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|jr/sr=Junior Senator
|jr/sr=Junior Senator
|state=[[Illinois]]
|state=[[Illinois]]
|term_start= January 15th, 2009<!---Note: 2 USC 35 does not apply here. There was no documents presented until January 6th. Documents must be presented to the Secretary of the Senate, and accepted, before the actual appointment is legal.. See John Barrasso (appointed June 22, oath June 25) and Roger Wicker (appointed Dec 31 oath Jan 22) for examples --->
|term_start= December 31, 2008<!---Note: The term of appointed senators begin on the date of their appointment according to 2 USC 36, NOT on the date of their taking the oath of office. See John Barrasso (appointed June 22, oath June 25) and Roger Wicker (appointed Dec 31 oath Jan 22) for examples --->
|alongside= [[Dick Durbin]]
|alongside= [[Dick Durbin]]
|predecessor=[[Barack Obama]]
|predecessor=[[Barack Obama]]

Revision as of 11:01, 6 February 2009

Roland Wallace Burris
Roland Burris at Midway Airport
United States Senator
from Illinois
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 31, 2008
Serving with Dick Durbin
Preceded byBarack Obama
39th Illinois Attorney General
In office
January 14, 1991 – January 9, 1995
GovernorJim Edgar
Preceded byNeil Hartigan
Succeeded byJim Ryan
3rd Illinois Comptroller
In office
January 8, 1979 – January 14, 1991
GovernorJames R. Thompson
Preceded byMichael Bakalis
Succeeded byDawn Clark Netsch
Personal details
Born (1937-08-03) August 3, 1937 (age 87)
Centralia, Illinois
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseBerlean M. Burris
ChildrenRolanda S. Burris
Roland W. Burris II
Residence(s)Chatham, Chicago, Illinois
Alma materHoward University School of Law (J.D.)
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (B.A.)
ProfessionAttorney, former financial executive

Roland Wallace Burris (born August 3, 1937) is the junior United States Senator for the state of Illinois. He is the only African-American serving in the Senate. Burris was appointed by Rod Blagojevich to replace Barack Obama, who had resigned following his election as President of the United States.[1]

Prior to his Senate appointment, he was the first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois, when he was elected Illinois Comptroller in 1978. He served in that office until his election as Illinois Attorney General in 1990.

Personal life

Burris was born and raised in the small community of Centralia in southern Illinois. He was a 1955 graduate of Centralia High School. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He was an exchange student on scholarship to study International Law at the University of Hamburg in Germany. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in 1963.

Burris is married to Berlean M. Burris, Ph.D., and is the father of two adult children, Dr. Rolanda S. Burris, and Roland W. Burris II.[2] He also has a grandson, Roland T. Burris.

Burris has built a mausoleum for himself and his family in Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago's South Side. His tombstone proclaims, "Trail Blazer," and includes a list of his accomplishments, with space left for future ones.[3][4]

Senator Burris is a Life Member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by African Americans.

Early career

After graduating from law school, Burris became the first African-American National Bank Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for the U.S. Treasury Department.[citation needed] In that capacity, he traveled throughout the Midwest, examining banks in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. From 1964 to 1973, he worked at Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company (now Bank of America), serving as tax accountant, tax consultant, commercial banking officer, and vice-president. He headed a commercial group that covered government guaranteed loans and minority business banking.

In 1973, he was appointed by Illinois Governor Dan Walker as Director of the Department of Central Management Services, serving through 1977.

He was National Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for Operation PUSH from January to October 1977. He was in private law practice from October 1977 to January 1979, and again from June 1995 to present.

State politics

From 1979 to 1991, Burris was elected to the office of Illinois Comptroller. He was the first African American to be elected to a statewide office in the state of Illinois. Burris was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1984, losing to Paul Simon who went on to defeat incumbent Senator Charles Percy.

From 1991 to 1995, he was Attorney General for the State of Illinois, where he supervised over 500 lawyers. There, he was the second African American elected to a state office of Attorney General in the United States. In 1985, 19-year old Rolando Cruz was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death along with a co-defendant in a DuPage County Circuit Court, for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 10-year old child. In 1992, Assistant Attorney General Mary Brigid Kenney, whom Burris had assigned to fight Cruz's appeal, sent Burris a memo identifying numerous errors in the investigation and trial in Cruz's initial conviction, and refused to participate in upholding what she considered to be a wrongful conviction. Burris ignored Kenney's warnings, and she resigned in protest, writing to Burris, "I was being asked to help execute an innocent man... Unfortunately, you have seen fit to ignore the evidence in this case".[5] In September 1995, DNA tests showed that neither Cruz nor his co-defendant were the contributors of the semen found at the crime scene, thus exonerating them.[6] Cruz was fully pardoned by Governor George Ryan in 2002,[7] leading Ryan to declare a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois, asserting that the system was "fraught with error".[8]

In 1993, Burris, an advocate for a national handgun ban, helped to organize Chicago's first Gun Turn-in Day. The following year, Burris admitted that he kept a handgun in his home and had not turned it into police as he had urged others to do. A spokesman stated that Burris had "forgotten about" the handgun.[9]

In 1994, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois. While Burris had been favored for much of the primary campaign, he and Cook County Board President Richard Phelan were both defeated by Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, who had a strong late showing in the final weeks of the campaign despite being seen as the underdog. Netsch would go down to defeat the following November against incumbent Republican Governor Jim Edgar in an election where Democrats lost every single race for statewide office.

