H. Res. 42

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

February 27, 2007.

Whereas Dorothy Ann Willis Richards, the First Lady of 

Texas politics, an American icon and patriot, who 

touched the lives of Texans and Americans across the 

Nation, passed away September 13, 2006, after a valiant 

fight with esophageal cancer; 

Whereas her political philosophy was one of government 

openness and she was a forceful champion for economic 

and social justice for all Americans, opening Texas government to all Texans, including African Americans, Hispanics, women, and the disadvantaged; 

Whereas, before her service ended, of her nearly 3,000 appointments, 46 percent were female, 15 percent were 

black, 20 percent were Hispanic and 2 percent were 

Asian American; 

Whereas her service to Texas and the Nation included teaching Texas schoolchildren, serving as County Commissioner in Travis County, serving 2 terms as Texas State 

Treasurer, and finally serving as the Governor of Texas; 

Whereas Richards raised 4 incredible children, and 8 ‘‘almost 

perfect’’ grandchildren and touched the lives of countless 

friends throughout her life; 
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•HRES 42 EH 

Whereas Governor Richards revitalized the Texas economy, 

yielding 2 percent growth when the United States economy was shrinking; she streamlined Texas’s government 

and regulatory institutions for business and the public; 

she revitalized and positioned Texas’s corporate infrastructure for the explosive economic growth it experienced later in the decade, and she saved Texas taxpayers 

more than $6 billion; 

Whereas Richards reformed the Texas prison system by establishing a substance abuse program for inmates, reducing the number of violent offenders released, and increasing prison space to deal with a growing prison population; 

Whereas Richards instituted the Texas lottery to supplement 

school finances and she sought to decentralize control 

over education policy to districts and individual campuses, instituting site-based management; 

Whereas Richards inspired an entire generation of young 

women, admonishing them with the words ‘‘well-behaved 

women rarely make history’’; 

Whereas, in 1989, with co-author Peter Knobler, she wrote 

her autobiography ‘‘Straight from the Heart’’, inspiring 

Texans with her personal story and folksy humor; 

Whereas, in 2004, she authored ‘‘I’m Not Slowing Down, 

Winning My Battle with Osteoporosis’’ and became an 

international spokesperson for women battling the disease; 

Whereas, after her diagnosis with esophageal cancer, Richards inspired all of us with her determination to win 

against all the odds, and her fearless battle until the very 

last day in her beloved Austin, Texas; 
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•HRES 42 EH 

Whereas her sense of humor, delivery, and understanding of 

Texas’s ‘‘old boy’’ politics was legendary, charming, and 

disarming; and 

Whereas Governor Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an 

American original, an irreplaceable public servant, a patriot who loved the Nation and its expansive land, ideas, 

and the Constitution: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes 

and commends Ann Richards’ extraordinary contributions to 

Texas and American public life. 

Attest:

Clerk.