Full Text of HR1543 94th General Assembly
HR1543 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The National Guard, the oldest component of the | 3 |
| Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's | 4 |
| longest-enduring institutions, will celebrate its 370th | 5 |
| birthday on December 13, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, The National Guard traces its history back to the | 7 |
| earliest English colonies in North America; responsible for | 8 |
| their own defense, the colonists drew on English military | 9 |
| tradition and organized their male citizens into militias; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Following the winning of our independence against | 11 |
| Great Britain, the authors of the Constitution empowered | 12 |
| Congress to "provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining | 13 |
| the militia"; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, The militia provided the bulk of the troops during | 15 |
| the Mexican War, the early months of the Civil War, and the | 16 |
| Spanish-American War; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, In 1903, important national defense legislation | 18 |
| increased the role of the National Guard (as the militia was | 19 |
| now called) as a reserve force for the U.S. Army; in World War | 20 |
| I, the National Guard made up 40% of the U.S. combat divisions | 21 |
| in France; in World War II, National Guard units were among the | 22 |
| first to deploy overseas and the first to fight; and
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| WHEREAS, Following World War II, National Guard aviation | 24 |
| units, some of them dating back to World War I, became the Air | 25 |
| National Guard, the nation's newest reserve component; the | 26 |
| Guard stood on the frontiers of freedom during the Cold War, | 27 |
| sending soldiers and airmen to fight in the Korean War and to | 28 |
| reinforce NATO during the Berlin crisis of 1961-1962; during | 29 |
| the Vietnam War, almost 23,000 Army and Air Guardsmen were | 30 |
| called up for a year of active duty; some 8,700 were deployed |
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| to Vietnam; and
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| WHEREAS, Over 75,000 Army and Air Guardsmen were called | 3 |
| upon to help bring a swift end to Desert Storm in 1991; since | 4 |
| that time, the National Guard has seen the nature of its | 5 |
| federal mission change, with more frequent call ups in response | 6 |
| to crises in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the skies over Iraq; | 7 |
| following the attacks of September 11, 2001, more than 50,000 | 8 |
| Guardmembers were called up by both their states and the | 9 |
| federal government to provide security at home and combat | 10 |
| terrorism abroad; and
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| WHEREAS, In the largest and swiftest response to a domestic | 12 |
| disaster in history, the Guard deployed more than 50,000 troops | 13 |
| into the Gulf Region following Hurricane Katrina in 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, Today, tens of thousands of Guardmembers are | 15 |
| serving in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan, as the National | 16 |
| Guard continues its historic dual mission, providing to the | 17 |
| states units trained and equipped to protect life and property, | 18 |
| while providing to the nation units trained, equipped, and | 19 |
| ready to defend the United States and its interests, all over | 20 |
| the globe; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 23 |
| we thank the men and women of the National Guard for doing | 24 |
| their duty, protecting our way of life, and ensuring our | 25 |
| freedom; and we congratulate them on the 370th anniversary of | 26 |
| the National Guard; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 28 |
| presented to Major General Randal E. Thomas, Adjutant General | 29 |
| of the State of Illinois National Guard.
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