Bill Text: IL SR1157 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Mourns the passing of former Illinois State Representative and United States Congressman John Edward Porter of Alexandria, Virginia, formerly of Evanston.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-11-16 - Resolution Adopted [SR1157 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SR1157-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
to learn of the death of former Illinois State Representative
and United States Congressman John Edward Porter of
Alexandria, Virginia, formerly of Evanston, who passed away on
June 3, 2022; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was born in Evanston on June
1, 1935; he graduated from Evanston Township High School in
1953; he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
from 1953 to 1954; he received his Bachelor of Science and
Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University in 1957; he
earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law
School in 1961; he served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1958
to 1964; he was admitted into the Illinois Bar in 1961; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was an honor law graduate
attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington,
D.C. from 1961 to 1963 before entering private practice in
Evanston from 1963 to 1979; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter served as a member of the
Illinois General Assembly from 1973 to 1979; while in office,
he was successful in passing legislation that created
government inducements to carpooling, denied pension rights to

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public officials convicted of a felony, prohibited flammable
tents and outdoor-use fabrics, and required disclosure of
secret beneficiaries of land trusts involved in business with
state government; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was elected as a Republican to
represent the 10th District of the State of Illinois in the
96th U.S. Congress by special election, filling the vacancy
caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative Abner J.
Mikva; he was reelected to the 10 succeeding Congresses,
representing the North Shore, the northwest suburbs, and
eastern Lake County of Illinois from January 22, 1980 to
January 3, 2001; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was a member of the U.S. House
Appropriations Committee and served as chairman of the
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education, and Related Agencies; under his
leadership, the educational and health-related programs of
federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), flourished; he additionally founded and co-chaired the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus, a voluntary association of
more than 250 members of Congress working to identify,
monitor, and end human rights violations worldwide; he also
co-authored landmark legislation, created Radio Free Asia, and
served as chairman of Global Legislators Organized for a

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Balanced Environment, known as GLOBE USA; and
WHEREAS, Upon his retirement from Congress, Congressman
Porter became a partner in the international law firm Hogan
Hartson, now Hogan Lovells, where he represented Northwestern
University in Washington, D.C. for several years, securing
more than $45 million in projects for the university; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter served as a delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1996; he additionally served
on several boards over the years, including the PBS
Foundation, the First Focus Campaign for Children, the
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the
Bretton Woods Committee, the Inter-American Dialogue, the
Council on Foreign Relations, the RAND Corporation, and the
American Heart Association; he previously chaired the
non-profit Research!America and served as a trustee of the
Brookings Institution and the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter received an honorary Doctor of
Laws degree from Northwestern University in 1999 and the
Public Welfare Medal by the National Academy of Sciences in
2014; he was chosen as the namesake of NIH's Neuroscience
Research Center, which was dedicated in March 2014, and a
professorship of biomedical research at Northwestern

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University's Feinberg School of Medicine was established in
his name in 2001; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter was known as a fiscal
conservative who held moderate social views; he will be
remembered for his tireless advocacy of biomedical research,
the environment, and international human rights; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Porter is survived by his spouse of
15 years, Amy McGuire Porter; his children and stepchildren,
John, David, Annie, Robyn, Donna, McKay, and Michelle; and his
14 grandchildren; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
former Illinois State Representative and United States
Congressman John Edward Porter and extend our sincere
condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
him; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Congressman Porter as an expression
of our deepest sympathy.