Full Text of HB1056 94th General Assembly
HB1056eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT to create the Illinois Africa-America Peace Brigade.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Illinois
Africa-America Peace
Brigade Act.
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| Section 5. Legislative declaration.
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| (a) The General Assembly declares that it
is the
policy of | 8 |
| this State to promote peace and friendship with African nations
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| through the Illinois
Africa-America Peace Brigade. The Peace | 10 |
| Brigade shall make available to
interested
African
nations men | 11 |
| and women of this State qualified for service abroad and | 12 |
| willing to
serve
under conditions of hardship if necessary. A | 13 |
| purpose of the Peace Brigade is
to help the peoples of African | 14 |
| nations
in meeting
their needs for trained manpower, | 15 |
| particularly in meeting the basic needs of
those living
in the | 16 |
| poorest areas of those countries, and to help promote a better
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| understanding of the
citizens of this State on the part of the | 18 |
| peoples served and a
better
understanding of other peoples on | 19 |
| the part of the citizens of this State.
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| (b) The General Assembly declares that it is the policy of | 21 |
| this State to
promote the
success of the descendants of
persons | 22 |
| from
Africa who reside in this State. In order to meet this | 23 |
| goal, the
General Assembly
finds that it is necessary to | 24 |
| provide emergency resources, especially human
resources, to
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| the failing schools in the urban inner-city areas of this | 26 |
| State. A purpose
of the Peace
Brigade is to provide those | 27 |
| failing schools with their need for trained
manpower in
meeting | 28 |
| the basic and remedial educational needs of African-American | 29 |
| students.
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| Section 10. Definitions.
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| "Agency of the United States government" means any |
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| department, board, wholly
or partially owned corporation, or | 2 |
| other instrumentality, commission, or
establishment of
the | 3 |
| United States.
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| "Council" means the Illinois Africa-America Peace Brigade | 5 |
| Advisory Council
created by this Act.
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| "Director" means the Director of the Illinois | 7 |
| Africa-America Peace Brigade.
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| "Peace Brigade" means the Illinois Africa-America Peace | 9 |
| Brigade created by
this
Act.
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| "Secretary of State" means the Secretary of State of the | 11 |
| United States.
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| "Volunteer", unless the context otherwise requires, | 13 |
| includes
volunteer leaders
and
applicants for enrollment as | 14 |
| volunteers.
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| Section 15. Illinois Africa-America Peace Brigade; | 16 |
| director and deputy
director;
rules.
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| (a) There is created the Illinois Africa-America Peace | 18 |
| Brigade. The Peace
Brigade
shall be under the direction of a | 19 |
| Director and a Deputy Director appointed by
the
Governor with | 20 |
| the advice and consent of the Senate.
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| (b) The Director may adopt any rules necessary to carry out | 22 |
| the purposes of
this
Act and to perform any of the duties of | 23 |
| the Peace Brigade.
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| Section 20. Powers and duties.
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| (a) The Peace Brigade may enter into, perform, and modify | 26 |
| contracts and
agreements with and may otherwise cooperate with | 27 |
| any agency of the United
States
government, any state, any | 28 |
| State agency, or any educational institutions,
voluntary | 29 |
| agencies,
farm
organizations, labor unions, or other | 30 |
| organizations, persons, or firms.
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| (b) The Director may, with the approval of the Secretary of | 32 |
| State, assign
volunteers to temporary duty with international | 33 |
| organizations and agencies.
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| (c) The Director may assign volunteers to duty or make them |
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| available to
any
entity referred to in subsection (a) of this | 2 |
| Section in order to assist those
entities in
providing | 3 |
| development or other assistance to African nations.
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| (d) In recognition of the fact that women in developing | 5 |
| countries play a
significant role in economic production, | 6 |
| family support, and the overall
development
process, the Peace | 7 |
| Brigade shall, whenever possible, give particular attention
to | 8 |
| programs
and activities that integrate women into the economies | 9 |
| of African
nations.
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| (e) In recognition of the fact that 95% of the disabled | 11 |
| people in the world
are
among the poorest of the poor, the | 12 |
| Peace Brigade shall, whenever possible, give
particular | 13 |
| attention to programs and activities that integrate disabled | 14 |
| people
into the economies of African nations.
