Charity Without Fear Resolution Text
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Charity Without Fear Resolution
WHEREAS the United
States is a nation of immigrants from around
the world, with a wide diversity of cultures and faiths; and
WHEREAS every faith tradition has an injunction that its followers contribute
to charity to aid the poor and sick; and
WHEREAS one of the five
pillars of Islam is the principle of Zakat, commanding Muslims to give to
charity; and
WHEREAS Devout Muslims comply with
this principle by giving to charities that provide educational, medical, and
other humanitarian assistance; and
WHEREAS the civil rights and
liberties of American Muslims and the operational intent of Muslim charitable
organizations have come under attack since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Several
charitable organizations based in Illinois
have been targeted for investigation and prosecution based on alleged ties to
terrorist activity. During the course of these investigations and prosecutions,
the federal government has frozen the assets of these organizations, which
total in the millions of dollars; and
WHEREAS good-faith contributions
made to these organizations by devout Muslims have gone unused for charitable
purposes, contrary to the intentions of the contributors; and
WHEREAS American Muslim
contributors have become increasingly concerned not only that their
contributions will go unused, but that past contributions may be used against
them retroactively in criminal or immigration prosecutions if the specific
charitable organization in question is, in a future investigation, suspected of
having ties to terrorist activity that the contributor was not aware of at the
time of contribution; and
WHEREAS Congress is currently
considering the REAL ID bill (HR 1268), which, among other provisions, would
threaten immigrant contributors to charitable organizations with deportation ex
post facto of a good faith contribution to a charity that was in good standing
at the time of contribution; and
WHEREAS Americans giving charity to
Muslim charities need assurance that the charitable contributions they make in
good faith to charities in good standing will indeed go to humanitarian
purposes and will not give rise to potential retroactive criminal or
immigration prosecution;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE
SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that it is the sense of the General
Assembly of the State of Illinois that the US Department of Treasury, US
Department of Justice and US Department of Homeland Security should develop a
list of charitable organizations, including Muslim charitable organizations,
that provide international relief and are safe for Americans of all ethnic and
faith backgrounds to contribute to without fear of personal prosecution and
with assurance that their contributions will indeed be used for their intended
charitable purposes; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution be sent to the US Department
of Treasury, US Department of Justice, US Department of Homeland Security, and
every member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
The Charity Without Fear
has many sponsors including the following:
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