Campaign News
April 8, 2008
Illinois State Resolution live online tomorrow, April 9th, at Noon CST, Illinois Committee unanimously votes in favor of HR 850
This afternoon, the campaign was informed that the Illinois state resolution in support of the Nisei WWII veterans commemorative stamp, HR 850, will be read on the floor of the House tomorrow, April 9th, at Noon Central Standard Time [10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, or 1 p.m. Eastern Time]. State Representative Constance Howard, who initiated the resolution, will present and read the resolution prior to the House vote. The event will be shown live on the State of Illinois website (see link below, and instructions on the website).
HR 850 was considered at a committee hearing on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008. The committee unanimously voted in favor of supporting the resolution in a 13-0, bipartisan vote, to forward the resolution to the House floor of the state legislature. JACL Midwest Regional Director, Bill Yoshino, presented testimony at the hearing, and was joined at the podium by Sam Ozaki, 442nd member and retired Chicago high school principal. Read the full text of Mr. Yoshino's testimony below.
We sincerely thank Rep. Howard, Mr. Yoshino, Mr. Ozaki, and all of the supporting individuals and organizations in Illinois who helped in this state's grassroots effort. We would especially like to acknowledge the dedicated efforts of Ms. Carole Herhold of Chicago who first approached Rep. Howard about the stamp campaign this past winter. Over 200 sent letters of support for the resolution were gathered in support of the resolution once it was introduced by Rep. Howard and set for the hearing. Contact Rep. Howard's aide, Mr. Jude McKenna, with questions at 217-782-1014.
View the Illinois State Resolution for the Nisei WWII veterans stamp at Noon (Central Standard Time) tomorrow, April 9th, on the following website, and follow the directions. You will have the option of just listening to the webcast, or watching live streaming video with Windows Media Player: Click here
Take Action!
REMEMBER to sign the free, Online Petition to support the campaign.
Important Note: This internet petition is separate from the handwritten petitions, and we encourage you to sign both. The online petition allows you to leave comments. You can check out what other signers have written daily. Many give personal testimony in support of the stamp proposal (click on the "Signers" tab at the top of the petition to see them).
More questions?
Contact the campaign at (714) 534-5139