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| (f) The Director may, in cooperation with the State Board | 16 |
| of Education and
the
State Superintendent of Education, assign | 17 |
| volunteers to duty in urban
inner-city schools
in this State.
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| Section 25. Approval by the Secretary of State.
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| (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to infringe upon | 20 |
| the powers or
functions
of the Secretary of State. In carrying | 21 |
| out the purposes of this Act, the
Director must seek
the | 22 |
| approval of the Secretary of State for any programs or | 23 |
| activities of
the Peace
Brigade in foreign nations.
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| (b) Except with the approval of the Secretary of State, the | 25 |
| Peace Brigade
may
not
be assigned to perform services in | 26 |
| foreign nations that could more usefully be
performed by an
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| agency of the United States government.
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| Section 30. Employees, experts, and consultants.
The Peace | 29 |
| Brigade may employ any personnel, in accordance with the | 30 |
| Personnel
Code, that may be necessary to carry out the purposes | 31 |
| of this Act. The Peace
Brigade
may enter into contracts with | 32 |
| any experts and consultants that it deems
necessary to carry
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| out the purposes of this Act.
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| Section 35. Volunteers.
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| (a) The Director may enroll in the Peace Brigade for | 3 |
| service in African
nations and in urban inner-city schools in | 4 |
| this State
qualified citizens of this State without regard to | 5 |
| race, gender, creed, or
color.
No political
test or | 6 |
| qualification may be used in selecting any person for | 7 |
| enrollment as a
volunteer.
No person may be assigned to duty as | 8 |
| a volunteer in any foreign country unless
at the
time of the | 9 |
| assignment he or she possess a reasonable proficiency in
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| speaking
the
language of the country to which he or she will be | 11 |
| assigned.
The
Director may, by rule, prescribe any other | 12 |
| qualifications for volunteers.
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| (b) The terms and conditions of service of volunteers are | 14 |
| those set
forth in this Act and as the Director prescribes. The | 15 |
| service of any volunteer
may be
terminated at the pleasure of | 16 |
| the Director. Upon enrollment, every volunteer
shall take an
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| oath of office.
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| (c) Subject to appropriations, volunteers may be provided | 19 |
| with any living,
travel,
and leave allowances and any housing, | 20 |
| transportation, supplies, equipment,
subsistence,
and clothing | 21 |
| that the Director determines is necessary for their maintenance
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| and to insure
their health and their capacity to serve | 23 |
| effectively. Transportation and
travel allowances
may also be | 24 |
| provided, as the Director determines, for applicants for | 25 |
| enrollment
as volunteers to or from
places of training and | 26 |
| places of enrollment and for former volunteers from
places of
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| service to their homes.
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| (d) Subject to appropriations, volunteers who serve in a | 29 |
| foreign country may
receive a readjustment
allowance, in an | 30 |
| amount determined by the Director,
for each month of | 31 |
| satisfactory service. The
readjustment
allowance of each | 32 |
| volunteer is payable on his or her return to the United
States.
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| Under circumstances that the Director determines, however, the | 34 |
| readjustment
allowance,
or any part thereof, may be paid to the | 35 |
| volunteer or members of his or her
family during
the period of | 36 |
| his or her service or before his or her return to the United
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| States. In the
event of a volunteer's death during the period | 2 |
| of service, the readjustment
allowance shall
be paid to his or | 3 |
| her family.
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| (e) Subject to appropriation, volunteers, applicants for | 5 |
| enrollment as
volunteers,
and former volunteers may receive any | 6 |
| health examinations, immunizations, or
health
and dental care | 7 |
| that the Director deems necessary or appropriate.
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| (f) In order to assure that the skills and experience of | 9 |
| former volunteers
are fully
used, the Director may, in | 10 |
| cooperation with agencies of the United States
government, | 11 |
| State agencies,
private employers, educational institutions, | 12 |
| and other entities, counsel
volunteers
with respect to | 13 |
| opportunities for further education and employment.
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| (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, attorneys | 15 |
| may be employed
and
attorneys' fees, court costs, bail, and | 16 |
| other expenses incidental to the
defense
of volunteers
may be | 17 |
| paid in foreign judicial or administrative proceedings to which
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| volunteers have
been made parties.
