Full Text of HJR0058 94th General Assembly
HJ0058 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and the United States of | 3 |
| America were founded by immigrants who traveled from around the | 4 |
| world to seek a better life; and
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| WHEREAS, Immigrants have made enormous contributions to | 6 |
| our nation's economic, cultural, and political life, and these | 7 |
| contributions have been recognized and honored throughout our | 8 |
| history and across the political spectrum; and
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| WHEREAS, Our nation's immigration system should uphold our | 10 |
| basic values of family, economic opportunity, and fairness; and
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| WHEREAS, The U.S. immigration system is in disarray and in | 12 |
| need of comprehensive reform: immigrants who are eager to | 13 |
| rejoin family members or willing to work in the U.S. are unable | 14 |
| to immigrate under the current system or face long backlogs; | 15 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The mismatch between our nation's immigration | 17 |
| laws and our economic needs and family values has led to deaths | 18 |
| on the border, a large underground market in false documents, | 19 |
| and an undocumented population of eleven million immigrants, | 20 |
| including half a million in Illinois, and widespread disregard | 21 |
| for our immigration laws; and
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| WHEREAS, President Bush and leaders of both political | 23 |
| parties in both chambers of Congress recognize the need for | 24 |
| realistic, common-sense, humane solutions for our immigration | 25 |
| problems; and
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| WHEREAS, U.S. Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, | 27 |
| and Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and U.S. | 28 |
| Representatives Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, Republicans from | 29 |
| Arizona, and Luis Gutierrez, Democrat from Illinois, have |
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| proposed legislation offering such solutions; and
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| WHEREAS, Their proposed legislation includes cutting | 3 |
| through our current immigration backlogs to reunite families | 4 |
| sooner; a guestworker program, similar to that proposed by | 5 |
| President Bush, that would provide a safe and orderly way for | 6 |
| willing immigrant workers to fill essential jobs in our | 7 |
| economy; realistic enforcement strategies to ensure the | 8 |
| security of our nation's borders; and a means for hardworking | 9 |
| immigrants to earn legal status, upon paying a penalty for | 10 |
| their time in the U.S. out of status, and to eventually become | 11 |
| U.S. citizens; and
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| WHEREAS, By restoring order to our immigration system, such | 13 |
| reforms will make our nation more secure as well as meet our | 14 |
| labor needs and uphold our basic values as a nation; and
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| WHEREAS, In a recent bipartisan poll, 77% of respondents | 16 |
| supported such comprehensive reform to our immigration system; | 17 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Comprehensive immigration reform is supported by | 19 |
| business, organized labor, faith communities, and other | 20 |
| leaders and sectors in our country; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 23 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we do hereby wholeheartedly | 24 |
| support comprehensive immigration reform and the | 25 |
| McCain-Kennedy legislation, and we urge the United States | 26 |
| Congress to enact this legislation; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 28 |
| presented to the President pro-tem of the U.S. Senate, the | 29 |
| Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and to each | 30 |
| member of the Illinois Congressional delegation.
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