[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10583-10584]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     ON THE PASSING OF GEORGE DUNNE

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim 
the time of Mr. Brown.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Illinois is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, last week George William Dunne, 
one of the giant figures of Chicago and Cook County politics in the 
last half of the 20th century passed at age 93.
  George Dunne came from humble circumstances, the son of Irish 
immigrants. He graduated from De La Salle Institute on Chicago's South 
Side, the alma mater of such stalwarts of Cook County politics as Mayor 
Martin Kennelly, Cook County board president Dan Ryan, and Mayor 
Richard J. Daley.

                              {time}  2230

  He attended Northwestern University and served his country in the 
United States Army during World War II and

[[Page 10584]]

the Korean War. George Dunne began his public service career as a park 
supervisor at a Lake Michigan playground, and went on to a series of 
positions with the Chicago Park District.
  He was elected to the Illinois House of Representative in 1955 and 
elevated to House Majority Leader in 1961. In 1962 he was elected to 
the Cook County Board and 7 years later he was elected to the position 
of President of the Board. George served in that position for 31 years, 
until his retirement in 1990.
  In addition to his government service, George held responsible posts 
in the Cook County Democratic Party. He was Democratic committeeman of 
the 42nd Ward on Chicago's north side for more than 40 years, and as 
chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party for all but 5 years from 
1976 to his retirement in 1990.
  George Dunne was present at many of the great historical landmark 
events of his day. He was with Colonel Jacob Arvey at the 1984 
Democratic Convention in Philadelphia for the nomination of Harry 
Truman.
  20 years later he was with Mayor Richard J. Daley at the 1968 
Democratic Convention for the nomination of Hubert Humphrey.
  However, Mr. Speaker, for me those are not the events I remember. 
When I remember George Dunne, I remember 1983 when Harold Washington 
won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Chicago. The Democratic 
Party began to split along racial lines, with some white Democrats 
turning to oppose the nominee of their own party.
  George Dunne was one of those who resisted such splitting tactics and 
supported Harold Washington, including what was to become immortalized 
in one famous photograph, marching arm in arm with Washington at the 
St. Patrick's Day Parade.
  I remember the depth of the crisis at Cook County Hospital when 
George Dunne, became President of the Cook County Board. At one time 
Cook County Hospital had been a model for public health institutions. 
But by the early 1970s, many were calling for the closing of the 
hospital.
  Today we would call it privatization of the hospital. Eventually, 
President Dunne put aside his political predilections and hired a 
radical young doctor, Dr. Quentin Young to lead the Department of 
Medicine, a move which today is generally created with saving the 
hospital.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that we mortals should make final 
judgement on the life of other mortals, but when we reflect on the life 
of George Dunne, I hope that these qualities and actions are among 
those which are never forgotten.
  Several of his proteges are integral parts of Illinois and Chicago 
politics, such as the Honorable Jesse White, Secretary of State, the 
Honorable Burton Naturus, Alderman and committeeman of the 42nd Ward, 
and the honorable Walter Burnett, alderman of the 27th Ward.
  Mr. Speaker, I am sure that they would join with me and countless 
others of saying thanks to his family for sharing with all of us a 
tremendous elected official, politician, but most of all a gentleman 
and a humanitarian.

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