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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CONGRATULATING THE HONORABLE DEBRA SHORE ON HER APPOINTMENT TO THE POSITION OF REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, EPA REGION 5
WHEREAS, on October 12, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden named Chicago water executive Debra Shore to head the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5 Chicago-based Midwest office. In his appointment statement, EPA Administrator Michael Regan noted, "Debra's knowledge and experience on water infrastructure issues, the impacts of climate change, and the protection of the Great Lakes will help her lead Region 5;" and
WHEREAS, in supporting her appointment, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Shore's "commitment to correcting decades-long environmental injustices" made her "uniquely suited to serve the Midwest and take on this leadership role in protecting our natural resources for years to come;" and
WHEREAS, EPA's Region 5 covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, along with land held by 35 indigenous tribes. The office oversees efforts to clean up the Great Lakes and deals with matters including industrial and agricultural pollution and tainted drinking water. Shore is committed to environmental justice and promised to build morale among employees who felt inhibited from doing their jobs under the former president; and
WHEREAS, a native of Chicago, Debra grew up in Dallas. She graduated from Goucher College in 1974 with a degree in philosophy and visual arts and a membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She earned masters' degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Chicago's Columbia College. She lives with her spouse, Kathleen Gillespie, in Skokie, Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Debra began her career as an investigator for the Better Government Association, one of the first to hold that position. She became an active volunteer in local conservation initiatives, especially helping to restore the forest preserves along the North Branch of the Chicago River. She was the founding editor of...
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