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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Enough cannot be said or written to laud the | ||||||
3 | honorable service that United
States veterans who served in all | ||||||
4 | branches of its military have performed in the defense
of this | ||||||
5 | nation and in securing its vital strategic interests throughout | ||||||
6 | the world; and | ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, Veterans' families have sacrificed many long | ||||||
8 | months separated from
their loved ones or, worse yet, suffer | ||||||
9 | from their permanent and devastating loss; many
families bear | ||||||
10 | the burden of having to care for a severely maimed or wounded | ||||||
11 | returning
veteran; this places psychological and financial | ||||||
12 | stress on both veterans and family
caregivers; many of them may | ||||||
13 | not be aware of programs or benefits that may be
available to | ||||||
14 | provide post-traumatic stress disorder counseling, legal | ||||||
15 | assistance, medical care,
jobs, housing, education, and the | ||||||
16 | support they need to prevent their frighteningly high rate
of | ||||||
17 | suicide; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, Many veterans and their families are not receiving | ||||||
19 | the help they earned, were
promised, and are entitled by law; | ||||||
20 | this applies to not only those veterans from
this nation's | ||||||
21 | current conflicts, but to the Vietnam-era vet, who was far more | ||||||
22 | neglected than all
previous military veterans; this nation owes | ||||||
23 | an apology to this generation of fighting
men and women and |
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1 | must resolve that such shabby treatment of our military | ||||||
2 | personnel
will never happen again; and | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, In a 2007 address, the Honorable Phil Hare, United | ||||||
4 | States Congressman
from Illinois' 17th District, noted that the | ||||||
5 | State of Illinois ranks 48th in awarding disability
claims made | ||||||
6 | by veterans; he related the story of one Vietnam veteran who | ||||||
7 | waited
through 8 years of appeals for the veteran's disability | ||||||
8 | award, having to start from
scratch on several occasions; | ||||||
9 | unfortunately, the veteran died before he collected any of the
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10 | money to which he was entitled; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, Whether one agrees with a particular conflict or | ||||||
12 | not, these fighting men and
women are doing what is required of | ||||||
13 | them to fulfill their oath to defend our nation; when
they | ||||||
14 | return, they should be given all the respect and | ||||||
15 | acknowledgement for their service that they deserve; more | ||||||
16 | importantly, they should be provided with whatever they need to | ||||||
17 | put their lives back
together and be reintegrated into regular | ||||||
18 | civilian life; and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, A referendum in support of full funding for the | ||||||
20 | Veterans Administration
had been initially placed on the ballot | ||||||
21 | in the City of Chicago,
followed by the Cook County Board | ||||||
22 | placing the same question before the Cook County
voters; this | ||||||
23 | non-binding referendum was ultimately put before the voters in |
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1 | the entire
State of Illinois, where it garnered an unheard of | ||||||
2 | 96% of the vote, showing an
overwhelming voter sentiment for | ||||||
3 | funding support for veterans and their families; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, Our nation's veteran families, comprised of 26 | ||||||
5 | million veterans, 20 million
wives, and 33 million mothers and | ||||||
6 | fathers, make up approximately one third of this
nation's | ||||||
7 | population; it is incumbent that the citizens of this great | ||||||
8 | State respect the
immense sacrifice that has been made by these | ||||||
9 | veterans and their families by providing
them with their own | ||||||
10 | media platform to assist them in finding the information to get | ||||||
11 | the
help they need; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Throughout our nation's history, the spirit of | ||||||
13 | initiative and volunteerism has
created a multiplicity of | ||||||
14 | veteran's agencies and organizations that do great work on
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15 | behalf of or directly providing services for veterans and their | ||||||
16 | families; however, they are
only able to help as much as their | ||||||
17 | funding, and an awareness of their existence, can reach; | ||||||
18 | veterans and their families have no idea that many of these | ||||||
19 | programs are available, let
alone how to access them; a | ||||||
20 | Veterans cable television channel with a supporting web
site | ||||||
21 | would go far in raising awareness concerning these programs, | ||||||
22 | consolidating
communication, and making them easy to find so | ||||||
23 | that services can be successfully
delivered to those who are in | ||||||
24 | desperate need of them; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, It is additionally incumbent upon this Body to | ||||||
2 | endorse the concept of, and
assist in finding funding for, a | ||||||
3 | Veterans cable access channel that will provide
programming | ||||||
4 | aimed at this underserved population; the content would contain | ||||||
5 | a viral
video "One Stop Shop" with such shows as "John Marshall | ||||||
6 | Law School Veteran's Law
Clinic", "Finding a Job through the | ||||||
7 | 'Helmets to Hardhats' Project", or "Wounded
Veterans and Their | ||||||
8 | Families; Help Through The Military Order of Purple Hearts"; | ||||||
9 | such
programming possibilities have never been available; the | ||||||
10 | concept to provide such service
for veterans and their families | ||||||
11 | is unique; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Partnering is possible with various educational | ||||||
13 | institutions such as
Columbia College or Northwestern | ||||||
14 | University, where media programs and facilities
already exist; | ||||||
15 | such partnerships would be beneficial for all, giving their | ||||||
16 | students much
needed experience and the various veteran | ||||||
17 | organizations a production crew for their
shows; there are | ||||||
18 | unused cable channels as well as private and public resources | ||||||
19 | available
to support such a project; therefore, be it
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20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
21 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
22 | we urge the Cable Television and Communications Association of | ||||||
23 | Illinois to look into, at its earliest convenience, the |
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1 | possibility of facilitating the dedication of an unused cable | ||||||
2 | channel to broadcast programs of, by, and for the United States | ||||||
3 | Military veteran; and be it further
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4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
5 | delivered to the Cable Television and Communications | ||||||
6 | Association of Illinois.
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