SR0178 LRB094 12172 CSA 45617 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The United States is a nation of immigrants from
3 around the world, with a wide diversity of cultures and faiths;
4 and
 
5     WHEREAS, Every faith tradition has a basic tenet that its
6 followers contribute to charity to aid the poor and sick; and
 
7     WHEREAS, One of the five pillars of Islam is the principle
8 of Zakat, commanding Muslims to give to charity; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Muslims also follow the principle of Sadaqa, which
10 asks that they give voluntarily to charity; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Devout Muslims comply with this principle by
12 giving to charities that provide educational, medical, and
13 other humanitarian assistance; and
 
14     WHEREAS, The civil rights and liberties of American Muslims
15 and the operational intent of Muslim charitable organizations
16 have come under intense governmental scrutiny since the 9-11
17 terrorist attacks; several charitable organizations based in
18 Illinois have been targeted for investigation and prosecution
19 based on alleged ties to terrorist activity; during the course
20 of these investigations and prosecutions, the federal
21 government has frozen the assets of these organizations, which
22 total in the millions of dollars; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Good-faith and legitimate contributions made to
24 these organizations by devout Muslims have gone unused for
25 charitable purposes, contrary to the intentions of the
26 contributors; and
 
27     WHEREAS, American Muslim contributors have become
28 increasingly concerned not only that their contributions will

 

 

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1 go unused, but that past contributions may be used against them
2 retroactively in criminal or immigration prosecutions if the
3 specific charitable organization in question is, in a future
4 investigation, suspected of having ties to terrorist activity
5 that the contributor was not aware of at the time of
6 contribution; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Congress is currently considering the REAL ID bill
8 (HR 1268) which, among other provisions, would threaten
9 immigrant contributors to charitable organizations with
10 deportation ex post facto of a good faith contribution to a
11 charity that was in good standing at the time of contribution;
12 and
 
13     WHEREAS, Americans giving charity to Muslim charities need
14 assurance that the charitable contributions they make in good
15 faith to charities in good standing will indeed go to
16 humanitarian purposes and will not give rise to potential
17 retroactive criminal or immigration prosecution; therefore, be
18 it
 
19     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
20 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the U.S.
21 Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S.
22 Department of Homeland Security to develop a list of charitable
23 organizations, including Muslim charitable organizations, that
24 provide international relief and are safe for Americans of all
25 ethnic and faith backgrounds to contribute to without fear of
26 personal prosecution and with assurance that their
27 contributions will indeed be used for their intended charitable
28 purposes; and be it further
 
29     RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
30 U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S.
31 Department of Homeland Security, and every member of the
32 Illinois Congressional Delegation.