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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On May 8, 2008, President George W. Bush enacted
3Public Law 110-229, in which contained the Abraham Lincoln
4National Heritage Area Act; and
 
5    WHEREAS, During the 110th Congress, U.S. Representative
6Ray LaHood was the main sponsor of H.R. 1625, the Abraham
7Lincoln National Heritage Area Act, with cosponsors
8Representatives Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson Jr., Daniel
9Lipinski, Luis Guitierrez, Rahm Emanuel, Peter Roskam, Danny
10Davis, Melissa Bean, Janice Schakowsky, Mark Kirk, Jerry
11Weller, Judy Biggert, Dennis Hastert, Timothy Johnson, Donald
12Manzullo, Phil Hare, and John Shimkus; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Also in the 110th Congress, U.S. Senator Richard
14Durbin was the main sponsor of S. 955, the Abraham Lincoln
15National Heritage Act, with Senator Barack Obama as cosponsor;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, The Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition was
18formed in 1998 as a community effort to promote tourism related
19to the various aspects of Abraham Lincoln's life; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition
21prepared and submitted a feasibility study to the National Park

 

 

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1Service which proposed the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage
2Area; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Public Law 110-229 designated the Looking for
4Lincoln Heritage Coalition as the local coordinating entity,
5thereby having the authority to manage the Abraham Lincoln
6National Heritage Area; and
 
7    WHEREAS, On July 12, 2007, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on
8National Parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
9held a hearing at which testimony was received from Katherine
10Stevenson of the National Park Service in which she stated
11about the then proposed Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area:
12"It is here that Abraham Lincoln pondered this nation, formed
13his convictions, and even created his debate platform for the
14now famous Lincoln-Douglas debates still resounding across
15this region through continued dialog of the same themes"; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The 42 Illinois counties covered in the Abraham
17Lincoln National Heritage Area are: Adams, Brown, Calhoun,
18Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Dewitt,
19Douglas, Edgar, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Hancock, Henderson,
20Jersey, Knox, LaSalle, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Mason,
21McDonough, McLean, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie,
22Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby,
23Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, and Woodford; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The 115th Congress currently has legislation
2before it to expand the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area
3by adding Livingston County and the communities of Freeport and
4Jonesboro, thereby including all of the 8th Judicial Circuit
5and all the Lincoln-Douglas debate sites; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area covers
725,588 square miles, contains 24 Looking for Lincoln
8Communities, 76 partner organizations and agencies, and over
9260 wayside exhibits; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Over 175,000 people annually attend events and
11educational programs associated with the Abraham Lincoln
12National Heritage Area through the help of over 1300
13volunteers, supporting over 3200 jobs, and generating over
14$25.5 million in tax revenue; therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
16HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
17heartily recognize the 10th anniversary of the creation of the
18Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, and congratulate all
19those who have made this an outstanding cultural, tourism, and
20economic asset for the State of Illinois; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1presented to Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition as an
2expression of our esteem and respect.