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The Illinois Senate took the appropriate and responsible step to unseat the Governor who squandered his opportunities to help the people of Illinois and flagrantly abused his power for personal gain.

The former Governor’s tenure was marred by ethical abuses, political infighting, legislative gridlock and grandstanding at the great expense of people in need.

But today marks a new beginning. For the first time in six years, we will have a Governor who values collaboration over combativeness and public service over lip service.

You can characterize the former Governor’s problems and legal issues many ways. But more than anything, the events during the past month have served as a distraction from the business of the state.

We are now free to concentrate on what’s truly important and confront the challenges of our state during these uncertain economic times. We need to find workable ways to balance the budget, create new jobs, attract new businesses and improve the overall financial health of the state.

It goes without saying we need to implement wide-sweeping ethics reforms. But we also need to unify and demonstrate integrity in our actions to restore the public’s confidence and trust in government.

I look forward to working with Governor Pat Quinn, the other constitutional officers and the Legislature to get the state back on track and move in a direction that serves the interest of Illinois residents.

As President John F. Kennedy once said, "Great crises produce great men, and great deeds of courage." I am confident Illinois will rebound from this low point in history thanks to the will of hardworking men and women who understand how to put their constituents before themselves.