Full Text of HR0093 96th General Assembly
HR0093 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, On January 8, 2009, the current junior United | 3 |
| States Senator from Illinois, Roland Wallace Burris, testified | 4 |
| under oath to the House Special Investigative Committee on the | 5 |
| circumstances connected to his appointment to the Senate by | 6 |
| former Governor Rod Blagojevich; and
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| WHEREAS, While under oath, Burris responded to questioning | 8 |
| from Representative Jim Durkin; and
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| WHEREAS, Representative Durkin asked Burris whether he had | 10 |
| spoken about the Senate appointment with anyone "closely | 11 |
| related to the governor, including family members or lobbyists | 12 |
| connected with him"; and
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| WHEREAS, In asking Burris this question, Representative | 14 |
| Durkin listed six enumerated individuals connected with | 15 |
| Governor Blagojevich; and
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| WHEREAS, Speaking under oath, Burris answered this | 17 |
| question in the negative; and
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| WHEREAS, In an affidavit dated February 4, 2009, and | 19 |
| submitted to the chairperson of the House Special Investigative | 20 |
| Committee, Burris sought to revise and extend his January 8 |
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| testimony to the Committee; and
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| WHEREAS, In this February 4th affidavit, Burris for the | 3 |
| first time revealed conversations with five enumerated close | 4 |
| advisors to Blagojevich, all of whom had been named in Durkin's | 5 |
| question to him, and with whom Burris had previously denied, | 6 |
| under oath, that he had spoken; and
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| WHEREAS, At the January 8, 2009 hearing of the House | 8 |
| Special Investigative Committee, several representatives asked | 9 |
| Burris whether there had been any "quid pro quo" involved in | 10 |
| Blagojevich's decision to appoint Burris to the United States | 11 |
| Senate; and
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| WHEREAS, Speaking under oath, Burris on January 8th | 13 |
| answered these questions in the negative; and
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| WHEREAS, On February 16 and 17, 2009, Burris made public | 15 |
| statements admitting to having discussed taking on a | 16 |
| fundraising role for the former Governor; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, On February 17, 2009, Burris, speaking in Peoria, | 18 |
| Illinois, admitted to reporters that he had "called some people | 19 |
| about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser together" for | 20 |
| the former Governor; and |
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| WHEREAS, The contradictions between these statements made | 2 |
| by Burris under oath on January 8, 2009, and affidavits and | 3 |
| statements made by Burris since that time, raise questions | 4 |
| about Burris's veracity that have been referred to Sangamon | 5 |
| County State's Attorney John Schmidt for possible prosecution | 6 |
| for perjury; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 |
| the Ethics Committee of the United States Senate should conduct | 10 |
| a thorough inquiry into the ethical questions raised by the | 11 |
| process through which Senator Roland Wallace Burris was | 12 |
| appointed by former Governor Rod Blagojevich to the United | 13 |
| States Senate; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That this inquiry should include, but not be | 15 |
| limited to, the fact pattern briefly described in this preamble | 16 |
| and resolution; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That if the members of the Senate Ethics | 18 |
| Committee believe, after an inquiry into the facts of this | 19 |
| case, that their duty requires them to recommend that the | 20 |
| Senate use the power granted by Section 5 of Article I of the | 21 |
| Constitution of the United States of America to expel a member | 22 |
| from their ranks by two-thirds vote, that the Senate, sitting | 23 |
| as a whole, adopt this recommendation and take action to expel |
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| Senator Roland Wallace Burris; and be it further | 2 |
| RESOLVED, That, if this event takes place, that the State | 3 |
| of Illinois enact suitable legislation to enable the people of | 4 |
| the State to select a new senator by special Statewide election | 5 |
| of the people; and be it further | 6 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this preamble and | 7 |
| resolution be presented to the Illinois delegation to the | 8 |
| federal House of Representatives and to the senior and junior | 9 |
| federal Senators from the State of Illinois.
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