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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Throughout history, countless lives have been lost |
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to oppressive communist regimes; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2017, November 7 was designated as a national day |
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of remembrance for the victims of communism; the date commemorates |
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the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, when |
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the first communist regime, led by Vladimir Lenin, initiated |
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decades of oppression and violence around the world; despite |
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promises of equality and liberation, communist dictators such as |
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Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Nicolae Ceausescu, |
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Fidel and Raúl Castro, and the Kim dynasty of North Korea have |
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murdered vast numbers of people in genocidal purges, persecuted |
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others for speaking out, and suppressed freedom of thought, |
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cultural life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 |
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nations; and |
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WHEREAS, Based on the theories of Karl Marx, this political |
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ideology has been responsible for the deaths of more than 100 |
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million people, and it has subjected countless others to some of the |
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worst human rights abuses in history; as the bipartisan |
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U.S. Congressional Caucus for the Victims of Communism has stated, |
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"Marx's defenders often say he cannot be held accountable for what |
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communist regimes did long after his life and death, but Marxist |
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dictators who massacred their own people were applying communist |
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ideology to political practice"; and |
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WHEREAS, Under Chapter 443, Government Code, and rules of the |
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State Preservation Board, a portion of the north Capitol grounds is |
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available for new monuments, subject to legislative approval, |
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specified procedural requirements, the provision of funding from |
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private donors, conformity to certain size and design limitations |
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and parameters, and completion on a timely basis; and |
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WHEREAS, A memorial on the Capitol grounds would provide a |
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communal place for Texans to honor the legacies of those who lost |
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their lives to communism; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby authorize the State Preservation Board, subject to state law |
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and rules of the board, to approve the construction of a monument |
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honoring victims of communism at the State Capitol Complex, at a |
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site outside of the historic Capitol grounds; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward an |
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official copy of this resolution to the executive director of the |
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State Preservation Board. |