WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump awarded Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at the February 4, 2020, State of the Union Address; and
WHEREAS, Rush Limbaugh is the syndicated radio host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, which has been the number-one commercial talk radio program since its premiere in 1988; and
WHEREAS, Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born in 1951 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to a family with a long line of attorneys; at the age of sixteen, he pursued his passion for broadcasting by working as a disc jockey for a hometown radio station; and
WHEREAS, four years later, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and worked at AM radio station KQV; he grew tired of the disc jockey life and briefly joined the Kansas City Royals as Director of Group Sales and later Director of Sales and Special Events; and
WHEREAS, his time away from broadcasting was short-lived, as he reentered radio in 1983 as a political commentator for KMBZ in Kansas City, Missouri; the following year, he hosted a daytime talk show in Sacramento, California, tripling the program's ratings in four years, setting the stage for The Rush Limbaugh Show's launch in 1988; and
WHEREAS, Rush Limbaugh has been a thought leader in the conservative movement for decades; in a 1992 letter, former President Ronald Reagan thanked him "for all you're doing to promote Republican and conservative principles…[and] you have become the Number One voice for conservativism in our country"; and
WHEREAS, after the historic 1994 midterm elections, in which the Republican Party took control of the United States Congress, the freshman Republican class awarded him an honorary membership in their caucus, believing he had a role in their success; and
WHEREAS, Rush Limbaugh is a two-time New York Times bestselling author who has helped raise and personally donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations; and
WHEREAS, while he was recently diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, Rush Limbaugh plans to continue hosting his show each day, as that is the source of his greatest satisfaction; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting that we recognize Rush Limbaugh for his career and contributions to radio broadcasting and the conservative movement; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING
that we honor and congratulate Rush Limbaugh upon his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and extend to him our best wishes for every continued success.
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