HR1508 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1508 LRB099 24054 MST 51760 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a 1,172-mile pipeline being developed by Energy Transfer Partners and its affiliates, which would carry approximately 450,000 barrels of crude per day from the Bakken oil fields through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, where it would connect with a second pipeline being converted to carry much of the oil to refineries and export facilities on the Gulf Coast of Texas; and

WHEREAS, The DAPL would cross under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, which provides drinking water to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, as well as under or through the Mississippi, Illinois, and Kaskaskia Rivers, multiple community water supply lake watersheds, and community water supply zone river intake one protection areas in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers irrigate agricultural land in communities across the Midwest, serving nearly 10 million people; and

WHEREAS, The DAPL would also run through the ancestral lands and waters reserved for the traditional use of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, including the Missouri River, burial grounds and gravesites, and other sacred sites of cultural, religious, and historical significance; and

WHEREAS, Treaties with American Indians, such as the Fort Laramie Treaty are recognized by the United States Constitution as "the supreme law of the land", and require consultation and cooperation by the United States with its Indian treaty partner before any federal action is taken that affects treaty lands, territories, waters, or other resources; and

WHEREAS, The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 affirms the need to "protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions", particularly in American Indian sacred places; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois recognizes through 17 Ill. Adm. Code 4170.100 "that all human burials and human skeletal remains be accorded equal treatment and respect for human dignity without reference to ethnic origins, cultural background, or religious affiliation. These regulations apply to all prehistoric and historic American Indian, historic Illinoisan, pioneer, Civil War and other human skeletal remains found in unregistered graves, and associated grave artifacts and grave markers found upon or within any public or private land in the State"; and

WHEREAS, Articles, 11, 12, and 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), as endorsed by the United States in 2010, affirms that indigenous peoples like the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe possess the right to maintain and protect their culture, religion, practices, and relationship with their "traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories [and] waters"; and

WHEREAS, Article 32 further provides that governments shall consult with indigenous peoples "in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water, or other resources"; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Human Rights Act "prohibits discrimination in Illinois with respect to employment, financial credit, public accommodations, and real estate transactions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual harassment), national origin, ancestry"; and

WHEREAS, The history of governmental actions in the United States with respect to American Indians makes it imperative that existing treaty and statutory obligations securing American Indian rights be strictly observed; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers failed to consult with or obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as required by the Treaty of Fort Laramie, Executive Order 13175, UNDRIP Article 10, and other federal and international laws, before issuing a "Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact" that would result in an easement for horizontal directional drilling for the DAPL; and

WHEREAS, Any spill from the pipeline into the Missouri River would irreparably harm the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's treaty reserved lands, territories, waters, and other resources; burial grounds, gravesites, and other sacred sites of cultural, religious, and historical significance; and spiritual relationships and indigenous ways of life; and

WHEREAS, According to the Prairie Rivers Network, the DAPL would put the water supply of 27,382 people at risk in Illinois and it would cross at least 56 named rives in the State; and

WHEREAS, The Mayor and City Council of Urbana; the Mayor of the City of Seattle; the City Councils of Portland, Oregon; St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota; Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, comprised of 59 Indian Nations in the Northwest; and nearly 200 Indian Nations, are among the governmental bodies that have taken formal action to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and oppose the DAPL; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's opposition to construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) across the Tribe's ancestral lands, waters, and sacred sites; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois calls upon the United States and the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, prior to taking any federal action regarding the DAPL that would harm or destroy the Tribe's ancestral lands, waters, and sacred sites; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois is urged not to expend any resources to support this pipeline or actions against the protesters.