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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Recent allegations against the conduct of the | ||||||
3 | United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its personnel | ||||||
4 | have led to the resignation of former acting IRS commissioner | ||||||
5 | Steven T. Miller; and
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6 | WHEREAS, In a hearing before the U.S. House Committee on | ||||||
7 | Investigations, IRS divisional chief Lois Lerner pleaded her | ||||||
8 | rights under the Fifth Amendment, an article of the Bill of | ||||||
9 | Rights; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The last time members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
11 | Representatives visited the National Archives, there were 10 | ||||||
12 | amendments in the Bill of Rights, including the right to | ||||||
13 | peaceably petition the government for a redress of their | ||||||
14 | grievances (First Amendment) and the right to privacy against | ||||||
15 | unreasonable search actions by law enforcement (Fourth | ||||||
16 | Amendment); and
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17 | WHEREAS, Director Lerner's IRS division, the Exempt | ||||||
18 | Organizations Unit, was responsible for the controversial | ||||||
19 | "Target: Tea Party" initiative under which nonprofit | ||||||
20 | organizations, seeking certification of their 501(c) rights, | ||||||
21 | were subjected to onerous administrative delays and intrusive | ||||||
22 | questioning by IRS bureaucrats; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Many Illinoisans will agree that the alleged | ||||||
2 | conduct of the IRS, in singling out groups with grievances and | ||||||
3 | subjecting them to privacy-violating bureaucratic search | ||||||
4 | actions, appears to constitute not only violations of federal | ||||||
5 | law, but also an outrageous violation of the spirit of the Bill | ||||||
6 | of Rights; therefore, be it
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7 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
8 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
9 | we call upon the Unites States House of Representatives and the | ||||||
10 | United States Senate to fully investigate the growing | ||||||
11 | allegations against the Internal Revenue Services, including | ||||||
12 | (but not limited to) the IRS's Exempt Organizations Unit within | ||||||
13 | the IRS; and be it further
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14 | RESOLVED, We determine that should these congressional | ||||||
15 | investigations continue to develop evidence of unlawful | ||||||
16 | conduct by persons holding executive responsibilities within | ||||||
17 | offices charged with immense power over the lives of | ||||||
18 | private-sector Americans, that this investigatory work should | ||||||
19 | be continued by the appointment of a special prosecutor within, | ||||||
20 | but fully independent of, the United States Department of | ||||||
21 | Justice, charged with continuing this case or cases and seeing | ||||||
22 | that justice be done; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, We reaffirm our commitment, which we sealed with | ||||||
2 | an oath when we began our service in the 98th Illinois General | ||||||
3 | Assembly, to the entire U.S. Bill of Rights and the | ||||||
4 | Constitution of the United States; and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
6 | presented to the President of the United States, the Attorney | ||||||
7 | General of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury of | ||||||
8 | the United States, the acting commissioner of the United States | ||||||
9 | Internal Revenue Service, the Speaker of the United States | ||||||
10 | House of Representatives, the Senate Majority Leader of the | ||||||
11 | United States Senate, Illinois Senators Richard J. Durbin and | ||||||
12 | Mark Kirk, and to members of the Illinois delegation to the | ||||||
13 | United States House of Representatives.
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