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91_SR0140
LRB9106893KBkbA
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Children are a precious gift and responsibility;
3 and
4 WHEREAS, The spiritual, physical, and mental well being
5 of children is our sacred duty; and
6 WHEREAS, No segment of our society is more critical to
7 the survival of our civilization and posterity than our
8 children; and
9 WHEREAS, Information that seeks to endanger our children
10 has been made public and has been given unwarranted or
11 unintended credibility through release under professional
12 titles or through a professional and well respected
13 organization; and
14 WHEREAS, It is the obligation of all public policy makers
15 not only to support but also to defend the health and rights
16 of parents, families, and children; and
17 WHEREAS, Citizens of this great nation entrust in their
18 elected officials the duty to inform and counteract that
19 which we consider damaging to children, families, and
20 society; and
21 WHEREAS, Recently the American Psychological Association
22 (APA) published a research paper entitled, "A Meta-Analytic
23 Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using
24 College Samples," on the long-term impact of child sexual
25 abuse; this paper was authored by Bruce Rind (Temple
26 University), Philip Tromovitch (University of Pennsylvania),
27 and Robert Bauserman (University of Michigan); and
28 WHEREAS, The conclusions of this report suggest that many
29 survivors of child sexual abuse have little or no long-term
30 effects of the abuse and that for some "willing" children
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1 adolescent sex "may fall within the 'normal' range of some
2 sexual behavior"; and
3 WHEREAS, This report attempts to distinguish child sexual
4 abuse from adolescent/adult sex by stating that a willing
5 encounter between a child and an adult with positive
6 reactions would be labeled simply adult-child sex, a value
7 neutral term; and
8 WHEREAS, William Shakespeare, one of the great writers of
9 English literature and Western civilization, wrote that
10 "unstained thoughts do seldom dream on evil"; and
11 WHEREAS, A well accepted tenet of Western civilization is
12 embodied in the words written in Matthew 18, which say, "it
13 would be better for anyone who leads astray one of these
14 little ones who believe in me, to be drowned by a millstone
15 around his neck, in the depths of the sea"; therefore, be it
16 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
17 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn and
18 denounce all findings in this report which suggest that
19 sexual relationships between adults and "willing" children
20 are less harmful than believed and these relationships are
21 beneficial to the child involved; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the Illinois Senate urges the United
23 States congress and the President of the United States to
24 reject any suggestion that sexual relations between children
25 and adults are anything but abusive, destructive,
26 exploitative, reprehensible, and punishable by law; and be it
27 further
28 RESOLVED, The the Illinois Senate finds that no State
29 resources should be used by our colleges and universities for
30 this type of research which is looked upon by society as
31 balderdash; and be it further
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1 RESOLVED, That the Illinois Senate rejects the moral
2 relativism contained in this report and embraces that
3 societal norms are necessary for a healthy society; and be it
4 further
5 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
6 delivered to President Clinton, the Illinois congressional
7 delegation, the governing boards of Temple University, the
8 University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan,
9 and the Illinois Board of Higher Education, which is
10 requested to share a copy of this resolution with each of the
11 governing boards of all colleges and universities in
12 Illinois.