Full Text of HR0112 96th General Assembly
HR0112 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
HR0112 |
|
LRB096 11598 GRL 22086 r |
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, On January 8, 2009, Roland Wallace Burris | 3 |
| testified under oath to the House Special Investigative | 4 |
| Committee on the circumstances connected to his appointment to | 5 |
| the United States Senate by former Governor Rod Blagojevich; | 6 |
| and
| 7 |
| WHEREAS, While under oath, Burris responded to questioning | 8 |
| regarding his communications with the governor or anyone | 9 |
| closely related to the governor about the Senate appointment; | 10 |
| and
| 11 |
| WHEREAS, Burris was directly asked whether he had spoken | 12 |
| about the Senate appointment with anyone "closely related to | 13 |
| the governor, including family members or lobbyists connected | 14 |
| with him"; and
| 15 |
| WHEREAS, Burris was directly asked if he had contact with | 16 |
| six specific individuals connected with Governor Blagojevich; | 17 |
| and
| 18 |
| WHEREAS, Speaking under oath, Burris answered this | 19 |
| question in the negative; and
| 20 |
| WHEREAS, In an affidavit dated February 4, 2009 and |
|
|
|
HR0112 |
- 2 - |
LRB096 11598 GRL 22086 r |
|
| 1 |
| submitted to the chairperson of the House Special Investigative | 2 |
| Committee, Burris sought to revise and extend his January 8 | 3 |
| testimony to the Committee; and
| 4 |
| WHEREAS, In this February 4th affidavit, Burris for the | 5 |
| first time revealed conversations with five advisors to | 6 |
| Blagojevich, all of whom Burris had previously denied, under | 7 |
| oath, that he had spoken to; and
| 8 |
| WHEREAS, At the January 8, 2009 hearing of the House | 9 |
| Special Investigative Committee, several representatives asked | 10 |
| Burris whether there had been any "quid pro quo" involved in | 11 |
| Blagojevich's decision to appoint Burris to the United States | 12 |
| Senate; and
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, Speaking under oath, Burris, on January 8, | 14 |
| answered these questions in the negative; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, On February 16 and 17, 2009, Burris made public | 16 |
| statements admitting to having discussed taking on a | 17 |
| fundraising role for the former Governor; and
| 18 |
| WHEREAS, On February 17, 2009, Burris, speaking in Peoria, | 19 |
| admitted to reporters that he had "called some people about | 20 |
| trying to see if we could put a fundraiser together" for the | 21 |
| former Governor; and
|
|
|
|
HR0112 |
- 3 - |
LRB096 11598 GRL 22086 r |
|
| 1 |
| WHEREAS, The contradictions between these statements made | 2 |
| by Burris under oath on January 8, 2009, and affidavits after | 3 |
| the fact suggest that Burris did not tell the whole truth and | 4 |
| nothing but the truth before the House Special Investigative | 5 |
| Committee and violated his oath and potentially committed an | 6 |
| act of perjury; therefore, be it
| 7 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 |
| United States Senator Roland Burris is hereby condemned and | 10 |
| reprimanded by the Illinois House of Representatives; and be it | 11 |
| further
| 12 |
| RESOLVED, That we strongly urge the United States Senate to | 13 |
| view the obvious contradictions in Senator Burris' testimony | 14 |
| and later statements as a reason for expulsion from the Senate; | 15 |
| and be it further | 16 |
| RESOLVED, That, if the members of the Senate Ethics | 17 |
| Committee believe, after an inquiry into the facts of this | 18 |
| case, that their duty requires them to recommend that the | 19 |
| Senate use the power granted by Section 5 of Article I of the | 20 |
| Constitution of the United States of America to expel a member | 21 |
| from their ranks by two-thirds vote, that we urge the Senate, | 22 |
| sitting as a whole, to adopt this recommendation and take |
|
|
|
HR0112 |
- 4 - |
LRB096 11598 GRL 22086 r |
|
| 1 |
| action to expel Roland Burris from its ranks; and be it further | 2 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this preamble and | 3 |
| resolution be presented to the Illinois delegation of the | 4 |
| United States House of Representatives and to the senior and | 5 |
| junior United States Senators from the State of Illinois.
|
|