Full Text of HJR0016 102nd General Assembly
HJ0016 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The people living on the land that would | 3 | | eventually be designated as the District of Columbia were | 4 | | provided the right to vote for representation in Congress when | 5 | | the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The passage of the Organic Act of 1801 placed the | 7 | | District of Columbia under the exclusive authority of the | 8 | | United States Congress and abolished residents' right to vote | 9 | | for members of Congress and the President and Vice President | 10 | | of the United States; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Residents of the District of Columbia were | 12 | | granted the right to vote for the President and Vice President | 13 | | through passage of the Twenty–Third Amendment to the United | 14 | | States Constitution in 1961; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, As of 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau data estimates | 16 | | that the District of Columbia's population at approximately | 17 | | 712,000 residents is comparable to the populations of Wyoming | 18 | | (582,000), Vermont (623,000), Alaska (731,000), and North | 19 | | Dakota (765,000); and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Residents of the District of Columbia share all | 21 | | the responsibilities of United States citizenship, including |
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| 1 | | paying more federal taxes than residents of 22 states, serving | 2 | | on federal juries, and defending the United States as members | 3 | | of the United States armed forces in every war since the War | 4 | | for Independence; yet, they are denied full representation in | 5 | | Congress; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The residents of the District of Columbia | 7 | | themselves have endorsed statehood for the District of | 8 | | Columbia and passed a District–wide referendum on November 8, | 9 | | 2016 which favored statehood by 86%; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, No other democratic nation denies the right of | 11 | | self–government, including participation in its national | 12 | | legislature, to the residents of its capital; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The residents of the District of Columbia lack | 14 | | full democracy, equality, and citizenship enjoyed by the | 15 | | residents of the 50 states; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The United States Congress has interfered | 17 | | repeatedly with the District of Columbia's limited | 18 | | self–government by enacting laws that affect the District of | 19 | | Columbia's expenditure of its locally-raised tax revenue; this | 20 | | includes barring the usage of locally-raised revenue, thus | 21 | | violating the fundamental principle that states and local | 22 | | governments are best suited to enact legislation that |
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| 1 | | represents the will of their citizens; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Although the District of Columbia has passed | 3 | | consecutive balanced budgets since FY 1997, it still faces the | 4 | | possibility of being shut down yearly because of Congressional | 5 | | deliberations over the federal budget; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In the 117th Congress, District of Columbia | 7 | | Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Delaware U.S. Senator Tom | 8 | | Carper introduced H.R. 51 and S. 51, the Washington, D.C. | 9 | | Admission Act, that provides that the State of Washington, | 10 | | D.C. would have all the rights of citizenship as taxpaying | 11 | | American citizens, including two Senators and at least one | 12 | | House member; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The United Nations Human Rights Committee has | 14 | | called on the United States Congress to address the District | 15 | | of Columbia's lack of political equality, and the Organization | 16 | | of American States has declared the disenfranchisement of the | 17 | | District of Columbia residents a violation of its charter | 18 | | agreement to which the United States is a signatory; | 19 | | therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 21 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 22 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the members of the |
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| 1 | | United States Congress to enact federal legislation granting | 2 | | statehood to the people of Washington, D.C.; and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois supports admitting | 4 | | Washington, D.C. into the Union as a state of the United States | 5 | | of America.
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