SJ0022 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Congress serves as the legislative branch of the
3United States government and is responsible for the passage of
4laws that affect the lives of all Americans; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Various actions performed or proposed by various
6members of Congress, including cuts in programs such as Social
7Security and Medicare, stand in stark contrast to the lucrative
8benefits and financial security the members of Congress
9currently possess, which have a much lower chance of being
10reduced or eliminated; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The United States Constitution guarantees the
12equal protection and application of the laws to each citizen of
13our nation; the spirit of the Constitution is violated when
14members of Congress enjoy the fruits of Congressional benefits
15and salaries while creating hardships for lower-income
16Americans through cuts in necessary programs; therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
18ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
19CONCURRING HEREIN, that we hereby apply to Congress to call a
20limited constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing
21to the states for ratification an amendment to the United
22States Constitution; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That such an amendment should be worded as
2follows, without substantial alteration: "Congress shall make
3no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that
4does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives,
5and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators
6and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the
7citizens of the United States"; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That this application constitutes a continuing
9application in accordance with Article V of the United States
10Constitution until at least two-thirds of the legislatures of
11the several states have made application for a limited
12constitutional convention; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That, if two-thirds of the legislatures of the
14several states make application to Congress to call a limited
15constitutional convention, the State of Illinois requests that
16such a convention be called not later than 6 months after
17Congress receives the necessary applications from state
18legislatures; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That the limited convention called by Congress
20shall be limited to the topics proposed in this resolution; if
21a limited convention were to consider topics beyond the limited
22scope of this call for a constitutional convention, delegates,

 

 

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1representatives, or participants shall be selected by the
2citizens of the State of Illinois to participate in the limited
3convention and shall be permitted to vote only on proposed
4amendments topically contained within the scope of this call
5and shall be instructed to vote against any other proposed
6amendments; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
8presented to the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House
9of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of
10the United States Senate, the members of the Illinois
11congressional delegation, the presiding officers of each
12chamber of each state legislature in the United States, and the
13news media of the State of Illinois.