Full Text of HR1294 99th General Assembly
HR1294 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to celebrate the Louis Vuitton America's | 4 | | Cup World Series Chicago, June 10-12, 2016, with Lake Michigan | 5 | | serving as the first freshwater venue to host America's Cup | 6 | | racing in the event's 165-year history; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series | 8 | | Chicago is a qualifying event for the 2017 America's Cup Finals | 9 | | in Bermuda; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Navy Pier, celebrating its centennial this year, | 11 | | will serve as event headquarters as the high-performance | 12 | | 45-foot foiling catamarans sail by at over 40 miles per hour | 13 | | close to the shore; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, This historic event also includes the Endeavour | 15 | | Program, which introduces children to sailing through | 16 | | education and getting out on the water, which, for many of the | 17 | | participating children, will be their first experience with | 18 | | Lake Michigan; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The history of the America's Cup is rich in | 20 | | tradition and excellence, distinguishing it from among the | 21 | | great competitions of sport throughout the world; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1851, a radical looking schooner ghosted out of | 2 | | the afternoon mist and swiftly sailed past the Royal Yacht | 3 | | stationed in the Solent, between the Isle of Wight and the | 4 | | south coast of England, on an afternoon when Queen Victoria was | 5 | | watching a sailing race; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, As the schooner, named "America", passed the Royal | 7 | | Yacht in first position, and saluted by dipping its ensign | 8 | | three times, Queen Victoria asked one of her attendants who was | 9 | | in second place; "Your Majesty, there is no second", came the | 10 | | reply; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, That phrase, just four words, is still the best | 12 | | description of the America's Cup and how it represents the | 13 | | singular pursuit of excellence; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, That day in August of 1851, the yacht "America", | 15 | | representing the young New York Yacht Club, would go on to beat | 16 | | the best that the British could offer and win the Royal Yacht | 17 | | Squadron's 100 Pound Cup; this was more than a simple boat | 18 | | race, as it symbolized a great victory for the New World over | 19 | | the Old, a triumph that unseated Great Britain as the world's | 20 | | undisputed maritime power; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The trophy would go to the young republic of the |
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| 1 | | United States and it would be well over 100 years before it was | 2 | | taken away from New York; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Shortly after "America" won the 100 Guinea Cup in | 4 | | 1851, New York Yacht Club Commodore John Cox Stevens and the | 5 | | rest of his ownership syndicate sold the celebrated schooner | 6 | | and returned home to New York as heroes; they donated the | 7 | | trophy to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift, which | 8 | | stated that the trophy was to be "A perpetual challenge cup for | 9 | | friendly competition between nations"; thus was born the | 10 | | America's Cup, named after the winning schooner; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The America's Cup is without a doubt the most | 12 | | difficult trophy in sport to win; in the more than 150 years | 13 | | since that first race off the English shore, only four nations | 14 | | have won what is often called the "Oldest trophy in | 15 | | international sport"; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, We wish to thank Louis Vuitton America's Cup World | 17 | | Series Chicago event chairman, Don Wilson, and director, Tod | 18 | | Reynolds, for bringing this event to Chicago for the first time | 19 | | in its history; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 21 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 22 | | congratulate the participants and organizers of the Louis |
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| 1 | | Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago and celebrate the | 2 | | historic nature of this event for the City of Chicago and the | 3 | | State of Illinois; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 5 | | presented to Don Wilson and Tod Reynolds as a symbol of our | 6 | | esteem and appreciation.
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