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| (h) Subject to appropriation, the minor children of a | 20 |
| volunteer that are
living with
the volunteer may receive:
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| (1) any living, travel, education, and leave | 22 |
| allowances and any housing,
transportation, subsistence, | 23 |
| and clothing that the Director determines;
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| (2) any health care, including health care following | 25 |
| the volunteer's
service
for an illness or injury incurred | 26 |
| during the period of service, that the
Director
determines;
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| (3) any orientation, language, and other training that | 28 |
| the Director
determines; and
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| (4) the benefits of subsection (g) of this Section on | 30 |
| the same basis of
volunteers.
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| (i) Subject to appropriations, the cost of packing and | 32 |
| unpacking,
transporting to
and from a place of storage, and | 33 |
| storing the furniture and household and
personal effects
of a | 34 |
| volunteer who has one or more minor children at the time of his | 35 |
| or her
entering pre-enrollment training may be paid from the | 36 |
| date of his or her
departure
from his or
her place of
residence |
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| to enter training until no later than 3 months after his or her
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| service is
terminated.
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| Section 40. Volunteer leaders. The Director may enroll as | 4 |
| volunteer leaders
in the
Peace Brigade qualified citizens of | 5 |
| this State whose services are required for
supervisory
or other | 6 |
| special duties or responsibilities in connection with programs | 7 |
| or
activities under
this Act. The ratio of the total number of | 8 |
| volunteer leaders in service at any
one time
may not exceed one | 9 |
| to 25. Volunteer leaders are entitled to the same benefits
as
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| volunteers.
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| Section 45. Training programs. The Director shall make | 12 |
| provision for any
training
that he or she deems appropriate for | 13 |
| each applicant for enrollment as a
volunteer and each
enrolled | 14 |
| volunteer. All of the provisions of this Act that apply to | 15 |
| volunteers
apply to
applicants for enrollment during any period | 16 |
| of training occurring before
enrollment.
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| Section 50. Applications; background check; enrollment.
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| (a) Applicants for enrollment as volunteers must submit any | 19 |
| information,
including
fingerprints taken by a law enforcement | 20 |
| officer, that the Director requires on
a form
furnished by the | 21 |
| Director. The Director shall provide any information
necessary | 22 |
| for a
background check to the Department of State Police. The | 23 |
| Director may request
that the
Secretary of State conduct a | 24 |
| security investigation of an applicant for
enrollment for | 25 |
| service in a foreign nation.
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| (b) If the Director is satisfied that an applicant meets | 27 |
| the qualifications
for a
volunteer and after the applicant | 28 |
| completes any pre-enrollment training that
the Director
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| requires, the applicant may be enrolled as a volunteer.
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| Section 55. Illinois Africa-America Peace Brigade Advisory | 31 |
| Council.
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| (a) The Illinois Africa-America Peace Brigade Advisory |
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| Council is created.
The
Council consists of 15 members | 2 |
| appointed by the Governor, with the advice
and
consent of the | 3 |
| Senate. Members of the Council shall be broadly representative
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| of the
general public, including educational institutions; | 5 |
| private volunteer agencies;
private
industry; farm | 6 |
| organizations; labor unions; different regions of the State;
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| different
educational, economic, racial, and national | 8 |
| backgrounds; different age
groupings; and
both genders.
No | 9 |
| member of the Council may be a State employee.
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| (b) The first appointments of members of the Council shall | 11 |
| be made not more
than 60 days after the effective date of this | 12 |
| Act. Of the members initially
appointed under this
Section, 8 | 13 |
| shall be appointed to one-year terms and 7 shall be appointed | 14 |
| to
2-year terms. Thereafter, all members shall serve 2-year | 15 |
| terms.
No member may serve for more than 2 consecutive 2-year | 16 |
| terms.
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| Members of the Council serve at the pleasure of the | 18 |
| Governor. A member
of the Council may be removed by a vote of 9 | 19 |
| members for malfeasance in office,
for persistent neglect of or | 20 |
| inability to discharge duties, or for offenses
involving moral | 21 |
| turpitude.
