| |
| |
|
|
SENATE RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is pleased to pay |
|
|
tribute to the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson and to recognize |
|
|
her on her trailblazing career in public service, which included |
|
|
15 terms of leadership representing the 30th Congressional |
|
|
District of Texas; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A native of Waco, Eddie Bernice Johnson studied |
|
|
nursing at Saint Mary's College and later went on to earn a |
|
|
nursing degree from Texas Christian University and a master's |
|
|
degree in public administration from Southern Methodist |
|
|
University; she moved to Dallas during the late 1950s, where she |
|
|
experienced the blatant racism and discrimination that helped to |
|
|
inspire her commitment to activism and advocacy, and she went on |
|
|
to lead an exceptional career of public service that helped to |
|
|
transform the city and improve the lives of people across the |
|
|
nation; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Eddie Bernice Johnson began her pioneering career |
|
|
of public service when she became the first African American |
|
|
professional at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital, |
|
|
where she served as chief psychiatric nurse; she would continue |
|
|
to break boundaries at every step of her career, and in 1972, she |
|
|
became the first Black woman elected to represent Dallas County |
|
|
in the Texas House of Representatives; she became the first woman |
|
|
in Texas history to lead a major house committee, and she earned a |
|
|
reputation as a champion for women and children and was admired |
|
|
for her bipartisan and no-nonsense approach to policymaking; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1977, she accepted an appointment to serve as a |
|
|
regional director of the United States Department of Health, |
|
|
Education, and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter; after |
|
|
serving in the federal government and in the private sector, she |
|
|
returned to Texas, and in 1986, she became the first Black person |
|
|
since Reconstruction to represent Dallas in the Texas Senate; she |
|
|
continued to make strides in improving the Dallas community, and |
|
|
she brought her service as a state legislator to a close in 1992, |
|
|
when she became the first registered nurse to be elected to the |
|
|
United States Congress; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Congresswoman Johnson served as a member of the |
|
|
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee throughout her |
|
|
tenure as a United States Representative, and her many committee |
|
|
and subcommittee leadership assignments have led to national |
|
|
strides in such areas as human rights, STEM education, |
|
|
transportation, environmental policy, and foreign relations; she |
|
|
is widely recognized as one of the most effective legislators in |
|
|
Congress, and she is responsible for authoring and co-authoring |
|
|
more than 175 bills that have been signed into law; she has served |
|
|
as dean of the Texas Congressional Delegation and the Texas, New |
|
|
Mexico, and Arizona Democratic Congressional Delegation, and her |
|
|
acclaimed initiative, A World of Women for World Peace, has |
|
|
gained national and international recognition; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This widely esteemed Democratic leader is the |
|
|
founder and cochair of the Diversity and Innovation Caucus and |
|
|
the House Historical Black Colleges and Universities Caucus; she |
|
|
has remained focused on serving her local constituents while |
|
|
tirelessly working in support of human rights in the United |
|
|
States and around the globe, and she can reflect with pride on her |
|
|
exceptional legacy and on the enduring example of leadership and |
|
|
public service she leaves behind; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 88th |
|
|
Legislature, hereby commend the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson |
|
|
on her dedication to serving the citizens of Dallas County and on |
|
|
30 years of outstanding leadership as a United States |
|
|
Congresswoman and extend to her best wishes in her retirement and |
|
|
in all her future endeavors; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for |
|
|
her as an expression of high regard from the Texas Senate. |