Full Text of SR0116 101st General Assembly
SR0116 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, After the United States entered World War II, the | 3 | | demand for nurses increased dramatically, outstripping supply | 4 | | and creating a nursing shortage; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, In order to alleviate this critical shortage, a | 6 | | plan was conceived to accelerate the training of nursing | 7 | | students and to allow such nursing students to serve during | 8 | | such training; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, On March 29, 1943, Congresswoman Frances P. Bolton | 10 | | of Ohio introduced a bill in the United States House of | 11 | | Representatives to establish a special government program to | 12 | | facilitate the training of nurses; the bill was passed | 13 | | unanimously by both chambers of Congress, was signed into law | 14 | | by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 15, 1943, and became | 15 | | effective as Public Law 74 on July 1, 1943; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The Bolton Act of 1943 created the Cadet Nurse | 17 | | Corps; the Corps was administered by the United States Public | 18 | | Health Service and supervised by the Division of Nurse | 19 | | Education, which reported to the Surgeon General of the United | 20 | | States; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Over one thousand nursing schools throughout the |
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| 1 | | United States joined the Cadet Nurse Program during its | 2 | | existence, facilitating the training of over 125,000 nurses | 3 | | during World War II and greatly increasing the wartime supply | 4 | | of nurses and care for American citizens on both the home and | 5 | | war fronts; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, By replacing certified nurses who had already | 7 | | entered into active duty in the armed forces of the United | 8 | | States, the Cadet Nurse Corps prevented the collapse of nursing | 9 | | care in hospitals throughout the United States, and service | 10 | | members returned from war to a strong health care system and | 11 | | received necessary and quality care from Cadet Nurses; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Having demonstrated their skill, devotion, and | 13 | | patriotism, members of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps | 14 | | deserve the utmost admiration and appreciation; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, A former member of the Cadet Nurse Corps is not | 16 | | included in the United States government's definition of what | 17 | | constitutes a "veteran" and is not eligible to receive certain | 18 | | veterans' benefits administered by the United States | 19 | | Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Recognizing former members of the Cadet Nurse | 21 | | Corps as veterans would be an appropriate and warranted gesture | 22 | | of commendation and gratitude to the women whose service and |
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| 1 | | dedication to their communities and to their nation deserves | 2 | | such a gesture; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 4 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois General | 5 | | Assembly urges the United States Congress to amend federal law | 6 | | to recognize as veterans those women who served honorably | 7 | | during World War II as members of the Cadet Nurse Corps; and be | 8 | | it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to Dorothy Elaine Ellis Ditzler as an expression of | 11 | | our esteem and respect.
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