H.R. No. 27
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Americans across the country will pause on March 31,
2012, Cesar Chavez Day, to pay tribute to the inspiring life and
achievements of the founder and longtime leader of the United Farm
Workers of America (UFW), AFL-CIO, on the anniversary of his birth;
and
WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, and later raised in
California, Cesar Estrada Chavez spent much of his youth as a
migrant laborer; as a Latino and a farmworker, he learned firsthand
about the indignities of second-class citizenship and the unhealthy
working and living conditions endured by those who tended the
fields; and
WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946,
Cesar Chavez returned to California, and in 1948 he married Helen
Fabela; four years later he became a community organizer for the
Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group
that focused most of its work in urban areas, and by the late 1950s
he had become its national director; and
WHEREAS, When in 1962 the CSO declined to organize California
farmworkers, Mr. Chavez and his colleague Dolores Huerta left the
organization to found the National Farm Workers Association, a
forerunner of the UFW; their fledgling union gained national
prominence just three years later when it came to the support of
workers who were striking against California's grape growers; in
addition to assuming leadership of the strike, Mr. Chavez launched
a successful nationwide consumers' boycott of nonunion grapes; and
WHEREAS, By the end of the five-year-long strike, the UFW had
organized all of the California table-grape industry and negotiated
the first collective bargaining agreements between American
farmworkers and corporations; in 1975 Cesar Chavez and the UFW
further succeeded in securing the passage of California's
Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in U.S. history
granting farmworkers the right to unionize and bargain
collectively; numerous other gains achieved under his leadership
included the establishment of a farmworkers' medical plan, pension
plan, and credit union, as well as the National Farm Workers Service
Center, Inc., whose projects include the development of affordable
housing, health clinics, cooperatives, and a retirement home; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of his life, Cesar Chavez sought to
advance La Causa, the movement, through nonviolent means--through
strikes, pickets, and boycotts; on several occasions he also
undertook lengthy fasts to draw public attention to the
farmworkers' struggle; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez continued to lead the UFW until his death
on April 23, 1993; more than 50,000 people from throughout the
nation gathered to mourn him at his funeral, indicative of the
far-reaching impact he had made on American society; and
WHEREAS, Since that time, numerous schools, streets,
scholarships, monuments, buildings, and parks have been named in
his memory, a number of U.S. cities have initiated annual
celebrations in tribute to his life, and several states, including
Texas, have declared his birthday, March 31, a state holiday; in
1994 Mr. Chavez was posthumously awarded the nation's highest
honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and
WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez chose to devote his life to the pursuit
of social and economic justice through nonviolent means, and his
courage and steadfastness in this great work brought improved
health, greater security, and hope for a brighter future to
countless people; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby honor the life of Cesar Chavez and join the
citizens of the Lone Star State in commemorating the 85th
anniversary of his birth on March 31, 2012.
Alonzo
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 27 was unanimously adopted by a rising
vote of the House on February 24, 2011.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House