Full Text of SJR0064 101st General Assembly
SJ0064 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the | 3 | | end of World War II, and Illinois was one of the states deeply | 4 | | affected by the war effort; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, When war was declared in December 1941, thousands | 6 | | of men from Illinois enlisted, and thousands more came through | 7 | | Illinois either en route to or arriving at training stations; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, By the end of 1945, Illinois had registered | 10 | | 1,954,674 men at separate local draft boards; of these, 629,516 | 11 | | were called to serve; an additional 328,338 enlisted on their | 12 | | own, bringing the total number of men from Illinois entering | 13 | | the services to 957,854; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The number of Illinois women joining the military | 15 | | during the war was 13,587; counting those who already were in | 16 | | the military and those whose National Guard units were | 17 | | activated, Illinois supplied the U.S. Armed Forces with nearly | 18 | | one million of its citizens during the course of the war; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, From December 7, 1941 through September 2, 1945, | 20 | | 17,521 Illinois servicemen and women were killed in combat or | 21 | | later died of wounds or injuries sustained in battle; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Illinois was the home to several prisoner of war | 2 | | camps, including one a few miles outside of Peoria in | 3 | | Washington that operated from 1944 to 1945; the camp started | 4 | | with 50 German prisoners who helped make K-rations for the | 5 | | troops and expanded to over 200 prisoners of war; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In Peoria, production of earth-moving equipment | 7 | | made by Caterpillar had already accelerated in pace due to the | 8 | | federal Lend-Lease program, supplying goods and war materials | 9 | | to Allied countries; Caterpillar tractors were already being | 10 | | used by the Allies in the early stages of World War II, and | 11 | | once the United States entered the war, production escalated; | 12 | | bulldozers were vital to the war effort as they allowed the | 13 | | creation of air fields and the cleanup of debris after battle; | 14 | | and | 15 | | WHEREAS, It is important to thank and honor veterans of | 16 | | World War II, including
personnel who were held as prisoners of | 17 | | war or listed as missing in action, for their service and | 18 | | sacrifice on behalf of the United
States and to thank and honor | 19 | | the families of these veterans; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, It is important to educate the public about the | 21 | | history of World War
II and highlight the service of the Armed | 22 | | Forces during World
War II and the contributions of federal |
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| 1 | | agencies and non-governmental organizations that served with,
| 2 | | or in support of, the Armed Forces; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, It is important to pay tribute to the | 4 | | contributions made on the home
front by the people of the | 5 | | United States during World War
II; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, It is important to recognize the contributions and | 7 | | sacrifices made by
the Allies of the United States during World | 8 | | War II; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, It is important to remember the Holocaust, the | 10 | | annihilation of
6,000,000 Jews by the Nazi regime, and that the | 11 | | Nazis also slaughtered many other people based on their | 12 | | ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, and sexual | 13 | | orientations and to pay tribute to
the Allied troops who | 14 | | liberated Nazi concentration camps
during World War II; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, It is in the public interest to ensure that this
| 16 | | occasion is properly celebrated throughout the State; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Commemorative Medallions Act (15 ILCS 555)
| 18 | | provides that the State Treasurer may issue medallions to
| 19 | | commemorate popular contemporaneous events of statewide
| 20 | | interest; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 2 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 3 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that the State Treasurer is authorized to | 4 | | issue official commemorative medallions honoring the 75th | 5 | | anniversary of the end of World War II; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That the State Treasurer shall contract for the
| 7 | | production, marketing, distribution, and sale of the
| 8 | | medallions; and be it further | 9 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the National Veteran's Art Museum in | 10 | | Chicago be included in the process of designing the medallion; | 11 | | and be it further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Treasurer to sell the | 13 | | medallions at a cost that is in excess of what it costs to | 14 | | produce each medallion and to distribute the excess equally | 15 | | between the Chicago Veterans Home Member Benefit Fund and the | 16 | | National Veteran's Art Museum; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
| 18 | | delivered to State Treasurer Michael Frerichs.
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