Bill Text: IL SR0352 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the Cable Television and Communications Association of Illinois to look into, at its earliest convenience, the possibility of facilitating the dedication of an unused cable channel to broadcast programs of, by, and for the United States military veteran.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-11-29 - Resolution Adopted [SR0352 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2011-SR0352-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Enough cannot be said or written to laud the | ||||||
3 | honorable service that United
States veterans who served in all | ||||||
4 | branches of its military have performed in the defense
of this | ||||||
5 | nation and in securing its vital strategic interests throughout | ||||||
6 | the world; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Veterans' families have sacrificed many long | ||||||
8 | months separated from
their loved ones or, worse yet, suffer | ||||||
9 | from their permanent and devastating loss; many
families bear | ||||||
10 | the burden of having to care for a severely maimed or wounded | ||||||
11 | returning
veteran; this places psychological and financial | ||||||
12 | stress on both veterans and family
caregivers; many of them may | ||||||
13 | not be aware of programs or benefits that may be
available to | ||||||
14 | provide post-traumatic stress disorder counseling, legal | ||||||
15 | assistance, medical care,
jobs, housing, education, and the | ||||||
16 | support they need to prevent their frighteningly high rate
of | ||||||
17 | suicide; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Many veterans and their families are not receiving | ||||||
19 | the help they earned, were
promised, and are entitled by law; | ||||||
20 | this applies to not only those veterans from
this nation's | ||||||
21 | current conflicts, but to the Vietnam-era vet, who was far more | ||||||
22 | neglected than all
previous military veterans; this nation owes | ||||||
23 | an apology to this generation of fighting
men and women and |
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1 | must resolve that such shabby treatment of our military | ||||||
2 | personnel
will never happen again; and
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3 | WHEREAS, In a 2007 address, the Honorable Phil Hare, United | ||||||
4 | States Congressman
from Illinois' 17th District, noted that the | ||||||
5 | State of Illinois ranks 48th in awarding disability
claims made | ||||||
6 | by veterans; he related the story of one Vietnam veteran who | ||||||
7 | waited
through 8 years of appeals for the veteran's disability | ||||||
8 | award, having to start from
scratch on several occasions; | ||||||
9 | unfortunately, the veteran died before he collected any of the
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10 | money to which he was entitled; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Whether one agrees with a particular conflict or | ||||||
12 | not, these fighting men and
women are doing what is required of | ||||||
13 | them to fulfill their oath to defend our nation; when
they | ||||||
14 | return, they should be given all the respect and | ||||||
15 | acknowledgement for their service that they deserve; more | ||||||
16 | importantly, they should be provided with whatever they need to | ||||||
17 | put their lives back
together and be reintegrated into regular | ||||||
18 | civilian life; and
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19 | WHEREAS, A referendum in support of full funding for the | ||||||
20 | Veterans Administration
had been initially placed on the ballot | ||||||
21 | in the City of Chicago,
followed by the Cook County Board | ||||||
22 | placing the same question before the Cook County
voters; this | ||||||
23 | non-binding referendum was ultimately put before the voters in |
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1 | the entire
State of Illinois, where it garnered an unheard of | ||||||
2 | 96% of the vote, showing an
overwhelming voter sentiment for | ||||||
3 | funding support for veterans and their families; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Our nation's veteran families, comprised of 26 | ||||||
5 | million veterans, 20 million
wives, and 33 million mothers and | ||||||
6 | fathers, make up approximately one third of this
nation's | ||||||
7 | population; it is incumbent that the citizens of this great | ||||||
8 | State respect the
immense sacrifice that has been made by these | ||||||
9 | veterans and their families by providing
them with their own | ||||||
10 | media platform to assist them in finding the information to get | ||||||
11 | the
help they need; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Throughout our nation's history, the spirit of | ||||||
13 | initiative and volunteerism has
created a multiplicity of | ||||||
14 | veteran's agencies and organizations that do great work on
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15 | behalf of or directly providing services for veterans and their | ||||||
16 | families; however, they are
only able to help as much as their | ||||||
17 | funding, and an awareness of their existence, can reach; | ||||||
18 | veterans and their families have no idea that many of these | ||||||
19 | programs are available, let
alone how to access them; a | ||||||
20 | Veterans cable television channel with a supporting web
site | ||||||
21 | would go far in raising awareness concerning these programs, | ||||||
22 | consolidating
communication, and making them easy to find so | ||||||
23 | that services can be successfully
delivered to those who are in | ||||||
24 | desperate need of them; and
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1 | WHEREAS, It is additionally incumbent upon this Body to | ||||||
2 | endorse the concept of, and
assist in finding funding for, a | ||||||
3 | Veterans cable access channel that will provide
programming | ||||||
4 | aimed at this underserved population; the content would contain | ||||||
5 | a viral
video "One Stop Shop" with such shows as "John Marshall | ||||||
6 | Law School Veteran's Law
Clinic", "Finding a Job through the | ||||||
7 | 'Helmets to Hardhats' Project", or "Wounded
Veterans and Their | ||||||
8 | Families: Help Through The Military Order of Purple Hearts"; | ||||||
9 | such
programming possibilities have never been available; the | ||||||
10 | concept to provide such service
for veterans and their families | ||||||
11 | is unique; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Partnerships are possible with various | ||||||
13 | educational institutions, such as
Columbia College or | ||||||
14 | Northwestern University, where media programs and facilities
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15 | already exist; such partnerships would be beneficial for all, | ||||||
16 | giving their students much
needed experience and the various | ||||||
17 | veteran organizations a production crew for their
shows; there | ||||||
18 | are unused cable channels as well as private and public | ||||||
19 | resources available
to support such a project; therefore, be it
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20 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | ||||||
21 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Cable | ||||||
22 | Television and Communications Association of Illinois to look | ||||||
23 | into, at its earliest convenience, the possibility of |
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1 | facilitating the dedication of an unused cable channel to | ||||||
2 | broadcast programs of, by, and for the United States military | ||||||
3 | veteran; and be it further
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4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
5 | delivered to the Cable Television and Communications | ||||||
6 | Association of Illinois.
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