Full Text of SR1782 99th General Assembly
SR1782 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is the duty of the United States Congress to | 3 | | enact measures that establish justice, ensure
domestic | 4 | | tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the | 5 | | general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty for every | 6 | | resident of this nation; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Throughout the course of our nation's history, | 8 | | there has been one consistent voice
supporting racial and | 9 | | social inequality and promoting the intimidation, subjugation, | 10 | | and violent
repression of individuals solely on the basis of | 11 | | their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and
| 12 | | immigration status; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Since the issuance of the Emancipation | 14 | | Proclamation, the Ku Klux Klan and its many affiliates
have | 15 | | terrorized African-Americans; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Since its founding in 1866, the main objective of | 17 | | this terrorist group has been to end or
interfere with any | 18 | | policy giving equal rights to African-Americans; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1964, the Ku Klux Klan was held responsible for | 20 | | the deaths of three civil rights workers
(James Chaney, Andrew | 21 | | Goodman, and Michael Schwerner), who were shot near Meridian, |
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| 1 | | Mississippi; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, In 1963, the Ku Klux Klan organized the bombing, | 3 | | which claimed the lives of four young girls,
of the Sixteenth | 4 | | Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Ku Klux Klan has used tactics such as | 6 | | lynching, bombing, tar-and-feathering, shooting,
rape, | 7 | | assaults on both property and persons, assassinations, and a | 8 | | host of Jim Crow-era laws in an effort
to terrorize | 9 | | African-Americans; they and their affiliates were pioneers in | 10 | | the use of the Internet to
recruit and mobilize members and | 11 | | remain an active online presence, seeking to indoctrinate and | 12 | | inspire
youth to continue their campaign of hate; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The Ku Klux Klan's tactics mirror those of | 14 | | modern-day terrorist groups such as ISIS, BOKO
Haram, and | 15 | | others whose sole purpose is to intimidate, disenfranchise, | 16 | | silence, and kill particular groups
of people; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Ku Klux Klan's message of racial and social | 18 | | injustice has led to senseless acts of violence
that continue | 19 | | to terrorize African-American individuals and communities in | 20 | | our time; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL |
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| 1 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to | 2 | | recognize the Ku Klux Klan as a terrorist
organization and | 3 | | pursue dismantling this domestic terrorist hate group with the | 4 | | same fervor used to
protect the United States from other | 5 | | manifestations of terrorism; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 7 | | delivered to the Speaker of the United States House of | 8 | | Representatives Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch | 9 | | McConnell, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | 10 | | Delegation.
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