Bill Text: TX SR662 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Recognizing the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson for her career in public service.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-25 - Reported enrolled [SR662 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR662-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Recognizing the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson for her career in public service.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-25 - Reported enrolled [SR662 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR662-Introduced.html
2023S0434-1 05/24/23 | ||
By: West, et al. | S.R. No. 662 |
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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. |