House Resolution 25 - Introduced
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY RAECKER, ABDUL-SAMAD, ALONS,
1 3 ANDERSON, ARNOLD, BAILEY, BAUDLER, BELL, BERRY,
1 4 BOAL, BUKTA, CHAMBERS, CLUTE, COHOON, DANDEKAR,
1 5 DAVITT, DE BOEF, DEYOE, DOLECHECK, DRAKE, FOEGE,
1 6 FORD, FORRISTALL, FREVERT, GASKILL, GAYMAN, GIPP,
1 7 GRANZOW, GRASSLEY, GREINER, HEATON, HEDDENS,
1 8 HOFFMAN, HORBACH, HUNTER, HUSEMAN, HUSER, JACOBS,
1 9 JACOBY, JOCHUM, KAUFMANN, KELLEY, KRESSIG, KUHN,
1 10 LENSING, LUKAN, LYKAM, MASCHER, MAY, McCARTHY,
1 11 MERTZ, H. MILLER, L. MILLER, MURPHY, OLDSON,
1 12 D. OLSON, R. OLSON, S. OLSON, T. OLSON, PALMER,
1 13 PAULSEN, PETERSEN, PETTENGILL, QUIRK, RANTS,
1 14 RASMUSSEN, RAYHONS, REASONER, REICHERT, ROBERTS,
1 15 SANDS, SCHICKEL, SCHUELLER, SHOMSHOR, SMITH,
1 16 SODERBERG, STAED, STRUYK, SWAIM, D. TAYLOR,
1 17 T. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TJEPKES, TOMENGA, TYMESON,
1 18 UPMEYER, VAN ENGELENHOVEN, VAN FOSSEN, WATTS,
1 19 WENDT, WENTHE, WESSEL-KROESCHELL, WHITAKER,
1 20 WHITEAD, WIENCEK, WINCKLER, WINDSCHITL, WISE,
1 21 WORTHAN, and ZIRKELBACH
1 22 A Resolution honoring the life and accomplishments of
1 23 Gerald Rudolph Ford, thirty=eighth President of the United
1 24 States of America.
1 25 WHEREAS, Gerald Rudolph Ford was born on July 14,
1 26 1913, and grew to manhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
1 27 where he was a star on the state champion South High
1 28 School Trojans football team; and
1 29 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford first entered politics in 1931,
1 30 losing a race for president of his senior high school
2 1 class on the Progressive ticket, but would not lose
2 2 another election until 45 years later; and
2 3 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford went on to win a scholarship to
2 4 the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he
2 5 worked as a dishwasher to help pay for his room and
2 6 board; and
2 7 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford later attended Yale Law School
2 8 and earned an LL.B. degree in 1941; and
2 9 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford joined the United States Naval
2 10 Reserves in 1942 and served his country honorably
2 11 during World War II; and
2 12 WHEREAS, in 1948, Mr. Ford easily won his first
2 13 term in the United States House of Representatives and
2 14 never received less than 60 percent of the vote during
2 15 a quarter=century as the Representative from
2 16 Michigan's Fifth District; and
2 17 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford served with great distinction in
2 18 Congress, in particular through his service on the
2 19 Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and as a member of
2 20 the Warren Commission, which investigated the
2 21 assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and
2 22 WHEREAS, in 1965, Mr. Ford was selected as Minority
2 23 Leader of the House of Representatives, a position he
2 24 held for eight years; and
2 25 WHEREAS, in December 1973, Mr. Ford was appointed
2 26 Vice President of the United States and a scant eight
2 27 months later was sworn in as President of the United
2 28 States on August 9, 1974; and
2 29 WHEREAS, in the two=and=one=half years of his
2 30 presidency, Mr. Ford presided over the end of the
3 1 American involvement in Vietnam, helped mediate a
3 2 cease=fire agreement between Israel and Egypt, signed
3 3 the Helsinki human rights convention with the Soviet
3 4 Union and traveled to Vladivostok in the Soviet Far
3 5 East to sign an arms limitation agreement with the
3 6 Soviet president, and sent the Marines to free the
3 7 crew of the Mayaguez, a merchant ship seized by North
3 8 Korea; and
3 9 WHEREAS, perhaps the greatest service to the
3 10 American people by President Ford was ably summed up
3 11 in the words of President George W. Bush:
3 12 "For a nation that needed healing, and for an
3 13 office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford
3 14 came along when we needed him most. During his time
3 15 in office, the American people came to know President
3 16 Ford as a man of complete integrity who led our
3 17 country with common sense and kind instincts."; and
3 18 WHEREAS, Mr. Ford was the archetype of the best in
3 19 public life, an example of modesty, civility, and
3 20 dedication that others should seek to follow; and
3 21 WHEREAS, after a life filled with accomplishment
3 22 and dedicated public service, Gerald Rudolph Ford died
3 23 at the age of 93; NOW THEREFORE,
3 24 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
3 25 That the members of the House of Representatives note
3 26 with sorrow the passing of President Gerald Rudolph
3 27 Ford, and express their deep appreciation for
3 28 President Ford's outstanding and important service to
3 29 this nation; and
3 30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of
4 1 Representatives directs the Chief Clerk of the House
4 2 of Representatives to deliver a copy of this
4 3 resolution to the House of Representatives of the
4 4 United States Congress and to former First Lady Betty
4 5 Ford.
4 6 LSB 1732HH 82
4 7 jr:rj/je/5
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