Full Text of SJR0034 096th General Assembly
SJ0034 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Because former United States Senator Peter | 3 |
| Fitzgerald was a Republican, a member of the same political | 4 |
| party as President George W. Bush, the duty of choosing a | 5 |
| candidate for the job of United Sates Attorney for the Northern | 6 |
| District of Illinois was his responsibility; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois has a well-earned and long-standing | 8 |
| national reputation of politicians of both political parties | 9 |
| who engage in flagrant public corruption, abuse of the people's | 10 |
| trust, and cronyism; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, This unfortunate legacy of bipartisan, personal | 12 |
| dishonesty, and public corruption is epitomized by George Ryan | 13 |
| and Rod Blagojevich, two individuals whose words and actions | 14 |
| leave a stench in the nostrils of honorable men and women; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, It was necessary that former United States Senator | 16 |
| Peter Fitzgerald act boldly and courageously to shake up the | 17 |
| political establishment and its endemic culture of corruption | 18 |
| by choosing an independent person of impeccable integrity and | 19 |
| honor; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, Senator Fitzgerald came under intense criticism | 21 |
| by many, with some of the most fierce criticism coming from |
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| within his own political party, for breaking the age-old | 2 |
| tradition of naming a prominent Chicago-area attorney to this | 3 |
| position; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Senator Fitzgerald displayed his willingness to | 5 |
| act with great courage, follow the dictates of his well-formed | 6 |
| conscience, and do the right thing with no regard for adverse | 7 |
| political consequences; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, One notable example of this courage was when he | 9 |
| held-up the federal funding in the United States Senate for the | 10 |
| construction of the Abraham Lincoln Museum until he was assured | 11 |
| that taxpayer money would not be ill-spent by the awarding of | 12 |
| construction contracts through sweetheart deals to political | 13 |
| contributors and influence peddlers in Springfield; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, Senator Fitzgerald again stood tall when he called | 15 |
| upon then-sitting Governor George Ryan, a member of his own | 16 |
| political party, not to seek re-election because Ryan had | 17 |
| become a moral, ethical, and political embarrassment; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, At the press conference introducing his choice for | 19 |
| U.S. Attorney, Senator Fitzgerald stated, "I didn't have a set | 20 |
| opinion going into this as to whether the candidate should be | 21 |
| from in State or from out of State, but I was determined that | 22 |
| the candidate be somebody who is independent and not an |
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| insider. I think that the best person is someone who has no | 2 |
| connections, no alliances and is not beholden to anyone. I | 3 |
| found no one who was better than Pat Fitzgerald."; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Patrick Fitzgerald came from humble, working | 5 |
| class roots, with both of his parents having emigrated from | 6 |
| Ireland; Patrick won a scholarship to attend a prestigious | 7 |
| Jesuit high school in New York and worked his way through | 8 |
| Amherst College where he made Phi Beta Kappa and later | 9 |
| graduated from Harvard with a degree in law; when he worked in | 10 |
| the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of | 11 |
| New York, he prosecuted a major heroin smuggling ring and | 12 |
| helped convict four members of the Gambino crime family on | 13 |
| racketeering and murder charges; he also helped prosecute the | 14 |
| terrorists involved in the World Trade Center bombing as well | 15 |
| as those responsible for the bombing of U.S. embassies in | 16 |
| Africa; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Patrick Fitzgerald was once described by a friend | 18 |
| as, "Elliot Ness with a Harvard Law Degree and a sense of | 19 |
| humor. He just cares passionately about chasing down bad guys"; | 20 |
| and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, FBI Director Louis Freeh recommended Patrick | 22 |
| Fitzgerald when Senator Fitzgerald asked for names of the best | 23 |
| federal prosecutors in the country; and
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| WHEREAS, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has proven to be | 2 |
| an exceptional choice for U.S. Attorney, has displayed a high | 3 |
| standard of independence, hard work and integrity, set clear | 4 |
| priorities for and re-energized the office, and most | 5 |
| importantly has fearlessly sought to root out public | 6 |
| corruption; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 9 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that Senator Peter Fitzgerald rejected this | 10 |
| political status quo, boldly spoke out against abuses of the | 11 |
| public trust, and by the appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald to | 12 |
| the office of U.S. Attorney, has left a legacy of honesty, | 13 |
| integrity, and intolerance for corruption that will serve to | 14 |
| restore the public trust in Illinois State government; and be | 15 |
| it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 |
| delivered to former United States Senator Peter Fitzgerald.
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