BILL NUMBER: ACR 4CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 16 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE MAY 4, 2011 ADOPTED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 14, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Block and Bonnie Lowenthal (Coauthors: Assembly Members Blumenfield, Feuer, Halderman, Miller, John A. Prez, Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Prez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada) (Coauthors: Senators Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Steinberg, and Wolk) JANUARY 11, 2011 Relative to California Holocaust Memorial Week. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 4, Block. California Holocaust Memorial Week. This measure would proclaim May 1 through May 8, 2011, as California Holocaust Memorial Week and would urge Californians to observe these days of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner. WHEREAS, The Holocaust was a tragedy of proportions the world had never before witnessed; and WHEREAS, More than 65 years have passed since the tragic events we now refer to as the Holocaust transpired, in which the dictatorship of Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews as part of a systematic program of genocide known as "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question"; and WHEREAS, Jews were the primary victims, but they were not alone. Five million other people were murdered in Nazi concentration camps as part of a carefully orchestrated, state-sponsored program of cultural, social, and political annihilation under the Nazi tyranny; and WHEREAS, We must recognize the heroism of those who provided assistance to the victims of the Nazi regime, including the many soldiers who liberated concentration camps and provided comfort to those suffering; and WHEREAS, We must teach our children, and future generations, that the individual and communal acts of heroism during the Holocaust serve as a powerful example of how our nation and its citizens can, and must, respond to acts of hatred and inhumanity; and WHEREAS, We must always remind ourselves of the horrible events of the Holocaust and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution, and tyranny lest these atrocities be repeated; and WHEREAS, We, the people of California, should actively rededicate ourselves to the principles of human rights, individual freedom, and equal protection under the laws of a just and democratic society; and WHEREAS, Each person in California should set aside moments of his or her time every year to give remembrance to those who lost their lives in the Holocaust; and WHEREAS, The United States Holocaust Memorial Council has designated May 1 through May 8, 2011, as the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, including the International Day of Remembrance, known as Yom HaShoah, on May 2, 2011; and WHEREAS, According to Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and nationally recognized scholar, "... a memorial unresponsive to the future would violate the memory of the past"; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That May 1 through May 8, 2011, be proclaimed "California Holocaust Memorial Week," and that Californians are urged to observe these days of remembrance for victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit sufficient copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.