Bill Text: IL HR0945 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the United States Army to reverse its decision to bar Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) from being buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-08-01 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HR0945 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HR0945-Introduced.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, During World War II, under a special program known | ||||||
| 3 | as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), female pilots flew | ||||||
| 4 | noncombat missions to free up male pilots for combat; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, WASPs were considered civilians; 38 women died in | ||||||
| 6 | crashes, but neither they nor their families received military | ||||||
| 7 | benefits; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, WASP pilots were granted veteran status in 1977, | ||||||
| 9 | making them eligible to have their ashes placed at Arlington | ||||||
| 10 | National Cemetery with military honors; since 2002, this has | ||||||
| 11 | gone on without controversy; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Recently, the United States Army, which oversees | ||||||
| 13 | Arlington National Cemetery, has stated that in 2002, the | ||||||
| 14 | superintendent of the cemetery had no authority to begin | ||||||
| 15 | allowing the remains of WASP pilots to be buried there, and | ||||||
| 16 | under federal law, WASP pilots are only eligible for burial at | ||||||
| 17 | cemeteries run by the Department of Veteran Affairs; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, The WASPs were a distinct group of women; they | ||||||
| 19 | test-flew repaired military aircraft, trained combat pilots, | ||||||
| 20 | and towed airborne targets that other pilots fired at with live | ||||||
| 21 | ammunition during training; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The WASPs are not asking for anything beyond what | ||||||
| 2 | they earned; therefore, be it
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| 3 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 4 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 5 | urge the United States Army to reverse its decision and once | ||||||
| 6 | again allow the Women Airforce Service Pilots to be buried in | ||||||
| 7 | their rightful place at Arlington National Cemetery; and be it | ||||||
| 8 | further
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| 9 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 10 | presented to the United States Secretary of the Army.
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