[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2389]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DAWN CLARK NETSCH

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this morning we received news in Chicago 
that Dawn Clark Netsch has passed away. She died from complications 
from Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 86. It was a surprise to lose 
her this quickly, although all of us knew she was struggling with this 
terrible disease.
  When the history of her contribution to Illinois is written, it will 
undoubtedly note the obvious: She had worked in Illinois government 
since the 1950s, under then-Governor Stevenson. She was a law professor 
at Northwestern University Law School. She was elected State senator in 
the 1970s. She was elected our State's comptroller after that, and she 
had an ill-fated run for Governor.
  If that is all it says, though, it will miss the most important part 
of her life because, you see, Dawn Clark Netsch was an iconic, historic 
force in our State. More than any person in Illinois history, Dawn 
Clark Netsch created the modern era of women in Illinois political 
leadership. As always, those who were charged with opening the doors of 
opportunity have to come to that task extraordinarily gifted, 
determined, and patient. Dawn Netsch was all of these and more.
  Early in my life, fresh out of law school, I was a lawyer working in 
the Illinois State Senate, and I saw firsthand the talents of this new 
senator, Dawn Clark Netsch. Her political base was the Lakeshore 
liberal base in Chicago--the group who was always at war with the 
Chicago machine and proud of it. She was elected from that base but 
then surprised most everyone when she came to Springfield and struck up 
a friendship, a genuine friendship, in the constitutional convention 
first and then in the State Senate with a young State senator named 
Richard M. Daley, son of Mayor Daley. Dawn Netsch proved that a 
politician can be both principled and effective and civil. Her ill-
fated run for Governor lacked the political polish of many winning 
campaigns, but her thoughtfulness, her candor, and her blunt honesty 
about the challenges Illinois faced will always be remembered.
  The Illinois political scene will not be the same without that pool-
shooting Sox fan with a cigarette holder, but generations of Illinois 
women can thank the indomitable force of Dawn Clark Netsch for blazing 
their path.

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