In 1995, Burris ran as an independent for mayor of Chicago, losing to incumbent Richard M. Daley. In 1998, he again unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Illinois. In 1998, Burris caused a controversy by referring to his Democratic primary opponents — Jim Burns, Glenn Poshard (who eventually won the nomination) and John Schmidt — as "nonqualified white boys".[10] During his 2002 run for governor against, among others, Rod Blagojevich, he was supported by, among others, current President Barack Obama.[11]

Out of politics

Burris is manager/CEO of Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC, which was formed in April 2002.[12] It is a consulting service concentrating in public relations, governmental representation, political strategies, and corporate strategies. He also serves of counsel to the law firm of Gonzalez, Saggio and Harlan, L.L.C. His areas of legal concentration are business transactions, estate planning, wills, trusts, probate, and consumer affairs.

As of 2008, Burris was on the Board of Directors of the Inland Real Estate Corporation as an Independent Director and was Chairman of its Governance and Nominating Committee. Inland is a $2 billion Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the NYSE, which owns medium-sized shopping centers. As an Independent Director, he served on the Audit Committee.

He also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Public Administration Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Senate appointment

See also: Rod Blagojevich corruption charges

On December 14, 2008, Burris suggested himself as a possible caretaker for the United States Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama, saying he would not run for reelection if appointed.[13] This suggestion came in the wake of an FBI investigation regarding charges of corruption by the Governor for seeking bribes in a pay-to-play scheme for the empty Senate seat and other offenses. Burris himself has not been implicated in the scheme or accused of any wrongdoing.[14] On December 30, 2008, Governor Blagojevich announced that he was naming Burris to the seat. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White registered the appointment in the official records of Illinois on December 31, 2008. However, Secretary of State White declined to sign the Senate's certification form.[15]

On January 5, 2009, Secretary of the United States Senate Nancy Erickson rejected Burris's certificate of appointment to the Senate as invalid. Erickson cited Senate Rule 2 as the reason for the rejection.[16] Senate Rule 2 requires that an appointment be certified by both a state's governor and the state's secretary of state.[16][17] Because Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White had refused to sign the certificate, Erickson concluded in her findings that the certificate did not conform to Senate Rule 2.[16] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Illinois senior senator Dick Durbin agreed with Erickson that a Senate rule demands that the secretary of state sign the appointment.[18]

Reid initially said that the Senate would not seat Burris,[19] citing Article I, Section 5 of the United States Constitution, which states that "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members." Reid and other senators had previously stated, before Burris was in contention, that they would use Article I authority against any appointment by Blagojevich.[20] The Senate may also refer the appointment to the Senate Rules Committee, thus stalling it until Blagojevich's status is settled.[21] Some Democrats, including the chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, and the Congressional Black Caucus, spoke out in favor of Burris being seated.[22][23]

Burris appeared in Washington at the January Congressional swearing-in ceremony (January 6) to claim his seat, but was denied entry into the Senate chambers.[18] Burris and his lawyers insisted that Burris was "now the junior senator from the state of Illinois",[24] though he was technically not a senator and could not be one until being administered the oath of office.[25]

On January 9, 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the appointment only required the signature of the governor; the secretary of state's signature is not required to make the appointment valid. It also said Illinois is not obligated to use, and hence its Secretary of State is not required to sign, the Senate's "recommended" certification form.[26][15] The State Supreme Court noted that a different form was available: White had already registered the appointment in Illinois' official records, and Illinois law requires the Secretary of State to provide a certified copy, with signature and seal, of any of the state's official records to anyone willing to pay the fee. It suggested that Burris simply obtain a certified copy of the appointment registration.[15] In its Burris v. White ruling the State Supreme Court not only declared that the form of certificate contained in rule II of the Standing Rules of the United States Senate was, according to its own terms, only a recommended form but it further remarked that "no explanation has been given as to how any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of tradition, could supersede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on the states by the federal constitution".[27] Following the ruling, White provided Burris with a certified copy of the appointment's registration, and Burris delivered that copy, bearing the State Seal, to the Secretary of the Senate.[28] On January 12, 2009, after the Secretary of the Senate announced that she and the Senate Parliamentarian deemed Burris's new credentials valid, Senate leaders decided to seat Burris.[29] Burris was sworn in by President of the Senate Dick Cheney on January 15, 2009.[30][31][32]

Senate career

Committee assignments

Election campaign

According to Federal Election Commission records, on January 2, 2009, prior to being sworn in to the Senate, Burris signed a statement of candidacy for the 2010 election.[33] Burris could face opposition in the Democratic primary for his seat in 2010, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky are two possible opponents in that contest.[33]

Civic activities

Burris has held a number of different civic positions during his career, including Chairman of the Illinois Commission of African-American Males (1992–1994), the National Association of Attorneys General Civil Rights Commission (1993–1995), and the Illinois State Justice Commission (1994–1996). Burris was Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Illinois Government, President of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (1981–1982), and a Trustee for both the Financial Accounting Foundation (1991–1994) and the Government Finance Officers Association of U.S. and Canada (1987–1991). He was a Member of the Board of the Better Business Bureau (2008), the Auditorium Theater of Chicago (2001–2006), and the National Center for Responsible Gaming (1996–2005).

