Bill Text: OR SR3 | 2011 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing significant figures in history of Oregon Senate and naming certain Senate facilities after these distinguished individuals.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-09 - Filed With Secretary of State. [SR3 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2011-SR3-Enrolled.html
76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session
Enrolled
Senate Resolution 3
Sponsored by Senator ATKINSON; Senators BEYER, COURTNEY, GIROD
Whereas the executive branch recognizes its significant
historical figures by displaying portraits and busts of former
Governors in the Capitol; and
Whereas the legislative branch, as a coequal branch of
government, may recognize its significant historical figures in
the Capitol; and
Whereas the Legislative Assembly previously has recognized
significant historical figures by naming the Senate wing the '
Jason Boe Memorial Senate Wing' after former Senate President
Jason Boe and the House wing the 'Phil Lang Memorial House Wing '
after former Speaker of the House of Representatives Phil Lang;
and
Whereas the Senate's unique history can be recognized by
honoring other significant historical figures who have served in
the Oregon Senate or contributed to the history of the Capitol;
and
Whereas the Oregon Senate values its unique history; and
Whereas visitors to the Capitol often visit the Senate and
inquire about its history; and
Whereas the Senate wishes to recognize those who have played an
important role in the Senate's history or the history of the
Capitol; and
{ +
Senator W.H. (Bill) Strayer + }
Whereas W.H. (Bill) Strayer is the longest-serving state
Senator in Oregon history, having represented Baker County in the
Senate for nearly 32 years from January 11, 1915, to his death on
October 18, 1946; and
Whereas Senator Strayer is believed to be the longest-serving
state Senator in Oregon's second Capitol building, which was
destroyed by fire on April 25, 1935; and
Whereas Senator Strayer was described in contemporary reports
as a legislator 'whose colleagues are all his friends' and as '
one of the ablest thinkers and most impressive speakers in the
upper house,' who had the 'ability to put through or defeat a
measure by use of razor-keen logic or revealing ridicule
alone'; and
Whereas another contemporary report described Senator Strayer
as follows: 'Give Bill Strayer a cause to champion, a sham to
expose, or a grievance to protest and he is capable of swaying
opinion as few other legislators have ever been able to do.
Forensically, he can strike with the force of a 10-ton buzz bomb.
When Bill really cuts loose on the floor it is an occasion no
informed legislator present under the dome willingly misses'; and
Whereas the corridor on the second floor behind the Senate
Chamber is lined with photographs of former members of the
Senate, making it a gallery devoted to the history of the Senate;
and
Enrolled Senate Resolution 3 (SR 3-INTRO) Page 1
Whereas the 'Senator W.H. (Bill) Strayer Gallery' is an
appropriate name for this gallery behind the Senate Chamber; and
{ +
Senator Lenn Hannon + }
Whereas Senator Lenn Hannon is the longest-serving state
Senator in the current Capitol building and the second
longest-serving state Senator in Oregon history, having
represented Ashland in the Senate for over 29 years from January
13, 1975, to January 31, 2004; and
Whereas Senator Hannon was described in contemporary reports as
a legislator with strong leadership skills who was affable and '
generous with his time and advice,' who 'would not hesitate to
show his displeasure,' and who was 'known for his close
bipartisan friendships'; and
Whereas Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski described Senator
Hannon upon his passing as follows: 'Beyond his record in the
Legislature, Lenn Hannon was a person who was respected by all of
those who knew him. He told it to you straight, something that
was always appreciated by those who worked with him, even when
they didn't necessarily agree on the issue'; and
Whereas the room located at the end of the corridor behind the
Senate Chamber and immediately to the east of the Senate
Chamber's north side aisle is associated with Senator Hannon
because he would occasionally retire to this room during Senate
floor sessions; and
Whereas the 'Senator Lenn Hannon Reading Room' is an
appropriate name for this room associated with Senator Hannon;
and
{ +
Senator Kathryn Clarke + }
Whereas women in Oregon achieved the right to vote in 1912 and
were first eligible to be elected to the Legislative Assembly in
1914, six years before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution was ratified in 1920; and
Whereas Senator Kathryn Clarke is the first woman to serve in
the Oregon Senate upon her election in 1915 to represent Douglas
County; and
Whereas Senator George Neuner Jr. was reelected to represent
Douglas County in the 1914 election but resigned in early January
1915 to become the district attorney; and
Whereas Governor Oswald West offered the vacant seat to Douglas
