Full Text of HR0077 100th General Assembly
HR0077 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0077 | | LRB100 09040 MST 19189 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and the nation at large has | 3 | | seen a horrid outbreak of gun violence, seen daily on the | 4 | | streets of Chicago and other major cities and tragically | 5 | | spotlight in Tucson, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Sandy Hook, | 6 | | Connecticut, Roanoke, Virginia, and Roseburg, Oregon; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The citizens of the major cities of our State and | 8 | | our nation see killings on the order of these highly publicized | 9 | | mass murders on a regular basis; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Today, there are enough privately owned guns in | 11 | | the United States of America to arm every man, woman, and | 12 | | child; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The fallout of the Great Recession of 2008 is | 14 | | still being felt in many parts of this country, where there are | 15 | | foreclosed homes and businesses, abandoned properties and | 16 | | vacant lots, and a desperate need for economic development; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In Illinois, we see high levels of unemployment | 18 | | and broad declines in healthcare, deteriorating | 19 | | infrastructure, and shrinking pensions and retirement savings | 20 | | as workers in all fields of education, healthcare, and public | 21 | | safety are laid off as a result of a financial crisis they did |
| | | HR0077 | - 2 - | LRB100 09040 MST 19189 r |
|
| 1 | | not create; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, In 1967, the report of the Kerner Commission | 3 | | stated that "To pursue our present course will involve the | 4 | | continuing polarization of the American community and, | 5 | | ultimately, the destruction of basic democratic values. The | 6 | | alternative is not blind repression or capitulation to | 7 | | lawlessness. It is the realization of common opportunities for | 8 | | all within a single society"; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Since 1980, cities, states, and the nation have | 10 | | asked our citizens to Just Say No, recognize A Thousand Points | 11 | | of Light, and pass Three Strike laws and have preached Zero | 12 | | Tolerance, but the violence continues unabated; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The City of Chicago has seen a year of gun | 14 | | violence among the worst in the history of the City, with 400 | 15 | | people killed, a 15% increase over the previous year; on | 16 | | average, a person is shot every 2.8 hours; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Unemployment in the neighborhoods of Chicago and | 18 | | other inner cities is at 30% or higher, with limited economic | 19 | | opportunities and underserved, overcrowded, and | 20 | | technologically outdated schools; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, As a State, we need to find new strategies and |
| | | HR0077 | - 3 - | LRB100 09040 MST 19189 r |
|
| 1 | | tactics and come up with solutions that protect our citizens | 2 | | from the scourge of gun violence, recognizing that enacting the | 3 | | same policies that we have passed the last half century and | 4 | | expecting different results is, by definition, insanity; | 5 | | therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 7 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 8 | | urge President Donald Trump to call for a national conference | 9 | | on gun violence to be held in Chicago by the end of 2017, with | 10 | | participants that include, but are not limited to, the United | 11 | | States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of | 12 | | Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the | 13 | | Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban | 14 | | Development, the Department of Education, leaders of the | 15 | | private sector, elected officials at the city and state levels, | 16 | | members of our law enforcement community, and citizens who are | 17 | | organizing in their communities; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | delivered to President Trump.
|
|