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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The November 17, 2013 tornado outbreak was the | ||||||
| 3 | deadliest and costliest in Illinois to occur in the month of | ||||||
| 4 | November and fourth largest for the State overall; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Severe weather during the tornado outbreak caused | ||||||
| 6 | over 100 injuries and 11 fatalities, 8 of which were tornado | ||||||
| 7 | related; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, With damage estimated at approximately $1.6 | ||||||
| 9 | billion, the tornado outbreak became the seventh weather event | ||||||
| 10 | and fifth tornado outbreak in the United States to accrue over | ||||||
| 11 | $1 billion in damage that year; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Tornadoes alone were responsible for $1.067 | ||||||
| 13 | billion in damage, with the EF4 tornado that struck Washington, | ||||||
| 14 | Illinois accounting for $935 million of the total; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, On January 9, 2014, the Federal Emergency | ||||||
| 16 | Management Agency notified the State that it was denying a $6.1 | ||||||
| 17 | million request for local governments on the grounds that the | ||||||
| 18 | damage wasn't severe enough; this decision impacted Champaign, | ||||||
| 19 | Douglas, Grundy, Massac, Tazewell, Vermilion, Washington, | ||||||
| 20 | Wayne, and Woodford counties; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The Federal Emergency Management Agency twice | ||||||
| 2 | denied disaster funding to Harrisburg after it was demolished | ||||||
| 3 | by tornadoes in 2012; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk have | ||||||
| 5 | introduced the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act; | ||||||
| 6 | both senators say that the current system for delivering | ||||||
| 7 | federal disaster assistance funds discriminates against | ||||||
| 8 | smaller communities in states with large population centers; | ||||||
| 9 | therefore, be it
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| 10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 11 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 12 | urge Congress to pass the Fairness in Federal Disaster | ||||||
| 13 | Declarations Act to ensure that Illinois residents who are | ||||||
| 14 | impacted by deadly and destructive weather receive the level of | ||||||
| 15 | assistance that they require; and be it further
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| 16 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 17 | delivered to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United | ||||||
| 18 | States House of Representatives, the Majority and Minority | ||||||
| 19 | Leaders of the United States Senate, and the members of the | ||||||
| 20 | Illinois congressional delegation.
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