SJR59: Joint Resolution Text

LRB-4115/2

PJD:kmg:rs

2003 - 2004 LEGISLATURE

2003 Senate JOINT RESOLUTION 59

February 3, 2004 - Introduced by Senators Carpenter, Risser, Kanavas, Moore, Robson, M. Meyer, Breske, Plale, Lassa, Wirch, Jauch, Coggs and Decker, cosponsored by Representatives Zepnick, Colon, Krusick, Richards, Van Akkeren, Miller, Boyle, Travis, Lothian, Krug, Gronemus, Berceau, Hahn, Pocan, Kreuser, J. Lehman, Turner, Sinicki, Young, Plouff and Honadel. Referred to Committee on Senate Organization.

SJR59,1,2 Relating to: honoring Congressman Jerry Kleczka for tireless service to Milwaukee.

SJR59,1,5 Whereas, Congressman Jerry Kleczka represents Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District, consisting of the City of Milwaukee and the suburbs of West Milwaukee, St. Francis, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and part of West Allis; and

SJR59,1,9 Whereas, he was first elected to the Wisconsin state assembly at age 24, and in 1974 he won a seat in the state senate. He soon assumed leadership posts as assistant majority leader and cochair of the legislature's powerful Joint Committee on Finance; and

SJR59,1,13 Whereas, in 1984 Jerry Kleczka was elected to Congress in a special election following the death of Representative Clement Zablocki, and Mr. Kleczka has won 11 consecutive races and was reelected on November 5, 2002, with 87 percent of the vote; and

SJR59,2,4 Whereas, in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Kleczka serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittees on health and oversight. While on that panel, he has worked to push through major health care and spending reforms such as a ban on "drive-through" baby deliveries and his initiative to limit government disability payments to addicts and alcoholics. Both measures have been made law; and

SJR59,2,7 Whereas, Jerry Kleczka continues to fight for an affordable, meaningful prescription drug Medicare program for all senior citizens and reforms to reduce the cost of health care; and

SJR59,2,11 Whereas, Mr. Kleczka has also developed legislation to protect elderly residents of high-rise public housing from physical harm. His legislation brought widespread praise and resulted in Milwaukee becoming the first city in the nation to provide "elderly only" public housing; and

SJR59,2,16 Whereas, a leading advocate of personal privacy issues in Congress, Mr. Kleczka cosponsored legislation signed into law that makes identity theft a crime. This year, he has reintroduced the Personal Information Privacy Act, which would make it illegal for a business to withhold products or services if a consumer refused to furnish a Social Security number for identification purposes; and

SJR59,2,19 Whereas, an active voice in the community, Jerry Kleczka is a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Brady Street Area Association, and America's Black Holocaust Museum; and

SJR59,2,24 Whereas, Jerry Kleczka, 60, was born and raised on Milwaukee's south side and is a hobbyist woodworker who has completely remodeled his home. He received the Polish Heritage Award in 1997 and is a relative of John Casimir Kleczka, Wisconsin's first Polish American congressman elected to the 4th Congressional District in 1918; and

SJR59,3,3 Whereas, he and his wife, Bonnie, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in August. The Kleczka's dog, Colby, a Shelty, can sometimes be seen visiting the congressman at his Capitol Hill office; now, therefore, be it

SJR59,3,7 Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature honor Congressman Jerry Kleczka for tireless service to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin and wish him and his wife a rewarding retirement; and, be it further

SJR59,3,9 Resolved, That the senate chief clerk shall transmit a copy of this joint resolution to Congressman Kleczka.

SJR59,3,10 (End)