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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, On May 6, 1882, President Chester Arthur signed the |
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| 6 | 7 | | Chinese Exclusion Act, the nation's first law to prohibit |
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| 7 | 8 | | immigration solely on the basis of ethnicity; and |
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| 8 | 9 | | WHEREAS, The Chinese Exclusion Act was based on racial |
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| 9 | 10 | | hostility against the Chinese, who were characterized as |
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| 10 | 11 | | "unassimilable, vile heathens" and blamed for lowering wages, |
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| 11 | 12 | | taking away jobs, draining the economy, and threatening the |
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| 12 | 13 | | American way of life; it effectively halted Chinese immigration for |
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| 13 | 14 | | a decade and prevented Chinese residents from attaining U.S. |
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| 14 | 15 | | citizenship; in addition, Chinese laborers who already lived in the |
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| 15 | 16 | | country could no longer leave and reenter without obtaining |
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| 16 | 17 | | "certificates of residence" in advance; and |
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| 17 | 18 | | WHEREAS, In 1892, the Geary Act extended the Exclusion Act |
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| 18 | 19 | | for another 10 years and required all Chinese people to obtain and |
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| 19 | 20 | | carry "certificates of residence"; discriminatory laws were |
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| 20 | 21 | | expanded and extended in subsequent decades, institutionalizing |
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| 21 | 22 | | prejudice against the Chinese and ultimately other immigrants; and |
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| 22 | 23 | | WHEREAS, During World War II, imperial Japan attempted to |
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| 23 | 24 | | weaken the alliance between the United States and the Republic of |
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| 24 | 25 | | China by highlighting American discrimination in its propaganda; |
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| 25 | 26 | | President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote to Congress about the urgency |
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| 26 | 27 | | of correcting the "historic mistake" of Chinese exclusion, and he |
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| 27 | 28 | | pressed for repeal of the discriminatory laws, which were finally |
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| 28 | 29 | | rescinded in 1943; nearly six decades later, in the 112th Congress, |
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| 29 | 30 | | the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed |
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| 30 | 31 | | resolutions condemning the Chinese Exclusion Act and related laws; |
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| 31 | 32 | | Congress recognized the tremendous contributions of Chinese |
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| 32 | 33 | | Americans to the growth and success of this nation, and it expressed |
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| 33 | 34 | | profound regret for violations of their political and civil rights; |
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| 34 | 35 | | and |
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| 35 | 36 | | WHEREAS, The Chinese Exclusion Act contravened the |
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| 36 | 37 | | principle, enshrined as a foundational precept in the American |
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| 37 | 38 | | Declaration of Independence, that all persons are created equal, |
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| 38 | 39 | | and by acknowledging this great injustice, we reaffirm our |
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| 39 | 40 | | commitment to this nation's core values and to the civil rights |
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| 40 | 41 | | protections of the U.S. Constitution; now, therefore, be it |
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| 41 | 42 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 42 | 43 | | Legislature hereby commemorate the 135th anniversary of the Chinese |
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| 43 | 44 | | Exclusion Act and encourage all Texans to learn more about this |
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| 44 | 45 | | dishonorable chapter in our nation's history. |
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