Full Text of HJR0019 99th General Assembly
HJ0019 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Our founding fathers declared independence from | 3 | | Great Britain after suffering from
violations of their rights | 4 | | and the abuses of taxation from the British government as a
| 5 | | result of hereditary rule; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, After seeing firsthand the abominable effects of | 7 | | single, long-term rule our
founding fathers chose | 8 | | republicanism instead of a monarchy and hereditary rule; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Even before the United States Constitution was | 10 | | drafted, the founding fathers
believed in terms limits, as the | 11 | | Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 set a maximum service
of 3 | 12 | | years in the Pennsylvania General Assembly followed by a | 13 | | mandatory 4-year break; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, During the Constitutional Convention, Thomas | 15 | | Jefferson urged term limits as part
of law "to prevent every | 16 | | danger which might arise to American freedom by
continuing too | 17 | | long in office the members of the Continental Congress"; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson's sentiment was established in | 19 | | the Articles of Confederation as
"no person shall be capable of | 20 | | being a delegate [to the Continental Congress] for more
than 3 | 21 | | years in any term of 6 years"; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Although term limits were not written into the | 2 | | Constitution, President George
Washington established a | 3 | | precedent for a 2-term rule, as he left office despite public
| 4 | | urging that he remain in office; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Lack of term limits has placed a great strain on | 6 | | state governments, as well as the
United States Congress, as | 7 | | long-serving members have forgotten the wise words of our
| 8 | | founding fathers and legislative politics has taken a more | 9 | | encompassing role than that of
citizens' needs; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, A lack of term limits contributes to one-party | 11 | | rule, a travesty that is further
enhanced by electoral district | 12 | | boundaries drawn by state legislatures; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Redistricting of electoral district boundaries, | 14 | | when done by state legislatures, leads
to legislative politics | 15 | | as members try to maintain power; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Electoral district boundaries should be drawn by | 17 | | an independent entity, without
thought of political party; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In an effort to reduce the role of large private | 19 | | contributions in Presidential elections,
Congress created a | 20 | | public funding program that uses tax dollars to match the first |
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| 1 | | $250 of
each individual contribution that an eligible | 2 | | Presidential candidate receives during the
primary campaign to | 3 | | fund the major-party nominees' general election campaigns
and | 4 | | to assist eligible minor-party nominees; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Many states have seen the influence of large | 6 | | private contributions in state elections,
and many of those | 7 | | contributors expect payback in the form of earmarks, contracts, | 8 | | or
plum government appointments; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Because of the corrupting influence of money, many | 10 | | Americans have lost faith in
politics and government; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution | 12 | | requires the United States Congress to
call a convention for | 13 | | proposing amendments upon application of two-thirds of the
| 14 | | legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing | 15 | | amendments to the United
States Constitution; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois sees the need for a | 17 | | convention to propose amendments in order
to address concerns, | 18 | | including those raised by the lack of term limits, the practice | 19 | | of
redistricting established by state legislatures, and the | 20 | | influence of large private contributions
in state elections; | 21 | | and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois desires that the delegates | 2 | | to the convention be
composed equally of individuals currently | 3 | | elected to State and local office or be
selected by election in | 4 | | each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as | 5 | | delegates; however, all individuals elected or appointed to | 6 | | federal office, now or in the past, shall be
prohibited from | 7 | | serving as delegates to the Convention; the State of Illinois | 8 | | intends to retain the ability to
restrict or expand the power | 9 | | of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois intends that this be a | 11 | | continuing application, considered
together with applications | 12 | | calling for a convention and all others passed, pending, and
| 13 | | future applications, the aforementioned concerns of Illinois | 14 | | notwithstanding until such
time as two-thirds of the several | 15 | | states have applied for a Convention and that
Convention is | 16 | | convened by Congress; therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
| 19 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN,
that we hereby make application to | 20 | | the Congress, under the provisions of Article V of the | 21 | | Constitution of the United States, for the calling of a | 22 | | convention for proposing amendments; and be it further | 23 | | RESOLVED, That this application be deemed an application |
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| 1 | | for a convention to address each
or any of the subjects listed | 2 | | in this resolution; for purposes of determining whether | 3 | | two-thirds
of the states have applied for a convention | 4 | | addressing any subject, this application
is to be aggregated | 5 | | with the applications of any other state legislatures limited | 6 | | to one or
more of the subjects listed in this resolution; and | 7 | | be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That this resolution constitutes a continuing | 9 | | application and remains in effect until
repeal by any sitting | 10 | | session of the legislature of this State; this application does | 11 | | not
constitute a recognition that any particular activity or | 12 | | activities currently undertaken by
the federal government is or | 13 | | are authorized by the Constitution; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 15 | | delivered to the President and Secretary
of the United States | 16 | | Senate; the Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representatives | 17 | | of the
United States Congress; the Archivist of the United | 18 | | States; the members of the
United States Senate and House of | 19 | | Representatives from this State; and the presiding
officers of | 20 | | each of the legislative chambers in the several states, | 21 | | requesting their
cooperation.
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