SJR 56

Select Language
  ×
The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.
Visitors of the Illinois General Assembly website are encouraged to use other translation services available on the internet.
The English language version is always the official and authoritative version of this website.
NOTE: To return to the original English language version, select the "Show Original" button on the Google Translate™ menu bar at the top of the window.
  Choose Language
  English
  Afrikaans
  Albanian
  Arabic
  Armenian
  Azerbaijani
  Basque
  Bengali
  Bosnian
  Catalan
  Croatian
  Czech
  Danish
  Dutch
  Esperanto
  Estonian
  Filipino
  Finnish
  French
  Galician
  Georgian
  German
  Greek
  Gujarati
  Haitian Creole
  Hausa
  Hawaiian
  Hebrew
  Hindi
  Hungarian
  Icelandic
  Indonesian
  Interlingua
  Interlingue
  Inuktitut
  Irish
  Italian
  Japanese
  Javanese
  Kannada
  Khmer
  Korean
  Latin
  Latvian
  Lithuanian
  Luxembourgish
  Macedonian
  Malagasy
  Malayalam
  Maltese
  Maori
  Marathi
  Myanmar
  Nepali
  Norwegian
  Odia
  Pashto
  Punjabi
  Romanian
  Russian
  Samoan
  Sango
  Sanskrit
  Sardinian
  Sindhi
  Sinhala
  Slovak
  Slovenian
  Somali
  Southern Sotho
  Spanish
  Sundanese
  Swahili
  Swedish
  Tamil
  Telugu
  Thai
  Tigrinya
  Tonga
  Turkish
  Ukrainian
  Urdu
  Vietnamese
  Welsh
  Xhosa
  Yiddish
  Yoruba
  Zulu
  Powered by Translate
  Close
Illinois General Assembly
Top Navigation Bar
  Translate
  Learn
  Select General Assembly
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter search terms for legislation, members, committees, or schedules.
  ILGA.GOV
Mobile Top Bar
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter keywords to search the Illinois General Assembly website.
Full Text of SJR0056
Home
Legislation
Full Text
	SJR0056 - 104th General Assembly
		Bill Status
		Full Text
		Votes
		Witness Slips
	Select Menu
	Bill Status
	Full Text
	Votes
	Witness Slips
	Printer Friendly Version
			Introduced
		Printer Friendly Version
		Introduced
			 Open PDF
		SJ0056		LRB104 21023 MST 34936 r
1SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
2    WHEREAS, The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and raged
3for three bloody years; 1.5 million members of the United
4States Armed Forces, including thousands from the State of
5Illinois, answered the call to arms during the war; and
6    WHEREAS, The President of the United States may present
7Congressional Gold Medals to Korean War veterans in
8recognition of their contributions while serving under the
9United Nations Command (UNC), which was the first
10international unified command in history; and
11    WHEREAS, The purpose of the medals is to express
12recognition for the exemplary contributions made by all Korean
13War veterans, both U.S. and allied forces, who demonstrated
14selfless acts during the conflict; and
15    WHEREAS, The Empire of Japan occupied the entire country
16of Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II; prior to the
17official Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, the U.S. and
18its allies prepared an arrangement to divide Korea
19horizontally into two regions, North and South; and
20    WHEREAS, On June 25, 1950, the North Korea Peoples' Army
21and their allies invaded South Korea; the U.N. Security
		SJ0056	- 2 -	LRB104 21023 MST 34936 r
1Council adopted a resolution to send U.N. Forces into Korea;
2on June 27, 1950, President Truman sent U.S. troops as aid
3under the aegis of the United Nations; in October 1950, the
4Peoples Volunteer Army of China entered the conflict by
5encroaching into North Korea; in response, China's ruling
6party ordered the immediate destruction of the entire 1st
7Marine Division, the Republic of Korea Army Divisions, and the
8U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division, which led to the struggle
9to defend the Pusan Perimeter; and
10    WHEREAS, A series of battles against the Chinese forces
11took place throughout autumn 1950, including the Battle of
12Inchon, the Battle of Naktong breakout, the Battle of
13Seoul-Second, and the Battle of Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir,
14which tested the capacity of U.S. and allied forces against
15both the enemy and the elements; and
16    WHEREAS, On November 25, 1950, Chinese communist forces
17launched an all-out assault, swiftly overtaking the UNC forces
18and forcing U.S. and UNC allied troops to withdraw south;
19battles against the communist forces continued throughout
201951, including the Battle of Seoul-Fourth, by far the largest
21artillery operation of the Korean conflict; during this time,
22U.N. allied forces from countries such as Australia, the
23Philippines, and parts of the United Kingdom assisted in
24combatting the Chinese communist forces; and
		SJ0056	- 3 -	LRB104 21023 MST 34936 r
1    WHEREAS, By 1953, at least another dozen battles took
2place in an attempt to retake South Korea; the ground action
3was led by U.S. and allied forces; and
4    WHEREAS, On July 27, 1953, the United States, North Korea,
5and China signed an armistice agreement that ended the
6conflict and created the demilitarized zone (DMZ), again
7dividing Korea but failing to bring about peace within the
8peninsula; to date, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and
9the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (North Korea) have
10not signed a peace treaty that would officially end the war;
11and
12    WHEREAS, One of two principle objectives was to not lose
13the war to the aggressors and the other was to keep Seoul,
14South Korea from occupation by the Democratic Peoples'
15Republic of Korea to the north; American combat troops and
16allied forces from 16 nations helped secure this mission;
17today, Seoul's vibrancy is possible because of those who
18served and sacrificed; and
19    WHEREAS, It is the appropriate time for America to honor
20the troops, including all United Nations allied forces during
21the Korean conflict, and to award them the Congressional Gold
22Medal; it is appropriate that these medals stand as evidence
		SJ0056	- 4 -	LRB104 21023 MST 34936 r
1that The Forgotten War is no longer forgotten, but forever
2remembered; therefore, be it
3    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
4ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
5REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge Congress to
6authorize the President to present Congressional Gold Medals
7to all Korean War Veterans in recognition of their service and
8sacrifice; and be it further
9    RESOLVED, That following the awarding of the medals, we
10urge that one Congressional Gold Medal be given to the
11Smithsonian Institution and one Congressional Silver Medal be
12given to the War Memorial of Korea, Seoul, where they shall be
13available for display as appropriate and made available for
14research; and be it further
15    RESOLVED, That we recognize and honor the service and
16sacrifice of all Korean War veterans, the brave men and women
17who served honorably and those who paid the ultimate price
18defending our freedom; and be it further
19    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
20delivered to President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Senate Majority
21Leader John Thune, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,
22U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, U.S. House of
		SJ0056	- 5 -	LRB104 21023 MST 34936 r
1Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, each member
2of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, and all Ministry of
3Foreign Affairs with volunteer forces to the U.N. Command.