Senate Bill 2790
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Florida Senate - 2000 (NP) SR 2790
By Senator Clary
7-2043B-00
1 Senate Resolution No.
2 A resolution honoring Senator W. D. Childers.
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4 WHEREAS, Senator Wyon Dale Childers was born in
5 Okaloosa County, graduated from high school in Bay County and
6 from Florida State University, and now resides in Escambia
7 County, and
8 WHEREAS, with his wife, Ruth, he raised four daughters,
9 Gail, Jeanna, Karen, and Marvel; and they have been a family
10 beloved by and involved in the community, and
11 WHEREAS, Senator Childers was elected to the Florida
12 Senate in November 1970 and has demonstrated the ability to be
13 re-elected subsequently with a greater majority, and
14 WHEREAS, he served as Chairman of the Senate Natural
15 Resources and Conservation Committee during the
16 environmentally oriented period of 1972 to 1974 and became an
17 expert in the natural resources of the State of Florida, our
18 most valuable heritage, and
19 WHEREAS, Senator Childers has reconstituted his
20 environmental effort on behalf of his constituents of
21 Northwest Florida, turning over a new leaf and becoming an
22 environmentalist, and
23 WHEREAS, he served as Chairman of the Senate Commerce
24 Committee from 1974 to 1977 and now serves as Chairman of the
25 Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government, and
26 WHEREAS, he has demonstrated a keen grasp of the fiscal
27 affairs of state government and an ability to balance fairly
28 the priorities of the numerous needs and demands for
29 government services, and
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Florida Senate - 2000 (NP) SR 2790
7-2043B-00
1 WHEREAS, he served as Chairman of the Senate Rules and
2 Calendar Committee and proved outstanding in his even-handed
3 and fair consideration of all members' legislation, and
4 WHEREAS, Senator Childers was elected and served as
5 President of the Senate from 1980-1982, and
6 WHEREAS, he has been recognized by his Senate
7 colleagues as Most Outstanding in Debate for his ability to
8 relate complex issues to average men and women in their
9 everyday lives, and
10 WHEREAS, he has passed his skills along to his
11 grandson, Bradley Springer, as demonstrated early this
12 legislative session, and
13 WHEREAS, he is the longest-serving member and the Dean
14 of the Florida Senate, respected for his wisdom, whose
15 guidance and expertise are often sought in solving state
16 problems to benefit his constituents and all of Florida, and
17 WHEREAS, Senator Childers' colorful use of the English
18 language is eclipsed only by his often-colorful attire, and
19 WHEREAS, Senator Childers is the only known person
20 outside the jungle who is able to wrestle a wooly booger to
21 the ground with one hand tied behind his back, and
22 WHEREAS, in 1993 Senator Childers met with Governor
23 Lawton Chiles, and the two men developed a plan for the State
24 of Florida to recover the moneys the state had expended as a
25 result of the illnesses caused by tobacco, and
26 WHEREAS, during the 1994 legislative session, Senator
27 Childers took the lead to unanimously pass the amendment in
28 the Senate to establish the Florida 3rd Party Medicaid
29 Recovery Act, which allowed Florida to successfully bring the
30 tobacco companies to task, and
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 (NP) SR 2790
7-2043B-00
1 WHEREAS, the loss of Senator W.D. Childers will create
2 a void in the Florida Senate, where his sage advice and
3 counsel will be sorely missed, and the members of the Senate
4 earnestly believe that the needs of Florida and his
5 constituents would best be served by his continued service in
6 the Capitol, where he has expertise, seniority, and the
7 confidence of the members of the legislative, executive, and
8 judicial branches of state government, and
9 WHEREAS, as a result of Senator Childers' efforts in
10 association with Governor Chiles, this legislation has been
11 called the most significant legislative act ever passed in
12 regard to health care in the United States, and
13 WHEREAS, Governor Chiles stated that this was the most
14 significant event in his political career and will result in
15 the State of Florida recovering 13 billion dollars and saving
16 100,000 lives a year, NOW, THEREFORE,
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18 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
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20 That, through the Lawton & Rhea Chiles Center for
21 Healthy Mothers & Babies and the University of South Florida,
22 the Legislature intends to endow a Distinguished
23 Chair/Professorship in Maternal and Child Health: Tobacco,
24 Alcohol, and Drug Abuse Prevention.
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