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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In 1947, in the wake of World War II, Secretary of
3State George C. Marshall proposed a comprehensive plan to
4rebuild the economies and spirits of Western Europe; and
 
5    WHEREAS, As part of this plan, the U.S. gave $13 billion in
6aid to 16 European nations; this included shipping food,
7staples, fuel, and machinery, rebuilding war-devastated
8regions, removing trade barriers, and investing in industrial
9capacity; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Due to what became known as the Marshall Plan,
11European economies experienced unprecedented growth from 1948
12to 1952, postwar poverty and starvation disappeared, and
13standards of living increased remarkably; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Former National Urban League President John
15Jacobs often spoke of the need for a new domestic Marshall
16Plan, championing the idea that we could rebuild urban areas in
17America the same way we rebuilt entire nations abroad; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Parts of the City of Chicago, particularly on the
19west and south sides, suffer greatly from a lack of economic
20opportunity; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, A lack of opportunity has been shown to increase
2drug abuse, unemployment, poverty, violence, and other
3negative factors within a community; and
 
4    WHEREAS, African Americans in the City of Chicago are
5disproportionately affected by both the violence and the
6poverty in the city; African Americans make up approximately a
7third of the city's population, yet for decades, they have
8consistently accounted for more than 70 percent of homicide
9victims; and
 
10    WHEREAS, A comprehensive economic recovery plan is
11necessary to revitalize Chicago's impoverished areas and to
12help elevate the city's African American population; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In the 1967, the Kerner Commission was established
14by President Lyndon B. Johnson to understand the root causes of
15race riots in African American communities in the 1960s and to
16make policy recommendations to prevent future unrest; and
 
17    WHEREAS, A new Marshall Plan will most likely need a
18commission or study comparable to the Kerner Commission to
19properly investigate the origins of the lack of economic
20opportunity in parts of Chicago and its affect on the city's
21black citizens and to make informed policy recommendations to
22improve these conditions; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Due to pre-existing inequalities such as
2segregation, financial disparities, lack of access to a good
3education, pre-existing conditions, lost wages, lost homes,
4lost inheritances, lack of access to testing and treatment, and
5other issues, the current COVID-19 pandemic has
6disproportionately hurt African Americans, especially in
7Chicago; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The deadly toll of the COVID-19 virus on African
9Americans grows even starker as more data is released; as a
10clearer picture emerges, leaders are demanding a reckoning of
11the systemic policies that have made many African Americans far
12more vulnerable to the virus; therefore, any study or
13commission under a new Marshall Plan would need to include
14research on how societal inequality has resulted in Black
15Americans being more negatively affected by COVID-19; and
 
16    WHEREAS, This new Marshall Plan must provide federal,
17state, and local tax credits and other enhancements to
18encourage businesses to relocate to these struggling
19communities in order to foster economic vitality; therefore, be
20it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
22HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1we urge the Illinois General Assembly and the United States
2Congress to create and adopt a new, domestic Marshall Plan that
3studies the roots of the economic inequality in parts of
4Chicago and to promote economic growth and recovery in the
5city; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent
7to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Board President
8Toni Preckwinkle, all members of the Chicago City Council,
9Governor JB Pritzker, all members of the Illinois General
10Assembly, President Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Majority Leader
11Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,
12U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of
13Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and all
14members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.