Bill Text: IL SR0473 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urges the United States House of Representatives to support a resolution authorizing and directing the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SR0473 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SR0473-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, On January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump took the oath
of office and became President of the United States; at that
time, he reiterated that he would be "A President for all
Americans"; and
WHEREAS, There are considerable ethical concerns in terms
of the election and Donald Trump's selected staff; and
WHEREAS, Our democracy is premised on the bedrock principle
that no one is above the law, not even the President of the
United States; and
WHEREAS, Donald J. Trump has attempted on two separate
occasions to undermine this nation's Constitution by
instituting travel bans targeting specific ethnic and
religious minorities; and
WHEREAS, A recent rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim
rhetoric and criminal activity has been attributed to Americans
that fervently support the Trump administration and have noted
that Trump's nationalist rhetoric has emboldened them to carry
out their hateful missions; and
WHEREAS, The Trump business empire has been embroiled in

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questionable business dealings, and Donald J. Trump has refused
to release various financial records and documents concerning
his personal income, along with that of his business; and
WHEREAS, The Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United
States Constitution provides that, besides the fixed salary for
his or her four-year term, the President "shall not receive
within that Period any other Emolument from the United States,
or any of them"; and
WHEREAS, The term "emoluments" includes a broad range of
financial benefits, including but not limited to monetary
payments, purchase of goods and services even for fair market
value, subsidies, tax breaks, extensions of credit, and
favorable regulatory treatment; and
WHEREAS, Leading constitutional scholars and government
ethics experts warned Donald J. Trump shortly after the
November 2016 election that, unless he fully divested his
businesses and invested the money in conflict-free assets or a
blind trust, he would violate the Constitution from the moment
he took office; and
WHEREAS, On January 11, 2017, nine days before his
inauguration, Donald J. Trump announced a plan that would, if
carried out, remove him from day-to-day operations of his

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businesses but not eliminate any of the ongoing flow of
emoluments from foreign governments, state governments, or the
United States government; and
WHEREAS, From the moment he took office, President Trump
was in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the
Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution;
and
WHEREAS, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington has filed a federal lawsuit against Donald J. Trump
alleging that his "business interests are creating countless
conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by
foreign governments"; and
WHEREAS, As Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to thwart
investigations into his personal business dealings, he has also
obstructed similar attempts to examine the Trump
Administration's ties to representatives of hostile foreign
nations; and
WHEREAS, In May of 2017, Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI
Director James Comey as Mr. Comey began to intensify the
Bureau's investigation into alleged Russian interference in
the 2016 General Election and the possibility of collaboration
with the Trump campaign; and

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WHEREAS, During a meeting at the White House on May 10,
2017, Donald J. Trump appears to have leaked highly classified
information to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian
Federation Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador of the Russian
Federation to the United States Sergey Kislyak; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump made a series of false claims about
immigration, such as stating that open borders bring tremendous
crime, while undocumented immigrants, in truth, commit crimes
at a lower rate than U.S. citizens; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump has used fearmongering to claim that
a wall will stop drugs from coming across the country's
borders, when most illegal drugs come through legal points of
entry; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump has lied to the media about his plans
to build a wall stretching over 400 miles, while signing
spending bills only allowing for fencing; and
WHEREAS, More than 20 immigrants have died in ICE detention
centers in the past two years; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump has falsely stated that the tax
reforms he championed included the largest tax cuts ever

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passed, when, in reality, the cuts are smaller than two tax
cuts passed under Barack Obama; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump's slogan, "Make America Great
Again," promotes white supremacy, which is a racist belief that
white people are superior to people of other races and
therefore should be dominant over them; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump infringed on civil rights and
insulted service members with his ban on transgender
individuals enlisting in the military; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump took credit for funding the Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative after initially planning to
eliminate it; and
WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation
into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election has resulted in 34
indictments, seven guilty pleas, and four people in prison so
far; and
WHEREAS, In his report, Special Counsel Robert Mueller
documents multiple instances in which Donald Trump ordered
others to interfere with or end his investigation; and
WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller stated

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definitively that if he had been able to clear the President of
obstruction of justice then he would have done so; and
WHEREAS, Donald Trump has told more than 10,000 lies to the
people of the United States; and
WHEREAS, These violations truly undermine the integrity of
the Presidency, corruptly advance the personal wealth of the
President, and violate the public trust; and
WHEREAS, Section 4 of Article II of the United States
Constitution provides, that "The President, Vice President and
all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from
Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery,
or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United
States House of Representatives to support a resolution
authorizing and directing the House Committee on the Judiciary
to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the
impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States,
including but not limited to the violations listed herein; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

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transmitted to all members of the United States Senate, all
members of the United States House of Representatives, all
members of the Illinois General Assembly, and the Governor of
the State of Illinois.