By Hunter of Taylor H.C.R. No. 30 74R2454 CCK-D CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, In response to an Act of Congress approved April 10, 1-2 1869, the 12th Legislature of the State of Texas convened in 1-3 Provisional Session from February 8 to February 24, 1870, and 1-4 ratified Amendments XIII, XIV, and XV to the United States 1-5 Constitution; and 1-6 WHEREAS, Those federal constitutional amendments, each 1-7 ratified by separate joint resolutions of the 12th Legislature on 1-8 February 15, 1870, solidified some of the most precious rights that 1-9 have been guaranteed constitutionally to Americans, particularly 1-10 ethnic minorities who were granted the blessings of equal 1-11 citizenship and the beginning of an end to their past oppression; 1-12 and 1-13 WHEREAS, Amendment XIII eliminated forever the practice of 1-14 slavery, Amendment XIV promised due process and the equal 1-15 protection of the laws, and Amendment XV prohibited denial of 1-16 suffrage on the grounds of race, color, or previous condition of 1-17 servitude; and 1-18 WHEREAS, Over time, copies of the three resolutions 1-19 regrettably have vanished from the holdings of the Texas state 1-20 archives, yet others are preserved in Washington, D.C., by virtue 1-21 of their certification and transmittal to the Secretary of State of 1-22 the United States and to the presiding officers of the United 1-23 States Congress; and 1-24 WHEREAS, The 1995 Regular Session of the 74th Legislature 2-1 coincides with the 125th anniversary of these historic ratification 2-2 actions and marks an appropriate time for the conveyance to this 2-3 state of replicas of the three resolutions so that Texans may view 2-4 and appreciate a series of documents that have played such an 2-5 important role in the extension and elaboration of their civil 2-6 rights; now, therefore, be it 2-7 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas, 2-8 Regular Session, 1995, hereby respectfully request the National 2-9 Archives and Records Administration to make copies of the joint 2-10 resolutions of the 12th Texas Legislature ratifying Amendments 2-11 XIII, XIV, and XV to the United States Constitution and transmit 2-12 those copies to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for 2-13 placement in the state archives; and, be it further 2-14 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward copies of 2-15 this resolution to the archivist of the United States at the 2-16 National Archives and Records Administration, to the vice-president 2-17 of the United States and speaker of the United States House of 2-18 Representatives with a request that this resolution be officially 2-19 entered in the Congressional Record, and to all members of the 2-20 Texas delegation to the United States Congress, as an official 2-21 request to the federal government by the 74th Legislature of the 2-22 State of Texas; and, be it further 2-23 RESOLVED, That if and when such replicas are received from 2-24 the National Archives and Records Administration, the Texas State 2-25 Library and Archives Commission be hereby directed to place them in 2-26 the holdings of the state archives to be available for public 2-27 viewing and photocopying and in all other respects to be treated as 3-1 any other material worthy of archival storage and retrieval.