HR0180 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0180 LRB099 10887 MST 31210 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, For millennia, the spoken word has been translated into text to record history; to accomplish this task, society turned to the scribe; and

WHEREAS, The profession of scribe was born with the rise of civilization; and

WHEREAS, In Ancient Egypt, scribes were considered to be the literate elite, recording laws and other important documents; since that time, scribes have served as impartial witnesses to history; and

WHEREAS, Scribes were present with our nation's Founding Fathers as the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were drafted; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln entrusted scribes to record the Emancipation Proclamation; and

WHEREAS, Since the advent of shorthand machines, scribes have been known as court reporters and have played a permanent and invaluable role in courtrooms across our country; and

WHEREAS, Captioners are responsible for the closed captioning seen scrolling across television screens at sporting stadiums and in other community and educational settings, bringing information to millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans every day; and

WHEREAS, Court reporters and captioners translate the spoken word into text and preserve our history; and

WHEREAS, Whether called the scribes of yesterday or the court reporters and captioners of today, the individuals who preserve our nation's history are truly the guardians of the record; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate February 15-21, 2015 as "Illinois Court Reporting & Captioning Week"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the great State of Illinois to observe the week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and educational activities.