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1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3 congratulate Omer Osman on his retirement and commend him for
4 his decades of service to the Illinois Department of
5 Transportation (IDOT), his community, and his country; and
6 WHEREAS, Omer Osman joined IDOT in 1989 as a civil
7 engineer before rising through the ranks of the department,
8 serving as bureau chief of operations, Region 5 engineer,
9 chief engineer, director of highways, and deputy secretary
10 before being appointed Illinois Transportation Secretary in
11 2019; and
12 WHEREAS, Omer Osman is just the third secretary to spend
13 their entire career with the agency before being appointed
14 secretary; and
15 WHEREAS, Omer Osman's vast experience in transportation
16 includes the management and advancement of complex projects
17 and the assessment of current resources to inform funding and
18 programmatic needs to create a multimodal system for the 21st
19 century; and
20 WHEREAS, Omer Osman fostered a culture of innovation and
21 stressed the importance of IDOT leading the nation in best
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1 practices, including programs and initiatives that positioned
2 the agency as one of the most innovative departments of
3 transportation in the country; and
4 WHEREAS, Omer Osman led IDOT through the majority of the
5 six-year Rebuild Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker's historic,
6 bipartisan capital program investing a total of $33.2 billion
7 into the state's aging transportation system, creating jobs
8 and promoting economic growth as not only the largest capital
9 program in state history but also the first to touch all modes
10 of transportation, including roads and bridges, transit,
11 waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle
12 and pedestrian accommodations; and
13 WHEREAS, Omer Osman oversaw the completion of many notable
14 projects during his tenure, including the new Mississippi
15 River bridge and relocation of Illinois 3 in East St. Louis,
16 the Interstate 74/155 interchange reconstruction in Morton,
17 the Illinois 13 expansion between Carbondale and Interstate 57
18 in Marion, the rehabilitation of the U.S. 150 Illinois River
19 bridge in Peoria, and the I-74 Mississippi River bridge in the
20 Quad Cities; and
21 WHEREAS, Omer Osman steered IDOT through the COVID-19
22 pandemic, keeping the department open, projects continuing,
23 and the economy moving; and
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1 WHEREAS, Omer Osman has been a lifelong champion of
2 diversity, playing an integral part in statewide recruitment
3 efforts to diversify personnel in all state job
4 classifications as well as advocating for eliminating barriers
5 and increasing access to IDOT partnerships with Disadvantaged
6 Business Enterprises and minority and female-owned businesses;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, Omer Osman, in addition to his commitment to
9 IDOT, volunteered his time, talents, and skills to the
10 American Association of State Highway and Transportation
11 Officials policy and highway committees; and
12 WHEREAS, Omer Osman has been a devoted husband to his
13 wife, Magda, and a loving father to their children, Khalid,
14 Waleed, and Nadeen; therefore, be it
15 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Omer
17 Osman on his retirement and commend him for his decades of
18 service to IDOT, his community, and his country; and be it
19 further
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