Full Text of SJR0039 95th General Assembly
SJ0039 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The series of debates between Stephen A. Douglas | 3 |
| and Abraham Lincoln in their 1858 bid for an Illinois United | 4 |
| States Senate seat is a significant example of the role of | 5 |
| public discussion and debate of issues by candidates before the | 6 |
| electorate; and
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| WHEREAS, 2008 will mark the 150th anniversary of what is | 8 |
| now seen as
the greatest political debates in the United States | 9 |
| in the nineteenth century, leading to the eventual election of | 10 |
| Abraham Lincoln to the office of President of the United | 11 |
| States; and
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| WHEREAS, The seven Illinois communities which hosted the | 13 |
| original debates are Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, | 14 |
| Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton, meeting together as the | 15 |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debates Sesquicentennial Collation, and with | 16 |
| the assistance of the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, | 17 |
| are making coordinated and comprehensive plans for fitting | 18 |
| commemorative activities during the Sesquicentennial year, | 19 |
| including: traveling museum exhibits, a program of Lincoln and | 20 |
| Douglas portrayers to present background on the debates, with a | 21 |
| modern political context as a means of explication for today's | 22 |
| citizens that is to be presented in the seven debates cities, | 23 |
| plus Springfield, Chicago, and Bement, a coordinated calendar |
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| of activities to be promulgated to the general public through a | 2 |
| single brochure and a single website, the issuance of | 3 |
| commemorative collector coins, and the hosting of a | 4 |
| commemorative national high school debate tournament; and
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| WHEREAS, Several State agencies, the Abraham Lincoln | 6 |
| Presidential Library and Museum, the Governor's Rural Affairs | 7 |
| Council, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, and the Illinois | 8 |
| Historic Preservation Agency, as well as the Lincoln-Douglas | 9 |
| Society, the Stephen A. Douglas Association, the Abraham | 10 |
| Lincoln Association, the National Forensic League, the | 11 |
| Illinois High School Association, and the Illinois Speech and | 12 |
| Theater Association, have already engaged in assisting the | 13 |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debates Sesquicentennial Collation in planning | 14 |
| activities for the Sesquicentennial year; and
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| WHEREAS, A well-coordinated series of activities and | 16 |
| programs during 2008 will serve as preliminary attractions for | 17 |
| tourism in and to Illinois in anticipation of the 2009 | 18 |
| programming being planned for the bicentennial of Abraham | 19 |
| Lincoln's birth; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 21 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 22 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Department of Commerce and | 23 |
| Economic Opportunity shall be designated as the agency within |
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| the State's executive branch to work with the Lincoln-Douglas | 2 |
| Debates Sesquicentennial Collation for the purposes of further | 3 |
| planning and implementation of Sesquicentennial activities and
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| recommending to the Illinois General Assembly such budgets and | 5 |
| funding requests as shall be deemed appropriate to insure the | 6 |
| smooth implementation of the previously developed, as well as | 7 |
| any future plans for commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the | 8 |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debates in Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 |
| transmitted to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and | 11 |
| Museum, the Governor's Rural Affairs Council, the Illinois | 12 |
| Bureau of Tourism, and the Illinois Historic Preservation | 13 |
| Agency, as well as the Lincoln-Douglas Society, the Stephen A. | 14 |
| Douglas Association, the Abraham Lincoln Association, the | 15 |
| National Forensic League, the Illinois High School | 16 |
| Association, and the Illinois Speech and Theater Association, | 17 |
| as well as to all of the constitutional officers of the State | 18 |
| of Illinois, and the Governor's Illinois Abraham Lincoln | 19 |
| Bicentennial Commission.
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