1-1 By: Hunter (Senate Sponsor - Truan) H.C.R. No. 30 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 1995; 1-3 April 25, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 International Relations, Trade, and Technology; April 26, 1995, 1-5 reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; 1-6 April 26, 1995, sent to printer.) 1-7 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-8 WHEREAS, In response to an Act of Congress approved April 10, 1-9 1869, the 12th Legislature of the State of Texas convened in 1-10 Provisional Session from February 8 to February 24, 1870, and 1-11 ratified Amendments XIII, XIV, and XV to the United States 1-12 Constitution; and 1-13 WHEREAS, Those federal constitutional amendments, each 1-14 ratified by separate joint resolutions of the 12th Legislature on 1-15 February 15, 1870, solidified some of the most precious rights that 1-16 have been guaranteed constitutionally to Americans, particularly 1-17 ethnic minorities who were granted the blessings of equal 1-18 citizenship and the beginning of an end to their past oppression; 1-19 and 1-20 WHEREAS, Amendment XIII eliminated forever the practice of 1-21 slavery, Amendment XIV promised due process and the equal 1-22 protection of the laws, and Amendment XV prohibited denial of 1-23 suffrage on the grounds of race, color, or previous condition of 1-24 servitude; and 1-25 WHEREAS, Over time, copies of the three resolutions 1-26 regrettably have vanished from the holdings of the Texas state 1-27 archives, yet others are preserved in Washington, D.C., by virtue 1-28 of their certification and transmittal to the Secretary of State of 1-29 the United States and to the presiding officers of the United 1-30 States Congress; and 1-31 WHEREAS, The 1995 Regular Session of the 74th Legislature 1-32 coincides with the 125th anniversary of these historic ratification 1-33 actions and marks an appropriate time for the conveyance to this 1-34 state of replicas of the three resolutions so that Texans may view 1-35 and appreciate a series of documents that have played such an 1-36 important role in the extension and elaboration of their civil 1-37 rights; now, therefore, be it 1-38 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas, 1-39 Regular Session, 1995, hereby respectfully request the National 1-40 Archives and Records Administration to make copies of the joint 1-41 resolutions of the 12th Texas Legislature ratifying Amendments 1-42 XIII, XIV, and XV to the United States Constitution and transmit 1-43 those copies to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for 1-44 placement in the state archives; and, be it further 1-45 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward copies of 1-46 this resolution to the archivist of the United States at the 1-47 National Archives and Records Administration, to the vice-president 1-48 of the United States and speaker of the United States House of 1-49 Representatives with a request that this resolution be officially 1-50 entered in the Congressional Record, and to all members of the 1-51 Texas delegation to the United States Congress, as an official 1-52 request to the federal government by the 74th Legislature of the 1-53 State of Texas; and, be it further 1-54 RESOLVED, That if and when such replicas are received from 1-55 the National Archives and Records Administration, the Texas State 1-56 Library and Archives Commission be hereby directed to place them in 1-57 the holdings of the state archives to be available for public 1-58 viewing and photocopying and in all other respects to be treated as 1-59 any other material worthy of archival storage and retrieval. 1-60 * * * * *