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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On the evening of May 1, 2011, members of the
3elite United States Navy SEALS, under direct orders from
4President Barack Obama, conducted a daring raid of a guarded
5compound in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan, where it was
6believed that a high value target in the U.S. War on Terror was
7hiding; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The purpose of the mission was to capture or kill
9Osama bin Laden, the leader of the international terrorist
10organization known throughout the world as al-Qaeda; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Navy SEALS conducted their mission with
12bravery, precision, and skill, finding and eliminating Osama
13bin Laden while limiting civilian casualties; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The terrorist Osama bin Laden is widely credited
15with being the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on
16the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines
17Flight 93, where more than 3,000 men, women, and children were
18murdered in a series of deadly suicide attacks; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Under bin Laden's leadership, al-Qaeda conducted
20several other bombings and similar attacks in the United States
21and other nations, resulting in the deaths of countless

 

 

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1civilians of all races, religions, and ethnicities; and
 
2    WHEREAS, More than any other terrorist organization,
3al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden have been the central target in
4the War on Terror, a general term used to describe the efforts
5of the U.S. military and its allies to bring to justice those
6responsible for murdering civilians in the name of religious
7extremism; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The effort to bring the terrorist bin Laden to
9justice was the direct result of the efforts of President
10Barack Obama and his predecessor, President George W. Bush, who
11both focused the nation's intelligence resources on finding
12leaders of al-Qaeda, extracting valuable information, and
13using that information to ultimately find and kill Osama bin
14Laden; and
 
15    WHEREAS, President Obama made a risky and daring decision
16to send in special forces, rather than bomb the facility in
17question, to ensure that American citizens would know for sure
18that the terrorist bin Laden had been eliminated and justice
19had been done; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces
21and military intelligence institutions, in particular the
22members of the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security

 

 

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1Agency, Navy SEALS, and their commanders, deserve the majority
2of the praise and credit for years of hard work in tracking,
3locating and ultimately eliminating the most wanted criminal in
4American history; therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7we congratulate Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as
8well as the military and civilian leadership under them, who
9worked tirelessly to bring justice to the man most responsible
10for the senseless murder of thousands of innocent people and
11continue to work day and night to disrupt and eliminate the
12al-Qaeda terrorist network and all similar groups that fight
13against the ideals of our nation; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That suitable copies be presented to Presidents
15Barack Obama and George W. Bush as a symbol of our gratitude
16and respect.