Full Text of HR0189 103rd General Assembly
HR0189 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On March 27, 2023, three children and three | 3 | | adults were killed in a mass shooting at The Covenant School in | 4 | | Nashville, Tennessee; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The loss of lives spurred thousands of | 6 | | Tennesseeans to make their voices heard through protests at | 7 | | the Tennessee State Capitol, advocating for reform of laws | 8 | | governing firearm access and availability; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Channeling the voices of their constituents who | 10 | | were among those demonstrating, Reps. Justin Jones, Justin | 11 | | Pearson, and Gloria Johnson attempted to speak in support of | 12 | | reforming gun laws but were denied, and their microphones were | 13 | | cut off, preventing them from speaking on that topic and on any | 14 | | measure or order of business; denied the ability to speak | 15 | | using their desks and microphones, they instead echoed the | 16 | | chants for reform from Tennesseans present at their capitol; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Immediately, the Tennessee House of | 19 | | Representatives majority began an extraordinary campaign of | 20 | | retaliation against Reps. Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, | 21 | | including stripping them of committee assignments, removing | 22 | | their access to their office space and parking, and |
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| 1 | | threatening expulsion, the most extreme action a legislative | 2 | | body can take against one of its members; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Expelling a member from the legislative body is | 4 | | an act so extraordinary that, since the Civil War, the | 5 | | Tennessee House had only previously used it to remove members | 6 | | attempting to block ratification of the 14th Amendment to the | 7 | | United States Constitution, which granted citizenship to | 8 | | formerly enslaved people and equal protection of the law to | 9 | | all Americans, and to remove members for bribery and sexual | 10 | | misconduct; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Even pursuing the extraordinary step of | 12 | | expulsion, the Tennessee House majority never intended to have | 13 | | a fair proceeding for Reps. Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, with | 14 | | one member of Tennessee's House leadership referring to Rep. | 15 | | Jones as a "former representative" prior to the filing of any | 16 | | expulsion resolution, any hearings, or proceedings on | 17 | | expulsion and without pursuing any other form of conflict | 18 | | resolution for alleged violations of decorum; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, On April 6, 2023, after less than a day of | 20 | | proceedings, Reps. Jones and Pearson were expelled from the | 21 | | Tennessee House for these alleged violations of decorum, but | 22 | | Rep. Johnson was not; this, despite lawmakers from the | 23 | | majority party admitting that the expulsion resolutions |
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| 1 | | contained "deficiencies", dishonored the legislative process | 2 | | and occurred without the Tennessee House's normal step of | 3 | | empaneling an ethics committee to review alleged violations of | 4 | | their rules; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 6 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 7 | | we condemn the expulsion of Tennessee State Representatives | 8 | | Justin Jones and Justin Pearson and condemn the attempted | 9 | | expulsion of Tennessee State Rep. Gloria Johnson from the | 10 | | Tennessee House of Representatives; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to Reps. Jones, Pearson, and Johnson as a symbol of | 13 | | our respect and esteem.
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