Senate
Resolution 3 Oregon Laws 2011
Whereas the executive branch
recognizes its significant historical figures by displaying portraits and busts
of former Governors in the Capitol; and
Whereas the legislative branch, as a
coequal branch of government, may recognize its significant historical figures
in the Capitol; and
Whereas the Legislative Assembly
previously has recognized significant historical figures by naming the Senate
wing the “Jason Boe Memorial Senate Wing” after former Senate President Jason
Boe and the House wing the “Phil Lang Memorial House Wing” after former Speaker
of the House of Representatives Phil Lang; and
Whereas the Senate’s unique history
can be recognized by honoring other significant historical figures who have
served in the Oregon Senate or contributed to the history of the Capitol; and
Whereas the Oregon Senate values its
unique history; and
Whereas visitors to the Capitol often
visit the Senate and inquire about its history; and
Whereas the Senate wishes to recognize
those who have played an important role in the Senate’s history or the history
of the Capitol; and
Senator W.H.
(Bill) Strayer
Whereas W.H. (Bill) Strayer is the
longest-serving state Senator in Oregon history, having represented Baker
County in the Senate for nearly 32 years from January 11, 1915, to his death on
October 18, 1946; and
Whereas Senator Strayer is believed to
be the longest-serving state Senator in Oregon’s second Capitol building, which
was destroyed by fire on April 25, 1935; and
Whereas Senator Strayer was described
in contemporary reports as a legislator “whose colleagues are all his friends”
and as “one of the ablest thinkers and most impressive speakers in the upper
house,” who had the “ability to put through or defeat a measure by [use of]
razor-keen logic or revealing ridicule alone”; and
Whereas another contemporary report
described Senator Strayer as follows: “Give Bill Strayer a cause to champion, a
sham to expose, or a grievance to protest and he is capable of swaying opinion
as few other legislators have ever been able to do. Forensically, he can strike
with the force of a 10-ton buzz bomb. When Bill really cuts loose on the floor
it is an occasion no informed legislator present under the dome willingly
misses”; and
Whereas the corridor on the second
floor behind the Senate Chamber is lined with photographs of former members of
the Senate, making it a gallery devoted to the history of the Senate; and
Whereas the “Senator W.H. (Bill)
Strayer Gallery” is an appropriate name for this gallery behind the Senate
Chamber; and
Senator Lenn
Hannon
Whereas Senator Lenn Hannon is the
longest-serving state Senator in the current Capitol building and the second
longest-serving state Senator in Oregon history, having represented Ashland in
the Senate for over 29 years from January 13, 1975, to January 31, 2004; and
Whereas Senator Hannon was described
in contemporary reports as a legislator with strong leadership skills who was
affable and “generous with his time and advice,” who “would not hesitate to
show his displeasure,” and who was “known for his close bipartisan friendships”;
and
Whereas Governor Theodore R.
Kulongoski described Senator Hannon upon his passing as follows: “Beyond his
record in the Legislature, Lenn Hannon was a person who was respected by all of
those who knew him. He told it to you straight, something that was always
appreciated by those who worked with him, even when they didn’t necessarily
agree on the issue”; and
Whereas the room located at the end of
the corridor behind the Senate Chamber and immediately to the east of the
Senate Chamber’s north side aisle is associated with Senator Hannon because he
would occasionally retire to this room during Senate floor sessions; and
Whereas the “Senator Lenn Hannon
Reading Room” is an appropriate name for this room associated with Senator
Hannon; and
Senator
Kathryn Clarke
Whereas women in Oregon achieved the
right to vote in 1912 and were first eligible to be elected to the Legislative
Assembly in 1914, six years before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution was ratified in 1920; and
Whereas Senator Kathryn Clarke is the
first woman to serve in the Oregon Senate upon her election in 1915 to
represent Douglas County; and
Whereas Senator George Neuner Jr. was
reelected to represent Douglas County in the 1914 election but resigned in
early January 1915 to become the district attorney; and
Whereas Governor Oswald West offered
the vacant seat to Douglas County Judge Dexter Rice, but a controversy erupted
over whether Governor West had the constitutional authority to make the Senate
