HJ0122 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0122 LRB095 20254 RLC 47123 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, It is in our society's best interest to protect the health, safety and standard of living of its citizens; and

WHEREAS, Too many of us have directly experienced or know about the consequences of our flawed trade system: massive job losses, devastated communities and staggering national deficits; and

WHEREAS, The price of cheap imports is too expensive when those imports unfairly take away millions of jobs, outsource production and lower our quality of life by lowering wages, harming the environment and now even threatening our very health and safety; and

WHEREAS, Not only have cheap imports from bad trade deals lowered our living standards here but cheap and toxic imports also harm workers and the environment in developing countries like China, where workers often toil in dangerous, sweatshop conditions; and

WHEREAS, Our markets have been overflowing with an influx of harmful products like toxic toys, defective passenger tires, poisoned pet-foods and other tainted goods, in particular from countries like China, where there are few, if any, effective labor, environmental or health and safety standards; and

WHEREAS, The current Administration has failed to adequately enforce health, safety, labor or environmental standards on imported products that may cause harm to the American public and has not adequately addressed the risk of such harm by requiring importers to show that they have sufficient financial resources to cover the costs of product recalls and the damages caused to the public resulting from defective products that they bring into the United States; and

WHEREAS, The current Administration has failed to adequately enforce our trade laws to protect our jobs and communities from the devastating consequences of imports from developing countries like China who do not play by fair competition rules; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we implore the United States Congress to meaningfully address the unsafe toxic imports that threaten our families and communities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That corporations producing and importing products should be held accountable if they place greater value on profits over the health and safety of our families and communities, and at the expense of our jobs, labor and environmental standards and our living standards; and be it further

RESOLVED, That tougher trade laws are needed to prevent the further loss of American jobs and the further erosion of our standard of living; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of our State's congressional delegation.