County Judge Dexter Rice, but a controversy erupted over whether
Governor West had the constitutional authority to make the Senate
appointment and Judge Rice declined the Senate seat; and
Whereas amid the constitutional controversy and need for a
reliable appointee, Governor West appointed his cousin, Kathryn
Clarke, to fill the Senate seat; and
Whereas, given the questions over Governor West's
constitutional power to make the appointment, Douglas County
scheduled a special election for January 20, 1915, to decide the
matter; and
Whereas Senator Clarke then filed her candidacy for the office
and ran for election to remove any doubt about the legitimacy of
her holding the Senate seat; and
Whereas after large public meetings and an endorsement from the
local newspaper, Senator Clarke won the election by 76 votes; and
Enrolled Senate Resolution 3 (SR 3-INTRO) Page 2
Whereas Senator Clarke, along with other female elected
officials, was profiled in the { - International Woman Suffrage
News - } and the { - Woman's Journal and Suffrage News - } as a
model for women pursuing elected office after attaining the right
to vote; and
Whereas in 1915, Senator Clarke joined the Oregon branch of the
Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and began working for a
women's suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution,
which was ratified in 1920; and
Whereas the room on the second floor immediately behind the
Senate Chamber has historically been a private room for members
and staff to discuss matters of the day, accomplish tasks on
behalf of the public and keep belongings safe while performing
official duties; and
Whereas the 'Senator Kathryn Clarke Cloakroom' is an
appropriate name for this room immediately behind the Senate
Chamber; and
{ +
Senator Eugene Debbs Potts + }
Whereas Senator Eugene Debbs Potts served in the Oregon Senate
from 1961 to 1984, including as President of the Senate from 1967
through 1970; and
Whereas as President of the Senate, Senator Potts served a
total of 196 days as acting Governor of Oregon when Governor Tom
McCall traveled outside the state; and
Whereas during his tenure in the Senate, Senator Potts was
known as 'the man who would get things done' and as 'a gracious
man with an agile mind'; and
Whereas Governor McCall called Senator Potts 'one of the most
decent public men, anywhere'; and
Whereas Senator Lenn Hannon remembered Senator Potts as 'one of
a kind'; and
Whereas Senator Potts served on the Oregon State Lottery
Commission from its creation in 1984 to his retirement in 2003;
and
Whereas Senator Potts, while President of the Senate, occupied
the office presently occupied by the Secretary of the Senate; and
Whereas this office has in the past been dedicated with a
plaque naming the office the 'Debbs Potts Conference Room, '
which is an appropriate name for this room; and
{ +
Floyd G. McMullen + }
Whereas Floyd G. McMullen, born on March 24, 1913, and a
resident of Hermiston, was killed fighting the blaze that
destroyed Oregon's second Capitol on April 25, 1935; and
Whereas Mr. McMullen was a law student at Willamette University
and a volunteer firefighter at the time of the Capitol fire; and
Whereas Mr. McMullen was the only fatality caused by the
Capitol blaze; and
Whereas parts of the ruins of the Capitol destroyed in 1935 are
visible from the conference room near the Senate Chamber in the
northeast corner of the Capitol's second floor; and
Whereas this conference room is associated with Mr. McMullen
because the conference room is the customary meeting place of the
Floyd McMullen Fire Brigade established in 2003, a society
devoted to Oregon history, public policy and public service; and
Enrolled Senate Resolution 3 (SR 3-INTRO) Page 3
Whereas the 'Floyd G. McMullen Conference Room' is an
appropriate name for this conference room; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Oregon:
That we, the members of the Senate of the Seventy-sixth
Legislative Assembly, declare the following:
(1) The corridor on the second floor behind the Senate Chamber
shall be known as the 'Senator W.H. (Bill) Strayer Gallery. '
(2) The room located at the end of the corridor behind the
Senate Chamber and immediately to the east of the Senate
Chamber's north side aisle shall be known as the 'Senator Lenn
Hannon Reading Room. '
(3) The room immediately behind the Senate Chamber shall be
known as the 'Senator Kathryn Clarke Cloakroom. '
(4) The office presently occupied by the Secretary of the
Senate shall be known as the 'Debbs Potts Conference Room. '
(5) The conference room near the Senate Chamber in the
northeast corner of the Capitol's second floor shall be known as
the 'Floyd G. McMullen Conference Room. '
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Enrolled Senate Resolution 3 (SR 3-INTRO) Page 4
Adopted by Senate June 7, 2011
----------------------------------
Robert Taylor, Secretary of
Senate
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Peter Courtney, President of
Senate
Enrolled Senate Resolution 3 (SR 3-INTRO) Page 5
