Full Text of HJR0052 97th General Assembly
HJ0052 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HJ0052 | | LRB097 14773 RLC 60016 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is functional to the extent | 3 | | that its people agree on politics, society, and economics; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The people who constitute a majority of Cook | 5 | | County and the people who constitute a majority of the other | 6 | | 101 counties in Illinois hold different and firmly seated views | 7 | | on these important questions; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Cook County, on one hand, and the other 101 | 9 | | counties, on the other, are each roughly equal in population; | 10 | | and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Both groups should enjoy the chance to govern | 12 | | themselves with their firmly seated values; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution of the | 14 | | United States provides that "(n)ew States may be admitted by | 15 | | the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed | 16 | | or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any | 17 | | State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts | 18 | | of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the | 19 | | States concerned as well as of the Congress."; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, From 1776 to 1820, Maine was a physically separate |
| | | HJ0052 | - 2 - | LRB097 14773 RLC 60016 r |
|
| 1 | | but politically contiguous part of the State of Massachusetts; | 2 | | and | 3 | | WHEREAS, This arrangement did not work very well and | 4 | | Massachusetts agreed to the secession in a law approved by the | 5 | | Governor of Massachusetts on June 19, 1819; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The law authorized that the inhabitants of Maine | 7 | | vote on secession, and the inhabitants voted in July 1819 to | 8 | | secede from Massachusetts; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, A constitutional convention was held in Portland | 10 | | in October 1819 and the delegates adopted a constitution which | 11 | | was approved at town meetings held on December 6, 1819; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Congress passed a bill admitting Maine into the | 13 | | Union as a separate state and President Monroe signed that bill | 14 | | into law on March 3, 1820 and Maine became a state on March 15, | 15 | | 1820; therefore, be it | 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 18 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly agrees to | 19 | | the separation of Cook County and the other 101 counties into 2 | 20 | | separate states; and be it further
|
| | | HJ0052 | - 3 - | LRB097 14773 RLC 60016 r |
|
| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the General Assembly authorizes a | 2 | | referendum to be held to confirm the desire of the voters of | 3 | | Illinois to separate Cook County and the rest of Illinois into | 4 | | 2 separate states; and be it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That following the adoption of the referendum, | 6 | | the General Assembly urges Congress to pass a bill that | 7 | | consents to the division of Cook County and the other 101 | 8 | | counties of Illinois into 2 separate states and urges the | 9 | | President to sign such bill into law.
|
|