Burris is also a rank and file member of the Howard University Law School Alumni Association, the Southern Illinois University Foundation, the Mental Health Association of Greater Chicago, the U.S. Jaycees, Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern Illinois Alumni Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Western Consistory of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Free Masons, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Beta Boule.

Recognitions and awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "Burris takes his place as Obama's Senate successor". News.Yahoo.com. Yahoo News. January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  2. ^ "Roland W. Burris, Mr." Who's Who Among African Americans, 22nd ed. Gale, 2008.
  3. ^ "Illinois' Burris is a man of high ambition". yahoo.com. Associated Press. December 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  4. ^ "You write the caption: Roland Burris' tombstone". Chicago Sun Times. January 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  5. ^ Eric Zorn (March 3, 1998). "Burris failed his only major test in office as AG". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-12-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Case Studies of Exonerations - Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois)". DNA.gov. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  7. ^ "Rolando Cruz". Northwestern Law Center on Wrongful Convictions. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  8. ^ Gibson, Bob (May 2005). "When Justice Hides Its Face". DCBA Brief Online. Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association.
  9. ^ Chapman, Steve (January 1, 2009). "An empty suit for an empty seat". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  10. ^ Pam Belluck (March 30, 1998). "A Front-Runner Fades and Some See Race Playing a Role". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Budoff Brown, Carrie; Allen, Mike (December 30, 2008). "Obama calls Blago move 'disappointing'". Politico. Capitol News Company LLC.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC website
  13. ^ Otterman, Sharon (December 14, 2008). "Another Applicant For Obama's Senate Seat". Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  14. ^ "Blago to Appoint Illinois Pol to Obama Senate Seat". ABC News. December 30, 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ a b c "Burris v. White, [[Illinois Supreme Court]], No. 107816" (PDF). January 9, 2009. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) Cite error: The named reference "burrisvwhite" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b c Donning, Mike (January 5, 2009). "U.S. Senate officer rejects Burris' paperwork to fill seat". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  17. ^ "Standing Rules of the Senate: Rule II: Presentation of Credentials and Questions of Privilege". Committee on Rules & Administration. United States Senate.
  18. ^ a b Espos, David (January 5, 2009). "Burris says he's senator — but Dems won't seat him". Associated Press. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  19. ^ Smith, Ben (December 30, 2008). "Senate Leadership: Burris 'unacceptable'". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  20. ^ "All 50 Dem senators call on Blagojevich to resign". Politico. December 10, 2008.
  21. ^ Kiely, Kathy (December 30, 2008). "Senate aims to block Blagojevich's move". USA Today. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  22. ^ Staff Writer (January 6, 2009). "Feinstein says Burris should get Senate seat". CNN. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  23. ^ Sanner, Ann (January 7, 2009). "Burris expects to join Senate 'very shortly'". Associated Press. Google News. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  24. ^ Mihalopoulos, Dan (January 10, 2009). "Supreme Court ruling gives Burris the Senate seat, attorney says". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  25. ^ Espos, David (January 5, 2009). "Burris declares he's a senator despite controversy". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  26. ^ "Ill. Court says Burris does not need 2nd signature". Associated Press. Yahoo! News. January 9, 2009.
  27. ^ "Burris v. White, Illinois Supreme Court, No. 107816" (PDF). January 9, 2009.
  28. ^ Mihalopoulos, Dan (January 10, 2009). "Supreme Court ruling gives Burris the Senate seat, attorney says". Chicago Tribune.
  29. ^ Raju, Manu; Bresnahan, John (January 12, 2009). "Dems accept Burris into the Senate". Politico.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Senate Dems expect to seat Burris Thursday: Burris: 'I really never doubted that I would be seated'". MSNBC.com. Microsoft. January 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  31. ^ Davis, Susan (January 13, 2009). "Roland Burris to Be Sworn In as Senator on Thursday". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  32. ^ Hulse, Carl (January 15, 2009). "Burris Is Sworn In". New York Times. New York Times Company. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  33. ^ a b Sweet, Lynn. "Burris may face primary challenges from Giannoulias, Schakowsky", Chicago Sun-Times, January 23, 2009, accessed January 28, 2009.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland Burris.
Political offices
Preceded by Illinois Comptroller
1979 – 1991 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Illinois
1991 – 1995 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Illinois
December 31, 2008 – present
Served alongside: Dick Durbin 		Incumbent

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