAS, Congressman Annunzio fought abuses by
14 debt-collection agencies and sponsored legislation that
15 prohibited discrimination by financial institutions on the
16 basis of age, gender, and race; as the subcommittee chairman
17 of the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee in
18 1989, he urged credit card holders to cut up or burn their
19 cards in an effort to try to force down interest rates; and
20 WHEREAS, Congressman Annunzio was a strident defender of
21 the Italian-American heritage and its depiction in television
22 and movies; he was instrumental in making Columbus Day a
23 national holiday; and
24 WHEREAS, The passing of Congressman Frank Annunzio will
25 be deeply felt by all who knew and loved him, especially his
26 daughters Linda and Susan; his grandchildren; his
27 great-grandchildren; and his many friends and colleagues from
28 the United State Congress and State government; therefore, be
29 it
30 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
31 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
32 we mourn, along with all who knew him, the death of former
-3- LRB9209403RHrh
1 Illinois Congressman Frank Annunzio; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3 presented to the family of Congressman Frank Annunzio with
4 our sincere condolences.