Full Text of HR0423 97th General Assembly
HR0423 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Enough cannot be said or written to laud the | 3 | | honorable service that United
States veterans who served in all | 4 | | branches of its military have performed in the defense
of this | 5 | | nation and in securing its vital strategic interests throughout | 6 | | the world; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Veterans' families have sacrificed many long | 8 | | months separated from
their loved ones or, worse yet, suffer | 9 | | from their permanent and devastating loss; many
families bear | 10 | | the burden of having to care for a severely maimed or wounded | 11 | | returning
veteran; this places psychological and financial | 12 | | stress on both veterans and family
caregivers; many of them may | 13 | | not be aware of programs or benefits that may be
available to | 14 | | provide post-traumatic stress disorder counseling, legal | 15 | | assistance, medical care,
jobs, housing, education, and the | 16 | | support they need to prevent their frighteningly high rate
of | 17 | | suicide; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Many veterans and their families are not receiving | 19 | | the help they earned, were
promised, and are entitled by law; | 20 | | this applies to not only those veterans from
this nation's | 21 | | current conflicts, but to the Vietnam-era vet, who was far more | 22 | | neglected than all
previous military veterans; this nation owes | 23 | | an apology to this generation of fighting
men and women and |
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| 1 | | must resolve that such shabby treatment of our military | 2 | | personnel
will never happen again; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, In a 2007 address, the Honorable Phil Hare, United | 4 | | States Congressman
from Illinois' 17th District, noted that the | 5 | | State of Illinois ranks 48th in awarding disability
claims made | 6 | | by veterans; he related the story of one Vietnam veteran who | 7 | | waited
through 8 years of appeals for the veteran's disability | 8 | | award, having to start from
scratch on several occasions; | 9 | | unfortunately, the veteran died before he collected any of the
| 10 | | money to which he was entitled; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Whether one agrees with a particular conflict or | 12 | | not, these fighting men and
women are doing what is required of | 13 | | them to fulfill their oath to defend our nation; when
they | 14 | | return, they should be given all the respect and | 15 | | acknowledgement for their service that they deserve; more | 16 | | importantly, they should be provided with whatever they need to | 17 | | put their lives back
together and be reintegrated into regular | 18 | | civilian life; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, A referendum in support of full funding for the | 20 | | Veterans Administration
had been initially placed on the ballot | 21 | | in the City of Chicago,
followed by the Cook County Board | 22 | | placing the same question before the Cook County
voters; this | 23 | | non-binding referendum was ultimately put before the voters in |
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| 1 | | the entire
State of Illinois, where it garnered an unheard of | 2 | | 96% of the vote, showing an
overwhelming voter sentiment for | 3 | | funding support for veterans and their families; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Our nation's veteran families, comprised of 26 | 5 | | million veterans, 20 million
wives, and 33 million mothers and | 6 | | fathers, make up approximately one third of this
nation's | 7 | | population; it is incumbent that the citizens of this great | 8 | | State respect the
immense sacrifice that has been made by these | 9 | | veterans and their families by providing
them with their own | 10 | | media platform to assist them in finding the information to get | 11 | | the
help they need; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Throughout our nation's history, the spirit of | 13 | | initiative and volunteerism has
created a multiplicity of | 14 | | veteran's agencies and organizations that do great work on
| 15 | | behalf of or directly providing services for veterans and their | 16 | | families; however, they are
only able to help as much as their | 17 | | funding, and an awareness of their existence, can reach; | 18 | | veterans and their families have no idea that many of these | 19 | | programs are available, let
alone how to access them; a | 20 | | Veterans cable television channel with a supporting web
site | 21 | | would go far in raising awareness concerning these programs, | 22 | | consolidating
communication, and making them easy to find so | 23 | | that services can be successfully
delivered to those who are in | 24 | | desperate need of them; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, It is additionally incumbent upon this Body to | 2 | | endorse the concept of, and
assist in finding funding for, a | 3 | | Veterans cable access channel that will provide
programming | 4 | | aimed at this underserved population; the content would contain | 5 | | a viral
video "One Stop Shop" with such shows as "John Marshall | 6 | | Law School Veteran's Law
Clinic", "Finding a Job through the | 7 | | 'Helmets to Hardhats' Project", or "Wounded
Veterans and Their | 8 | | Families; Help Through The Military Order of Purple Hearts"; | 9 | | such
programming possibilities have never been available; the | 10 | | concept to provide such service
for veterans and their families | 11 | | is unique; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Partnering is possible with various educational | 13 | | institutions such as
Columbia College or Northwestern | 14 | | University, where media programs and facilities
already exist; | 15 | | such partnerships would be beneficial for all, giving their | 16 | | students much
needed experience and the various veteran | 17 | | organizations a production crew for their
shows; there are | 18 | | unused cable channels as well as private and public resources | 19 | | available
to support such a project; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 21 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 22 | | we urge the Cable Television and Communications Association of | 23 | | Illinois to look into, at its earliest convenience, the |
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| 1 | | possibility of facilitating the dedication of an unused cable | 2 | | channel to broadcast programs of, by, and for the United States | 3 | | Military veteran; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 | | delivered to the Cable Television and Communications | 6 | | Association of Illinois.
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