State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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90_HR0542

                                              LRB9008858CBcbA
 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION
 2        WHEREAS, The Irish Famine began when a mysterious  fungus
 3    destroyed  the  nation's  potato  crop between 1845 and 1850,
 4    because of their poverty, a  majority  of  the  Irish  people
 5    depended potatoes as the main ingredient in their diet; and
 6        WHEREAS,  Hundreds  of  thousands  of Irish citizens left
 7    their homeland to come to America following  the  failure  of
 8    the  potato  crop;  as  many  as  two  million Irish citizens
 9    emigrated, the majority of them to North America; and
10        WHEREAS, 1847 marked the worst time for the Irish people;
11    during this year widespread epidemics  of  fever  and  hunger
12    edema  caused  by  lack  of  proper  vitamins sickened entire
13    villages and killed hundreds of thousands of people; in 1847,
14    America opened its doors to 100,000 Irish people; and
15        WHEREAS,  Descendants  of   the   Irish   Potato   Famine
16    immigrants  have  made  valuable contributions to our society
17    and changed forever the the  character  of  American  future;
18    therefore, be it
19        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
20    NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that  we
21    urge  the  commemoration  of  a  postal  stamp  to  honor the
22    survivors of one of the world's greatest tragedies and to pay
23    tribute to the  valuable  contributions  the  Irish-Americans
24    have made to our nation; and be it further
25        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
26    presented to the Postmaster General and to each member of the
27    Illinois congressional delegation.

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