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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, Americans across the country will pause on March 31, |
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| 6 | 7 | | 2017, Cesar Chavez Day, to pay tribute to the inspiring life and |
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| 7 | 8 | | achievements of the founder and longtime leader of the United Farm |
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| 8 | 9 | | Workers of America on the anniversary of his birth; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, and raised in |
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| 10 | 11 | | California, Cesar Estrada Chavez spent much of his youth as a |
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| 11 | 12 | | migrant laborer; as a Latino and a farmworker, he learned firsthand |
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| 12 | 13 | | about the indignities of second-class citizenship and the unhealthy |
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| 13 | 14 | | working and living conditions endured by those who tended the |
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| 14 | 15 | | fields; and |
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| 15 | 16 | | WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1948, |
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| 16 | 17 | | Cesar Chavez returned to California, and in 1948 he married Helen |
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| 17 | 18 | | Fabela; four years later he became a community organizer for the |
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| 18 | 19 | | Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group that |
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| 19 | 20 | | focused most of its work in urban areas, and by the late 1950s he had |
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| 20 | 21 | | become its national director; and |
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| 21 | 22 | | WHEREAS, When in 1962 the CSO declined to organize California |
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| 22 | 23 | | farmworkers, Mr. Chavez and his colleague Dolores Huerta left the |
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| 23 | 24 | | organization to found the National Farm Workers Association, a |
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| 24 | 25 | | forerunner of the UFW; their fledgling union gained national |
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| 25 | 26 | | prominence just three years later when it offered support to |
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| 26 | 27 | | workers who were striking against California's grape growers; in |
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| 27 | 28 | | addition to assuming leadership of the strike, Mr. Chavez launched |
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| 28 | 29 | | a successful nationwide consumers' boycott of nonunion grapes; and |
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| 29 | 30 | | WHEREAS, By the end of the five-year-long strike, the UFW had |
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| 30 | 31 | | organized all of the California table-grape industry and negotiated |
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| 31 | 32 | | the first collective bargaining agreements between American |
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| 32 | 33 | | farmworkers and corporations; in 1975 Mr. Chavez and the UFW |
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| 33 | 34 | | succeeded in securing the passage of California's Agricultural |
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| 34 | 35 | | Labor Relations Act, the first law in U.S. history granting |
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| 35 | 36 | | farmworkers the right to unionize and bargain collectively; |
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| 36 | 37 | | numerous other gains achieved under his leadership included the |
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| 37 | 38 | | establishment of a farmworkers' medical plan, pension plan, and |
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| 38 | 39 | | credit union, as well as the National Farm Workers Service Center, |
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| 39 | 40 | | whose projects have included the development of affordable housing, |
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| 40 | 41 | | health clinics, cooperatives, and a retirement home; and |
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| 41 | 42 | | WHEREAS, Over the course of his life, Cesar Chavez sought to |
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| 42 | 43 | | advance La Causa, the movement, through nonviolent means--through |
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| 43 | 44 | | strikes, pickets, and boycotts; on several occasions he also |
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| 44 | 45 | | undertook lengthy fasts to draw public attention to the |
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| 45 | 46 | | farmworkers' struggle; and |
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| 46 | 47 | | WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez continued to lead the UFW until his death |
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| 47 | 48 | | on April 23, 1993; more than 50,000 people from throughout the |
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| 48 | 49 | | nation gathered to mourn him at his funeral, indicating the |
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| 49 | 50 | | far-reaching impact he had made on American society; and |
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| 50 | 51 | | WHEREAS, Since that time, numerous schools, streets, |
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| 51 | 52 | | scholarships, monuments, buildings, and parks have been named in |
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| 52 | 53 | | his memory, a number of U.S. cities have initiated annual |
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| 53 | 54 | | celebrations in tribute to his life, and several states, including |
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| 54 | 55 | | Texas, have declared his birthday, March 31, a state holiday; in |
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| 55 | 56 | | 1994 Mr. Chavez was posthumously awarded the nation's highest |
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| 56 | 57 | | honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and |
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| 57 | 58 | | WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez chose to devote his life to the pursuit |
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| 58 | 59 | | of social and economic justice through nonviolent means, and his |
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| 59 | 60 | | courage and steadfastness in this great work brought improved |
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| 60 | 61 | | health, greater security, and hope for a brighter future to |
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| 61 | 62 | | countless people; now, therefore, be it |
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| 62 | 63 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 63 | 64 | | Legislature hereby honor the life of Cesar Chavez and join the |
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| 64 | 65 | | citizens of the Lone Star State in commemorating the 90th |
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| 65 | 66 | | anniversary of his birth on March 31, 2017. |
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