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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the
3 State of Illinois congratulate the Polish National Alliance
4 (PNA) on its 125th anniversary; this occasion offers
5 opportunities to appreciate the organization's six-plus
6 generations of dedication and achievement as a fraternal
7 benefit society and premier community "mover and shaker"; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The observance will commence officially on
9 February 15, 2005 with a civic event in Philadelphia and a
10 Special Mass in Chicago; and
 
11     WHEREAS, For 125 years, the leadership and the members of
12 the PNA have exercised potent influence in patriotic, civic,
13 educational, social, cultural, and charitable causes that
14 elevate the esteem of Polish heritage; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The PNA was formed in 1880 in Philadelphia and
16 Chicago by patriots whose aim was to unite the members of the
17 Polish immigrant community in America behind the twin causes of
18 Poland's independence and their own advancement into the
19 mainstream of American society; and
 
20     WHEREAS, In 1881, the PNA set up its own newspaper, Zgoda,
21 to promote its objectives to the larger community; in 1885, it
22 established an insurance program for the material benefit of
23 all who wished to join the Alliance, and from the early 1890s
24 onward, it created a variety of programs aimed at enlightening
25 the members of the Polish population in the United States about
26 their heritage and their citizen rights and obligations as
27 Americans; to further advance these aims, the PNA established
28 its own daily newspaper in Chicago, Dziennik Zwiazkowy, known
29 today as The Polish Daily News; and
 
30     WHEREAS, Today, the PNA is proud of its record of serving

 

 

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1 the insurance needs of the more than two million men, women,
2 and children who have been in its ranks since 1880; it is proud
3 of its work on behalf of all Americans, Polish and non-Polish
4 alike, in promoting citizenship participation in the life of
5 the United States; it is proud to promote the enlightenment of
6 its members and their fellow Americans about the heritage of
7 Poland through Zgoda, The Polish Daily News, its Chicago radio
8 station, WPNA, its two banks, its website, its involvement in
9 the Polish American Congress, the National Fraternal Congress,
10 and other organizations, and the benevolent and charitable
11 activities of its members throughout the country; therefore, be
12 it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15 we congratulate the Polish National Alliance on the occasion of
16 its 125th anniversary celebration; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to the Polish National Alliance as an expression of
19 our esteem.