Bill Text: TX HR83 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Honoring the life of Cesar Chavez and commemorating the 91st anniversary of his birth on March 31, 2018.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-02-27 - Reported enrolled [HR83 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR83-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 83 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Americans across the country will pause on March 31, | ||
| 2018, 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 on the anniversary of his birth; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, and 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 1946 to 1948, | ||
| 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, 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 offered support to | ||
| 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 Mr. Chavez and the UFW | ||
| 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, | ||
| whose projects have included 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, indicating 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 85th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby honor the life of Cesar Chavez and join the | ||
| citizens of the Lone Star State in commemorating the 91st | ||
| anniversary of his birth on March 31, 2018. | ||
| Alonzo | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 83 was adopted by the House on | ||
| February 23, 2017, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