appointment and Judge Rice declined the Senate seat; and
Whereas amid the constitutional
controversy and need for a reliable appointee, Governor West appointed his
cousin, Kathryn Clarke, to fill the Senate seat; and
Whereas, given the questions over
Governor West’s constitutional power to make the appointment, Douglas County
scheduled a special election for January 20, 1915, to decide the matter; and
Whereas Senator Clarke then filed her
candidacy for the office and ran for election to remove any doubt about the
legitimacy of her holding the Senate seat; and
Whereas after large public meetings
and an endorsement from the local newspaper, Senator Clarke won the election by
76 votes; and
Whereas Senator Clarke, along with
other female elected officials, was profiled in the International Woman Suffrage News and the Woman’s Journal and Suffrage News as a model for women pursuing
elected office after attaining the right to vote; and
Whereas in 1915, Senator Clarke joined
the Oregon branch of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and began
working for a women’s suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution,
which was ratified in 1920; and
Whereas the room on the second floor
immediately behind the Senate Chamber has historically been a private room for
members and staff to discuss matters of the day, accomplish tasks on behalf of
the public and keep belongings safe while performing official duties; and
Whereas the “Senator Kathryn Clarke
Cloakroom” is an appropriate name for this room immediately behind the Senate
Chamber; and
Senator Eugene
Debbs Potts
Whereas Senator Eugene Debbs Potts
served in the Oregon Senate from 1961 to 1984, including as President of the Senate
from 1967 through 1970; and
Whereas as President of the Senate,
Senator Potts served a total of 196 days as acting Governor of Oregon when
Governor Tom McCall traveled outside the state; and
Whereas during his tenure in the
Senate, Senator Potts was known as “the man who would get things done” and as “a
gracious man with an agile mind”; and
Whereas Governor McCall called Senator
Potts “one of the most decent public men, anywhere”; and
Whereas Senator Lenn Hannon remembered
Senator Potts as “one of a kind”; and
Whereas Senator Potts served on the
Oregon State Lottery Commission from its creation in 1984 to his retirement in
2003; and
Whereas Senator Potts, while President
of the Senate, occupied the office presently occupied by the Secretary of the
Senate; and
Whereas this office has in the past
been dedicated with a plaque naming the office the “Debbs Potts Conference
Room,” which is an appropriate name for this room; and
Floyd G.
McMullen
Whereas Floyd G. McMullen, born on
March 24, 1913, and a resident of Hermiston, was killed fighting the blaze that
destroyed Oregon’s second Capitol on April 25, 1935; and
Whereas Mr. McMullen was a law student
at Willamette University and a volunteer firefighter at the time of the Capitol
fire; and
Whereas Mr. McMullen was the only
fatality caused by the Capitol blaze; and
Whereas parts of the ruins of the
Capitol destroyed in 1935 are visible from the conference room near the Senate
Chamber in the northeast corner of the Capitol’s second floor; and
Whereas this conference room is
associated with Mr. McMullen because the conference room is the customary
meeting place of the Floyd McMullen Fire Brigade established in 2003, a society
devoted to Oregon history, public policy and public service; and
Whereas the “Floyd G. McMullen
Conference Room” is an appropriate name for this conference room; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the
State of
That we, the members of the Senate of
the Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly, declare the following:
(1) The corridor on the second floor
behind the Senate Chamber shall be known as the “Senator W.H. (Bill) Strayer
Gallery.”
(2) The room located at the end of the
corridor behind the Senate Chamber and immediately to the east of the Senate
Chamber’s north side aisle shall be known as the “Senator Lenn Hannon Reading
Room.”
(3) The room immediately behind the
Senate Chamber shall be known as the “Senator Kathryn Clarke Cloakroom.”
(4) The office presently occupied by
the Secretary of the Senate shall be known as the “Debbs Potts Conference Room.”
(5) The conference room near the
Senate Chamber in the northeast corner of the Capitol’s second floor shall be
known as the “Floyd G. McMullen Conference Room.”
Filed in the
office of Secretary of State June 9, 2011
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