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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Illinois' pivotal role as a hub between maritime | ||||||
| 3 | transportation on the Great Lakes and inland river system, | ||||||
| 4 | including 1,100 miles of navigable waterways on the Illinois, | ||||||
| 5 | Ohio, and Mississippi River systems, make it central to the | ||||||
| 6 | nation's transportation system; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The recent global pandemic and hostilities in | ||||||
| 8 | Europe have demonstrated the critical importance of | ||||||
| 9 | maintaining resilient domestic industries and transportation | ||||||
| 10 | services for the citizens and workforce of Illinois; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, known as the | ||||||
| 12 | Jones Act and codified in Title 46 of the United States Code, | ||||||
| 13 | requires that vessels carrying cargo between locations in the | ||||||
| 14 | United States be owned by American companies, crewed by | ||||||
| 15 | American mariners, and built in American shipyards; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Illinois is home to 19,500 maritime jobs | ||||||
| 17 | supported by the Jones Act, the ninth highest among all | ||||||
| 18 | states, that generate more than $1.3 billion in worker income; | ||||||
| 19 | and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Maritime industry jobs create ladders of | ||||||
| 21 | opportunity through high-paying, family-wage careers that | ||||||
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| 1 | offer significant advancement opportunities without requiring | ||||||
| 2 | advanced formal education; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, The more than 40,000 vessel strong Jones Act | ||||||
| 4 | fleet supports nearly 650,000 family-wage jobs and over $154 | ||||||
| 5 | billion in economic output nationally and $4.87 billion to the | ||||||
| 6 | Illinois economy; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Mariners aboard Jones Act vessels strengthen | ||||||
| 8 | America's homeland security as added eyes and ears monitoring | ||||||
| 9 | the nation's 95,000 miles of shoreline and 25,000 miles of | ||||||
| 10 | navigable inland waterways; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, America's ability to project and deploy forces | ||||||
| 12 | globally and supply and maintain military installations | ||||||
| 13 | domestically depends on the civilian fleet of Jones Act | ||||||
| 14 | vessels and mariners; therefore, be it
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| 15 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 16 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 17 | we affirm our resolute support for the Jones Act and celebrate | ||||||
| 18 | the more than 100-year history of the Jones Act in fostering a | ||||||
| 19 | strong domestic maritime industry that is critical to Illinois | ||||||
| 20 | workers and families and to the nation's economic prosperity | ||||||
| 21 | and national security; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | delivered to each member of the Illinois Congressional | ||||||
| 3 | Delegation.
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