Bill Text: CA SCR32 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-08-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 89, Statutes of 2013. [SCR32 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SCR32-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SCR 32	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  89
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 29, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 24, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 26, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 10, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Corbett

                        APRIL 2, 2013

   Relative to Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 32, Corbett. Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.
   This measure would designate the month of October 2013 as
California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month to
recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions to the state
made by Californians of Hindu heritage.



   WHEREAS, California and the nation have been influenced by the
extraordinary cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity
of its residents; and
   WHEREAS, Of the over one billion Hindus worldwide, more than 2
million Hindu Americans live across the nation, and the State of
California is home to the largest Hindu American population in the
United States; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in California represent diverse ethnic
backgrounds, including individuals of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi,
Malaysian, Indonesian, Afghani, Nepali, Bhutanese, Sri Lankan,
Fijian, Caribbean, and European descent; and
   WHEREAS, California and our nation have greatly benefited by Hindu
Americans, especially through yoga, meditation, Vedanta philosophy,
ayurvedic medicine, classical Indian music, art, and dance; and
   WHEREAS, Swami Vivekananda is credited with officially introducing
Hinduism to the United States in 1893 at the World's Parliament of
Religions in Chicago, and in 1900 he arrived in San Francisco and
founded the Vedanta Society; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans and the Vedanta philosophy have
significantly influenced notable American intellectuals such as Henry
David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, J.D. Salinger,
Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, Huston Smith, and Joseph
Campbell; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans believe in promoting knowledge and
education for all and as a group have the highest education rate in
the nation; and
   WHEREAS, Almost three-quarters of Hindu Americans are college
graduates and nearly one-half of Hindu Americans have postgraduate
degrees; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans share the entrepreneurial spirit of
America, have been pioneers and leaders in Silicon Valley, and have
particularly excelled in the fields of information technology,
science, medicine, law, and business; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have founded roughly 10 percent of
Silicon Valley startups in California, while comprising less than 1
percent of the United States' population; and
   WHEREAS, The first Hindu American elected to Congress, Tulsi
Gabbard of Hawaii, is a United States military veteran and took the
oath of office on January 3, 2013, on a copy of the Bhagavad Gita,
which is the most well known and widely read text of the many sacred
texts of Hinduism; and
   WHEREAS, The first Hindu temple in the United States was built in
San Francisco, California, and at the dedication of the temple on
January 7, 1906, it was proclaimed to be the "First Hindu Temple in
the Whole Western World"; and
   WHEREAS, There are now over 50 Hindu temples throughout
California, and the San Francisco Bay area is home to over 20 Hindu
temples; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in cities throughout California celebrate
numerous holidays and festivals, such as Diwali, which celebrates
the victory of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu temples, organizations, and individuals in
California actively engage in seva, or selfless service towards their
fellow human beings through charity, public service, and the
provision of free medical and legal services; and
   WHEREAS, Ahimsa, which is the Sanskrit word for noninjury or
nonviolence, is a central principle for Hindu Americans in
California, and it provides the ethical foundation for vegetarianism,
environmentalism, and harmonious living; and
   WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have helped promote the shared American
ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and religious freedom, which are
inherent to their beliefs and respect the diversity of all faiths,
and the Vedas, the 5,000 year old texts of Hindu Americans, provide
the basis for these core principles: "Truth is one, the wise call it
by many names"  Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti]; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the month
of October 2013 as California Hindu American Awareness and
Appreciation Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes and acknowledges the
significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu heritage to
our state, and by adoption of this resolution, seeks to increase
awareness and understanding about the Hindu American community; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.