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HR1284 |
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LRB093 24130 CSA 54322 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Mario Pena is a dedicated public servant with over |
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| 15 years of distinguished service to the people of Lake County, |
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| and he is also an elected official of Waukegan Township, where |
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| he holds the position of Trustee; he retired in 2003 from |
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| Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago after 29 years of service; |
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| and
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| WHEREAS, He has done extensive volunteer work within the |
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| Hispanic community by providing assistance to individuals |
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| needing help completing Naturalization documents, completing |
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| paperwork for lost or misplaced "Green Cards" (Permanent |
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| Resident Card), and making referrals to the Department of |
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| Immigration and Naturalization Services; and
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| WHEREAS, He knows first-hand the difficulties involved |
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| with the citizenship application process; when he applied, he |
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| became extremely frustrated with the amount of paperwork |
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| involved and how long the actual process took; it was then when |
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| he started talking to non-profit organizations about helping to |
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| streamline the INS process; for the first five years, he |
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| visited churches county-wide in an effort to assist people in |
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| becoming U.S. citizens; as of today, he has contributed |
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| approximately 7,600 hours of volunteer work and has helped over |
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| 3,800 people of various origins in communities across the |
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| county become U.S. citizens; his hard work and dedication paid |
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| off not only for the 3,800 people, it also allowed over 12,000 |
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| immediate relatives the opportunity to become legal U.S. |
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| residents; and
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| WHEREAS, Mario Pena has listened, felt compassion and has |
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| found it very rewarding to help people overcome their problems; |
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| he has done approximately 500 hours of casework and has helped |
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| about 1,000 people by his efforts or by referring them to |
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| different agencies or organizations with issues other than |