Full Text of HJR0056 99th General Assembly
HJ0056 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before | 3 | | us, and Armenians throughout the
world resound with a powerful | 4 | | call for justice and truth that will not be silenced; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Each day of 2015 is a day of devotion for the | 6 | | Armenian people, a spiritual journey to
memorials of their | 7 | | martyrs in the homeland and in the diaspora; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The Armenian people kneel humbly before those | 9 | | memorials in prayer for the souls of
the innocent who rest in | 10 | | unmarked graves, having accepted death rather than reject their | 11 | | faith and
nation; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In 1915, and in the years that followed, Ottoman | 13 | | Turkey committed genocide against
the Armenian people; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In the historic homeland of Western Armenia and in | 15 | | Armenian communities
throughout other parts of the Ottoman | 16 | | Empire, one and a half million sons and daughters of the
| 17 | | Armenian nation were subjected to slaughter, famine, and | 18 | | disease as they were deported and
forced to march to their | 19 | | deaths; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, A centuries-old inheritance was pillaged as |
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| 1 | | thousands of monasteries and churches
were desecrated and | 2 | | destroyed, national institutions and schools were razed to the | 3 | | ground, and
their spiritual and national values were uprooted; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Western Armenia, where the Armenian people had | 6 | | lived since the time of Noah, where
they forged an identity and | 7 | | shaped a distinctive culture, was savagely wrested from the | 8 | | native
population; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Eastern Armenia, the birthplace of the Church of | 10 | | Armenia and from where the
Armenian people received the light | 11 | | of St. Gregory the Illuminator, was threatened out of
| 12 | | existence; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In this time of darkness, when Armenia was | 14 | | splintered, when its fragments were
scattered the world over, | 15 | | it was hard to believe that a new day would come; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The Armenian people persevered by the Lord's | 17 | | grace, rose up from the ashes, and began
to build anew; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In Eastern Armenia, a country was built out of | 19 | | ruins, a homeland of light and hope,
where Armenians once again | 20 | | harnessed their creative forces in education, the sciences, and | 21 | | the
arts; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Today, though they still face hardships, the | 2 | | Armenian people continue to strengthen
their independent | 3 | | homeland, where they live in freedom and look with hope to the | 4 | | future; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The Armenian spirit also flourished in far-flung | 6 | | lands, where the exiled people set down
roots, built schools | 7 | | and churches, and gave generously of their talents in these new | 8 | | places they
called home; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, By placing their hope in the Lord, the Armenian | 10 | | people were illuminated and
empowered; His light kindled the | 11 | | ingenuity of their spirit; and His might propelled them to
| 12 | | victories in the face of destruction and in the face of | 13 | | annihilation; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, It was the Will of the Lord that the Armenian | 15 | | nation should live and rise again, so that
they might seek | 16 | | justice where there has been oppression, concern where there | 17 | | has been
indifference, and truth where there has been denial; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The Armenian people in their native homeland and | 20 | | in the diaspora will continue their
fight without retreat, | 21 | | working together in unity until justice triumphs over darkness; |
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| 1 | | and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The innocent martyrs cry out for justice; the | 3 | | destroyed shrines and the falsification and
distortion of | 4 | | history cry out for justice; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, We believe that the states and nation states and | 6 | | individuals who have recognized the
Armenian Genocide will be | 7 | | joined by others who believe that the affirmation of truth will | 8 | | lead to
a world free of hostility and violence; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, We express our gratitude to all those states and | 10 | | nation states who had the courage and
conviction to recognize | 11 | | and condemn the Armenian Genocide, and also to the countries | 12 | | and
individuals who gave a new home to the Armenian people, for | 13 | | we know that these acts of justice
and compassion are glimpses | 14 | | of humanity at its best, and they are lessons we can pass on | 15 | | from
one generation to the next to guide our world toward peace | 16 | | and harmony; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In spiritual consolation, His Holiness Karekin | 18 | | II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians, issued a | 19 | | Patriarchal encyclical on December 28, 2014 announcing that | 20 | | during the
Divine Liturgy on April 23, 2015, the Church of | 21 | | Armenia will perform a special ceremony
canonizing as saints | 22 | | its sons and daughters who became Martyrs for their faith and |
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| 1 | | for their
homeland; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, His Holiness pronounced April 24, 2015 as the Day | 3 | | of Remembrance of the Holy
Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide of | 4 | | 1915; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The People of Illinois, as represented by the | 6 | | General Assembly and the Governor,
should remain mindful of | 7 | | these tragic events, and should act in a spirit of justice and | 8 | | humanity to
designate April 24, 2015 as the Day of Remembrance | 9 | | of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915; | 10 | | therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 13 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we commemorate April 24, 2015 as | 14 | | the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian | 15 | | Genocide of 1915; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That we request Governor Bruce Rauner to proclaim | 17 | | April 24, 2015, as the Day of
Remembrance of the Holy Martyrs | 18 | | of the Armenian Genocide of 1915; and be it further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That we call upon the people of Illinois to | 20 | | observe that Day of Remembrance and
to draw strength from the | 21 | | firm determination of the Armenian people, who trampled death |
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| 1 | | and
rose again to rebuild, to renew, and to reassert the spirit | 2 | | of their ancestors; and be it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That this be the lesson we teach our children and | 4 | | our grandchildren, so that they,
too, will realize that the | 5 | | affirmation of truth will lead to a world free of hostility and | 6 | | violence;
and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to Governor Bruce Rauner.
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