Full Text of HR0474 98th General Assembly
HR0474 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, One of the greatest crises in the history of the | 3 | | United States, the Civil War, almost tore the nation apart; the | 4 | | leaders of the United States decided, upon the conclusion of | 5 | | the war, to use the life and memory of Abraham Lincoln, who had | 6 | | just been assassinated, as a symbol of national unity and | 7 | | mutual forgiveness; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Instead of using the President's death to look for | 9 | | conspiracies and take revenge upon the fallen Confederacy, the | 10 | | fallen President's administration organized a funeral train | 11 | | that would follow a modified version of the pathway taken by | 12 | | the then President-elect on his way to Washington; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The train's route from Washington to Springfield, | 14 | | Illinois, traveled through both a former slave state (Maryland) | 15 | | and 6 "free states" as a symbol of the reunification of the | 16 | | country; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, To enable as many Americans as possible to pay | 18 | | tribute to Lincoln's memory, the funeral train's route was | 19 | | modified to make stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York | 20 | | City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and | 21 | | Chicago; Lincoln's funeral train became one of the first | 22 | | exercises of ceremonial mass participation in modern world |
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| 1 | | history, with reporters seeing more than 1 million mourners | 2 | | line the train tracks; tens of thousands attended casket | 3 | | viewings held at principal railroad junctions along the route; | 4 | | and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Lincoln's funeral train, and his return to | 6 | | Springfield, Illinois, are powerful symbols of the desire of | 7 | | all Americans for peace, reconciliation, and searching for | 8 | | sources of common inspiration to resolve our social, political, | 9 | | and economic differences; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Support for the memory of Abraham Lincoln, and for | 11 | | the ceremonies used to return him publicly to his hometown in | 12 | | central Illinois, are a powerful way for Americans to fight | 13 | | back against the bitterness and resentment generated by today's | 14 | | press and politics; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, By minting a Lincoln Sesquicentennial Coin, we can | 16 | | continue the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and pay tribute to this | 17 | | great man and his efforts to keep our nation together; | 18 | | therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 20 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 21 | | we urge the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to study and | 22 | | make a recommendation to the United States Secretary of the |
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| 1 | | Treasury on the production of a Lincoln Sesquicentennial Coin; | 2 | | and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That such a coin should be minted for circulation | 4 | | in April and May of 2015 in memory of President Abraham Lincoln | 5 | | and the reunification of the United States as symbolized by his | 6 | | funeral train to Springfield, Illinois and the subsequent | 7 | | re-enactment of his burial on the 150th anniversary of the | 8 | | original event on May 4, 2015; and be it further | 9 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to the members of the Citizens Coinage Advisory | 11 | | Committee, United States Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew, | 12 | | the members of Illinois delegation of the U.S. House of | 13 | | Representatives, and U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk.
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