HR0824enr 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0824 Enrolled LRB097 20668 GRL 66755 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION 824

WHEREAS, The United States of America was attacked in a well-coordinated operation by a group of terrorists on September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, Almost 3,000 innocent men, women, and children were killed as a result of the airplanes that were hijacked by the terrorists and subsequently crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS, The terrorists were proven to be members of the terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda, which was lead by Osama bin Laden; and

WHEREAS, The al-Qaeda terrorist organization had operated for years from sanctuary locations based in Afghanistan; the group conducted numerous acts of terror over the years against U.S. targets both on the U.S. mainland and in other locations throughout the world, which had been planned in those sanctuary locations; and

WHEREAS, In order to disrupt and destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist organization and capture or eliminate its leaders, it was necessary to attack the organization's sanctuary bases; and

WHEREAS, In October of 2001, the United States military, acting under orders issued by Commander-in-Chief President George W. Bush, attacked al-Qaeda sanctuary bases in Afghanistan in conjunction with local Afghan forces opposed to the terrorist organization operating in their country; and

WHEREAS, The United States military, in the finest traditions of America's fighting forces, had great success in disrupting, dispersing, and destroying al-Qaeda operations and eliminating many of its senior leaders; and

WHEREAS, President Barack Obama, succeeding President Bush as Commander-in-Chief, did continue and strengthen the efforts to completely destroy al-Qaeda; such efforts resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, bringing the world's leading terrorist to justice for the many acts of murder which he and his organization carried out; and

WHEREAS, The United States, having joined forces with nations from around the world, led an effort to stabilize Afghanistan by supporting infrastructure projects beneficial to all Afghans and by helping the Afghans understand the positive benefits of equal rights for all, judicial due process, and the rule of law; and

WHEREAS, After more than a decade of extended military operations to enhance security and with contributions of hundreds of billions of dollars of nation-building resources having been put into the country to foster development, much progress has been made toward the goals of a free and secure society within Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, While this progress has come at a high financial cost, it has also cost the lives of more than 1,500 brave American service members and dozens of fighting forces of other nations, all of whom made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country; and

WHEREAS, Despite this progress, it appears from recent events involving all the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) that the presence of the United States military and that of other countries, as well as the civilian consultants that are working to help the Afghan people, has not been accepted by a broad spectrum of the Afghanistan population; and

WHEREAS, This lack of acceptance places all foreign military and civilian consultant personnel in grave danger, which results in an inability for those personnel to properly conduct the types of operations in which they are engaged; and

WHEREAS, There is already in place a plan to withdraw most forces from Afghanistan in the 2014 time frame; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the President and Congress to begin an expedited withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, to the fullest extent possible consistent with strategic military objectives, thus accelerating the current withdrawal plan set in place; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent to the President, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.