88R9965 TBO-D
 
  By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 53
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, During a span of nearly 250 years, beginning in 1619
  and continuing until 1865, millions of Africans and their
  descendants were enslaved and forced into uncompensated labor in
  the United States and the 13 American colonies that preceded the
  founding of this nation; and
         WHEREAS, The enslavement of Africans and their descendants
  was constitutionally sanctioned by the final draft of the
  Constitution of the United States of America in 1789; it was not
  until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that slavery
  was legally abolished, yet the suffering of the former slaves
  continued after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and
  ratification of the 13th Amendment; and
         WHEREAS, The abolition of slavery alone was not enough to set
  the freed slaves on the path to self-sufficiency, given the fact
  that for generations they had been systematically denied access to
  education, property, legal rights, or any other foundation for
  success, and even the few attempts to provide some of these
  fundamental elements often were quickly overturned; and
         WHEREAS, For example, the original pledge of 40 acres of land
  to all freed slaves under the Freedman's Bureau Act of 1865 was
  rendered obsolete in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson when he
  returned all of the land to the pre-Civil War owners, leaving the
  freed slaves with a broken promise and bankrupting the bureau's
  funding; and
         WHEREAS, The United States government has actively supported
  initiatives to indemnify Americans who were wronged in the past; in
  1946, the United States Congress established a tribunal to resolve
  grievances of Native American tribes and eventually awarded them
  reparations, and in 1988, the United States awarded Japanese
  Americans reparations in an effort to compensate for their
  internment in camps during World War II; and
         WHEREAS, The movement to officially recognize the impact of
  slavery on the American citizenry has been sustained through
  several generations and continues to have nationwide support;
  however, since the abolition of slavery, the United States has yet
  to take responsibility for its role in the enslavement of Africans
  and their descendants, and sufficient inquiry has not been made to
  examine the institution of slavery and its lingering negative
  effects on African American society in the United States; now,
  therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass H.R. 40
  to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation
  Proposals for African Americans; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
  the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the
  Senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
  Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
  be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
  the Congress of the United States of America.