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| Within 30 days after any vacancy occurs in the
office of a | 23 |
| member of the Council, the Governor shall nominate an | 24 |
| individual to
fill the vacancy. A member appointed to fill a | 25 |
| vacancy occurring before the
expiration of the term for which | 26 |
| the member's predecessor was appointed shall
be appointed only | 27 |
| for the remainder of that term.
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| (c) Members of the Council shall serve without | 29 |
| compensation.
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| (d) A member of the Council must disclose to the Council | 31 |
| the existence of
any
direct or indirect financial interest in | 32 |
| any particular matter
before the
Council and may not vote or | 33 |
| otherwise participate as a Council member with
respect to
that | 34 |
| matter.
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| (e) At its first meeting and at its first regular meeting | 36 |
| in each calendar
year
thereafter, the Council must elect a |
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| chair and a vice-chair from its members.
The chair
and | 2 |
| vice-chair may not be members of the same political party.
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| (f) The Council must hold a regular meeting during each | 4 |
| calendar year and
shall
meet at the call of the Governor, the | 5 |
| Director, the chair, or 1/4 of its
members. The
Council shall | 6 |
| adopt any by-laws and rules that it considers necessary to | 7 |
| carry
out its
functions. The by-laws and rules must include | 8 |
| procedures for fixing the time
and place
of meetings, giving or | 9 |
| waiving notice of meetings, and keeping minutes of
meetings.
A | 10 |
| majority of the members of the Council constitute a quorum for | 11 |
| the
purposes of transacting any business.
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| (g) The Council
shall evaluate the accomplishments of the | 13 |
| Peace Brigade, assess the potential
capabilities
and the future | 14 |
| role of the Peace Brigade, and make recommendations to the
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| Governor, the
Director, and, as the Council considers | 16 |
| appropriate, the General Assembly
for
the purpose of guiding | 17 |
| the future
direction of the
Peace Brigade and of helping to | 18 |
| ensure that the purposes and programs of the
Peace
Brigade are | 19 |
| carried out in ways that are economical, efficient, responsive | 20 |
| to
changing needs,
and in accordance with the law. The Council | 21 |
| may also make any other
evaluations,
assessments, and | 22 |
| recommendations it considers appropriate.
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| Subject to appropriation, the Council may conduct on-site | 24 |
| inspections and
make examinations of the activities of the | 25 |
| Peace Brigade in other countries.
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| (h) Not later than January 1 of each year, the Council must | 27 |
| submit to the
Governor
and the Director a report on its views | 28 |
| on the programs and activities of the
Peace Brigade.
Each | 29 |
| report must contain a summary of the advice and recommendations | 30 |
| of the
Council.
Within 90 days after receiving the report, the | 31 |
| Governor must submit the
report to the
General Assembly, | 32 |
| together with any comments concerning the report that the
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| Governor
or the Director considers appropriate.
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| (i) The Director shall make available to the Council any | 35 |
| personnel,
administrative
support services, and technical | 36 |
| assistance necessary to carry out its functions
effectively.
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| Section 60. Report. At least once during each fiscal year, | 2 |
| the Governor
must report on the programs and activities of the | 3 |
| Peace Brigade under this Act
to the General Assembly.
The | 4 |
| report must include:
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| (1) a description of the purpose and scope of any | 6 |
| project that the Peace
Brigade
undertook during the | 7 |
| preceding fiscal year; and
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| (2) recommendations for improving coordination of | 9 |
| projects between the
Peace
Brigade, the United States, and | 10 |
| other State agencies.
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| Section 805. The Department of State Police Law of the | 12 |
| Civil Administrative
Code of Illinois is amended by adding | 13 |
| Section 2605-345 as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 2605/2605-345 new)
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| Sec. 2605-345. Criminal background investigations for the | 16 |
| Illinois
Africa-America Peace Brigade. Upon the request of the | 17 |
| Director of the Illinois
Africa-America
Peace Brigade, to | 18 |
| conduct criminal background investigations of applicants for
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| enrollment as volunteers in the Illinois Africa-America Peace | 20 |
| Brigade and to
report any
criminal history information to the | 21 |
| Director of the Illinois Africa-America
Peace Brigade.
The | 22 |
| request shall be in the form and manner specified by the | 23 |
| Department.
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