A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Edwin J. Feulner, and commending Dr. Feulner for his life-long commitment to the conservative movement and his distinct contributions to his country.

A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Edwin J. Feulner, and commending Dr. Feulner for his life-long commitment to the conservative movement and his distinct contributions to his country.

Whereas Dr. Edwin John Feulner Jr. was born on August 12, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois to Helen Joan Feulner and Edwin J. Feulner Sr., who owned a local real estate firm;

Whereas Dr. Feulner was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, an upbringing that would ultimately have a major impact on his life and work;

Whereas Dr. Feulner excelled in his academic studies, graduating from the Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Regis University, earning an M.B.A from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and receiving a PhD in political science from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland;

Whereas Dr. Feulner’s lifelong commitment to public service began in the 1960s when he served as a confidential assistant to Congressman Melvin R. Laird, and eventually as chief of staff to Congressman Philip M. Crane;

Whereas, in 1973, Dr. Feulner founded the Republican Study Committee alongside Paul Weyrich, serving as the Committee’s first Executive Director;

Whereas Dr. Feulner’s leadership of the Republican Study Committee, which remains in existence 52 years later as the conservative conscience of the House of Representatives, radically altered the way the conservative movement operated within Congress, giving influence and agency to conservative legislators in an unprecedented way;

Whereas Dr. Feulner’s immense contributions to the conservative movement continued outside the halls of Congress, when in 1973 he founded the Heritage Foundation;

Whereas, in 1977, Dr. Feulner became President of the Heritage Foundation, spending the next 36 years at the helm of the Nation’s preeminent conservative think tank;

Whereas Dr. Feulner grew the Heritage Foundation from a small outfit of just 12 employees to one of the most influential forces within the conservative movement, a think tank that The New York Times referred to as the “parthenon of the conservative metropolis” and that revolutionized the way conservatives developed and executed on public policy;

Whereas, in 1989, President Reagan awarded Dr. Feulner the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian award in the United States that recognizes individuals who have, “performed exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens”;

Whereas Dr. Feulner was the author of 9 books including The March for Freedom, a seminal piece on the future of the conservative movement in the United States, and Conservatives Stalk the House, a history of the Republican Study Committee;

Whereas Dr. Feulner was married to the love of his life, Linda, for over 50 years, had 2 children, Edwin J. Feulner III and Emily V. Lown, and 3 grandchildren;

Whereas, on July 18, 2025, Dr. Feulner passed away at the age of 83, surrounded by his loving family;

Whereas Dr. Feulner was, in the words of his successor, Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts, “a visionary, a builder, and a patriot of the highest order” whose unwavering love of country and determination to safeguard our Nation’s founding principles shaped every fiber of the conservative movement; and

Whereas Dr. Feulner leaves behind an enduring legacy of a man singularly committed to the cause of freedom and the determination to further the promise of America, whose tireless efforts at the forefront of the conservative movement have made our Nation a better place for all her citizens: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) mourns the passing of Dr. Edwin J Feulner, former President of the Heritage Foundation and Executive Director of the Republican Study Committee, and extends its sympathies to his family;

(2) honors the life and legacy of Dr. Feulner and his indelible impact on American history and policy; and

(3) respectfully suggests to the President that Dr. Feulner be posthumously awarded the Nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.