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HR1289 |
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LRB093 24176 CSA 54371 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, There are 2.4 million veterans who receive $19.5 |
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| billion annually in disability benefits from the U.S. |
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| Department of Veterans Affairs; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois veterans receive, on average, $6,802 |
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| annually in disability benefits, while the average annual |
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| disability pay nationwide is over $8,000; Puerto Rico awards |
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| $11,600 annually to disabled and wounded veterans, nearly |
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| $5,000 more than Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois ranked dead last, on a per capita basis, |
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| among all states and U.S. territories from 2000 to 2002, for |
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| the amount awarded by each state's regional Veterans Affairs |
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| office for payments to wounded and disabled veterans; Illinois |
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| ranked 50th in 2003 among all states and U.S. territories; and
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| WHEREAS, Only six percent of Illinois' 922,000 veterans |
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| receive disability payments, while the national average is ten |
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| percent of a state's veteran population; and
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| WHEREAS, In Illinois, military veterans' disability claims |
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| are decided by 31 adjudicators in the Chicago regional office |
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| of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, based on medical, |
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| military, and personnel records; and
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| WHEREAS, The United States Department of Veterans Affairs' |
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| own mission statement, "To care for him who shall have borne |
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| the battle, and for his widow and his orphan", is a statement |
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| of Illinois' own Abraham Lincoln; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| urge Congress to conduct an immediate and on-going |
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| congressional investigation into the Chicago regional office |