CONGRATS-REP. JESUS G. GARCIA

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0764

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SR0764
LRB104 21731 LAW 37381 r
1
SENATE RESOLUTION

2

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3
congratulate former Illinois State Senator and current U.S.
4
Representative Jesus G. "Chuy" Garcia on the occasion of his
5
retirement from public service; and

6

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia immigrated to the United States from
7
Durango, Mexico, arriving in Chicago at the age of 9 in 1965;
8
early in his career, he served as a community organizer for
9
labor rights and inclusive city services in Chicago; he was
10
appointed as deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of
11
Water in 1984; that same year, he was elected as ward
12
committeeman of the Cook County Democratic Party's 22nd Ward;
13
and

14

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia was elected as alderperson of the
15
22nd Ward on the Chicago City Council in 1986, becoming the
16
first Mexican American alderperson of Little Village; in this
17
position, he helped strengthen progressive city governance
18
during Chicago's Council Wars by giving Mayor Harold
19
Washington a majority in the council, championed immigrant
20
access to city services, advocated for protection from
21
excessive or unfair fees, established himself as a coalition
22
builder across multiracial and working-class communities,
23
commissioned the construction of the iconic Little Village

SR0764
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LRB104 21731 LAW 37381 r
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Arch landmark, and served as chair of the Aviation Committee,
2
through which he helped implement the Automated Guideway
3
Transit at O'Hare International Airport; and

4

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia continued cementing his legacy as a
5
trailblazer when he became the first Mexican American to serve
6
as a member of the Illinois Senate, a position he held from
7
1993 to 1999; during his time in office, he was known for
8
producing and supporting targeted, high-impact legislation,
9
including the Language Assistance Services Act of 1993, which
10
required hospitals and long-term care facilities to provide
11
language assistance for limited English-speaking patients and
12
communication support for deaf/hard-of-hearing patients,
13
making language access a legal, required obligation, improving
14
patient safety, informed consent, and care outcomes, and
15
establishing a precedent for language access as a core public
16
service; he also helped pass legislation to protect the
17
welfare and safety of migrant workers, and he advocated for
18
immigrant and Latino representation, education equity for
19
Chicago schools, transit and infrastructure for working-class
20
communities, and Latino empowerment in Springfield; further,
21
he was elected chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
22
before the formation of the Illinois Legislative Latino
23
Caucus; and

24

WHEREAS, After his time in the Illinois Senate, Rep.

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LRB104 21731 LAW 37381 r
1
Garcia served as the founding executive director of the Little
2
Village Community Development Corporation, now known as Enlace
3
Chicago, growing it from a one-person start-up to a major
4
nonprofit with a multimillion-dollar budget, 27 full-time
5
staff members, and 120 part-time staff members; through the
6
organization, he advocated for community schools, provided
7
after-school programs and anti-violence work, advocated for
8
criminal justice reform and educational opportunity expansion,
9
and helped lead a 19-day hunger strike to build a
10
long-promised new high school; and

11

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia was elected to serve the 7th District
12
on the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2010, during
13
which he served as floor leader of the board, ended county
14
cooperation with the United States Immigration and Customs
15
Enforcement (ICE), which served as a national model, passed
16
minimum wage increases and paid sick leave ordinances,
17
advocated for anti-housing discrimination policies,
18
established the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation,
19
and promoted public services equity at the county level; and

20

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia has represented the 4th Congressional
21
District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives
22
since 2019; upon his election the year prior, he became the
23
first Mexican American from the Midwest to serve in the United
24
States Congress; during his tenure, he has been elected and

SR0764
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LRB104 21731 LAW 37381 r
1
served as Deputy Whip and Whip of the Congressional
2
Progressive Caucus (CPC), was appointed Vice Chair of the
3
House Committee on Natural Resources, focused on immigration
4
reform, labor rights, healthcare access, affordable housing,
5
and consumer protection, advocated for and secured gains in
6
equitable infrastructure investment and public transportation,
7
continued an emphasis on civil rights, economic opportunity,
8
and community-based policy, and delivered over $60 million in
9
direct community project funding as well as additional
10
billions for statewide infrastructure initiatives,
11
environmental programs, and landmark developments; and

12

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia has led a career in public service
13
defined by a consistent policy agenda, identifying practical
14
points of vulnerability and then striving to fix them through
15
policy; across the various positions he has held, he has
16
continued to serve as a progressive voice, maintaining a core
17
focus on immigrant access, neighborhood equity, public
18
services, and working-class representation; and

19

WHEREAS, Rep. Garcia will retire from public service in
20
January 2027; therefore, be it

21

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
22
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate former
23
Illinois State Senator and current U.S. Representative Jesus

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LRB104 21731 LAW 37381 r
1
G. "Chuy" Garcia on his retirement from public service, and we
2
thank him for his decades-long dedication and commitment to
3
his community and the State of Illinois; and be it further

4

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5
presented to Rep. Garcia as an expression of our esteem and
6
respect.

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