Full Text of HR1463 94th General Assembly
HR1463 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois are pleased to recognize the 65th birthday | 4 |
| and 40 years of service in the Civil Rights Movement of a human | 5 |
| rights, religious, and political icon, the Reverend Jesse L. | 6 |
| Jackson, Sr.; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, | 8 |
| South Carolina, and graduated from the public schools in | 9 |
| Greenville; he then enrolled in the University of Illinois on a | 10 |
| football scholarship; he later transferred to North Carolina | 11 |
| A&T State University and graduated in 1964; he began his | 12 |
| theological studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary, but | 13 |
| deferred his studies when he began working full-time in the | 14 |
| Civil Rights Movement; he received his earned Master of | 15 |
| Divinity degree in 2000; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jesse Jackson began his activism as a | 17 |
| student in the summer of 1960, seeking to desegregate the local | 18 |
| public library in Greenville, and then as a leader in the | 19 |
| sit-in movement; in 1965, he became a full-time organizer for | 20 |
| the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); he was | 21 |
| soon appointed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to direct SCLC's | 22 |
| Operation Breadbasket program; and
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| WHEREAS, In December of 1971, Reverend Jackson founded | 24 |
| Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) in Chicago; | 25 |
| the goals of Operation PUSH were economic empowerment and | 26 |
| expanding educational, business, and employment opportunities | 27 |
| for the disadvantaged and people of color; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1984, he founded the National Rainbow | 29 |
| Coalition, a national social justice organization, based in | 30 |
| Washington, D.C., devoted to political empowerment, education, | 31 |
| and changing public policy; in September of 1996, the Rainbow |
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| Coalition and Operation PUSH merged in the Rainbow/PUSH | 2 |
| Coalition to continue the work of both approaches and to | 3 |
| maximize resources; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's two presidential campaigns | 5 |
| broke new ground in U.S. politics; his 1984 campaign registered | 6 |
| over one million new voters, won 3.5 million votes, and helped | 7 |
| the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in 1986; his | 8 |
| 1988 campaign registered over two million new voters, won seven | 9 |
| million votes, and helped boost hundreds of state and local | 10 |
| elected officials into office; it was also an historic victory, | 11 |
| because he came in first or second in 46 out of 54 primary | 12 |
| contests; and
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| WHEREAS, He has continued to be a leading advocate for a | 14 |
| variety of public policy issues, including universal health | 15 |
| care, equal administration of justice in all communities, | 16 |
| sufficient funding for enforcement of civil rights laws, and | 17 |
| increased attention to business investment in under-served | 18 |
| domestic communities; and
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| WHEREAS, As a highly respected and trusted world leader, | 20 |
| Reverend Jackson has acted many times as an international | 21 |
| diplomat in sensitive situations; in 1984, Reverend Jackson | 22 |
| secured the release of captured U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert | 23 |
| Goodman from Syria and the release of 48 Cuban and | 24 |
| Cuban-American prisoners in Cuba; he was the first American to | 25 |
| bring hostages out of Kuwait and Iraq in 1990; in 1999, he | 26 |
| negotiated the release of U.S. soldiers held hostage in Kosovo; | 27 |
| he has traveled extensively in the Middle East and Asia and was | 28 |
| a special guest of President Fernando Cardoso of Brazil in | 29 |
| honoring Zumbi, the leader of slave revolts that led to the end | 30 |
| of slavery in Brazil; and
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| WHEREAS, A hallmark of Reverend Jackson's work has been his | 32 |
| commitment to youth; he has visited thousands of high schools, |
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| colleges, universities, and correctional facilities | 2 |
| encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young | 3 |
| people to study diligently and stay drug-free; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has also been a consistent and | 5 |
| vigorous supporter of the labor movement in the U.S. and around | 6 |
| the world; he is known as someone who has walked more picket | 7 |
| lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national | 8 |
| leader; and
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| WHEREAS, In October of 1997, Reverend Jackson was appointed | 10 |
| by President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine | 11 |
| Albright as "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of | 12 |
| State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa"; in this | 13 |
| official position Reverend Jackson traveled to several | 14 |
| countries on the African continent and met with national | 15 |
| leaders; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart | 17 |
| Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1963; they have five children: | 18 |
| Santita Jackson, Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Jonathan | 19 |
| Luther Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Esq., and Jacqueline | 20 |
| Lavinia Jackson, Jr.; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 23 |
| we congratulate the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. on the | 24 |
| occasion of his 65th birthday; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 26 |
| presented to Reverend Jackson as an expression of our profound | 27 |
| respect and esteem and with best wishes for the future.
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