Full Text of HJR0007 102nd General Assembly
HJ0007 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, With the adoption and ratification of the 13th | 3 | | Amendment 155 years ago, the practice of slavery formally | 4 | | ended in the United States, but it did not strip away all | 5 | | aspects of involuntary servitude; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Lawmakers in Congress are pushing to remove the | 7 | | so-called slavery loophole from the U.S. Constitution, a | 8 | | loophole which has been exploited to criminalize and | 9 | | incarcerate Black and Brown Americans; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, A joint resolution dubbed the Abolition Amendment | 11 | | seeks to remove the "punishment" clause from the amendment, | 12 | | which effectively allows members of prison populations to be | 13 | | used as cheap and free labor; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Prison labor has been a part of the U.S. economy | 15 | | since at least the late 19th century; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Reliance on prison labor is generally touted as a | 17 | | way to rehabilitate inmates and provide an environment for | 18 | | teaching them new trade skills; inmates make little to no | 19 | | money for their efforts; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, According to the nonprofit Prison Policy |
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| 1 | | Initiative, the minimum estimated annual value of incarcerated | 2 | | labor from U.S. prisons and jails is $2 billion; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, In July 2020, NPR reported that companies, | 4 | | including Walmart, AT&T, Whole Foods, and Victoria's Secret, | 5 | | have used incarcerated populations for their business | 6 | | operations; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, No American should ever be subject to involuntary | 8 | | servitude, even if they are incarcerated; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Ending the slavery loophole in the 13th Amendment | 10 | | would be a critical step towards taking on the long and | 11 | | difficult challenge of rooting out systemic racism in our | 12 | | nation; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 14 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 15 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support the passing of the | 16 | | Abolition Amendment by Congress; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies be delivered to all members | 18 | | of the President, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. | 19 | | Senate Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the | 20 | | U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, and all members | 21 | | of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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