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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
3 signed the "Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944", better
4 known as the "GI Bill of Rights"; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The bill at first was the subject of intense
6 debate and parliamentary maneuvering, but has since been
7 recognized as one of Congress' most important acts; and
 
8     WHEREAS, During the past five decades, the law has made
9 possible the investment of billions of dollars in education and
10 training for millions of veterans, and the nation has in return
11 earned many times that investment in increased taxes and a
12 dramatically changed society; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The law also made possible the loan of billions of
14 dollars to purchase homes for millions of veterans and helped
15 to transform the majority of Americans from renters to
16 homeowners; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The 1944 GI Bill provided six benefits: education
18 and training; loan guarantees for a home, farm, or business;
19 unemployment pay; job-finding assistance; top priority for
20 building materials for VA hospitals; and military review of
21 dishonorable discharges; the home loan program is the only

 

 

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1 feature of the original bill that is still in force; and
 
2     WHEREAS, The original GI Bill ended in 1956, but subsequent
3 GI Bills have continued the original bill's education and
4 training benefits; the bill currently in effect is the
5 Montgomery GI Bill, which provides benefits for veterans who
6 served after July 1, 1985, and for military reservists; and
 
7     WHEREAS, In signing the original GI Bill, President
8 Roosevelt stated that the Bill "gives emphatic notice to the
9 men and women in our armed forces that the American people do
10 not intend to let them down"; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Our servicemen and women have sacrificed much for
12 our country, and continued funding of GI Bill benefits is
13 imperative to ensure that they are treated with the respect
14 they deserve; therefore, be it
 
15     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
16 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
17 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the federal government
18 to meet all of the financial obligations of the GI Bill; and be
19 it further
 
20     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to
21 President George W. Bush, federal Secretary of Veterans Affairs

 

 

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1 James Peake, each member of the Illinois Congressional
2 delegation, and the Director of the Illinois Department of
3 Veterans' Affairs.