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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Juanita Valdez-Cox of Donna retired as executive |
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director of La Unión del Pueblo Entero on December 31, 2022, |
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following decades of distinguished service to the labor movement; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Mercedes, Ms. Valdez-Cox joined her |
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farmworker parents in the fields as a young girl; she earned a |
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degree in early childhood development from The University of Texas |
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Rio Grande Valley and became a teacher and director for the Colonias |
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Del Valle Head Start Program; in 1979, she took a position as a |
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community organizer in East Austin, where she was introduced to the |
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philosophy of Cesar Chavez and other civil rights leaders; she soon |
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returned to the Rio Grande Valley and began volunteering with the |
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United Farm Workers; after serving the organization as a regional |
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coordinator, she rose to become state director, and in 2000, she was |
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elected to the national executive board; three years later, all |
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Texas UFW staff transferred to LUPE, and Ms. Valdez-Cox was |
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assigned to manage its operations in the state; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Valdez-Cox was named executive director of LUPE |
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in 2007; she secured long-term funding from the Marguerite Casey |
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Foundation, leading to the formation of the Rio Grande Valley Equal |
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Voice Network, a coalition of nonprofit organizations striving to |
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improve the lives of working families; her negotiating skills |
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helped bring colonia residents millions of dollars for disaster |
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recovery housing and drainage improvements; under her leadership, |
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LUPE was a successful plaintiff in several groundbreaking federal |
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discrimination lawsuits, and she worked with state lawmakers to |
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bring streetlights to colonias; she advocated unceasingly for the |
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rights of the most vulnerable and for humane measures such as DACA |
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and fair asylum laws, and she pushed back mightily against |
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anti-immigrant rhetoric and dehumanizing and repressive policies; |
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in 2019, LUPE garnered a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award; |
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Ms. Valdez-Cox has shared her expertise in leadership roles with |
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many other worthy organizations, including the board of the Cesar |
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Chavez Foundation and the advisory committee of the National Farm |
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Workers Service Center's Sí Se Puede Education program; and |
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WHEREAS, Juanita Valdez-Cox devoted her career to making the |
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world a better place for workers and their families, and her |
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exceptional contributions will continue to resonate in the years to |
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come; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby congratulate Juanita Valdez-Cox on her |
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retirement as executive director of LUPE and extend to her sincere |
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best wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Ms. Valdez-Cox as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |