1-1                          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 419

        1-2           WHEREAS, The Texas Council on Family Violence is a

        1-3     nonprofit membership organization of family violence programs,

        1-4     battering intervention and prevention programs, and concerned

        1-5     individuals in Texas; and

        1-6           WHEREAS, On April 1, 1997, Texans will act to end family

        1-7     violence by drawing attention to the thousands of victims of

        1-8     family violence in Texas and across the country; and

        1-9           WHEREAS, A procession will form at Wooldridge Square on

       1-10     that day, and participants will walk up Congress Avenue to the

       1-11     State Capitol carrying 160 life-size wooden female

       1-12     silhouettes--Silent Witnesses--that will be unveiled during the

       1-13     procession; and

       1-14           WHEREAS, Thirty-six percent of all women murdered in Texas

       1-15     are killed by their male partners, which is higher than the

       1-16     national average of 28 percent; and

       1-17           WHEREAS, The Texas Council on Family Violence created the

       1-18     life-size wooden silhouettes, each bearing the name and story of

       1-19     a Texas woman killed by her male partner in 1994; and

       1-20           WHEREAS, The 160 Silent Witnesses who commemorate the

       1-21     lives of murdered women will be displayed together for the first

       1-22     time and will serve as a powerful and vivid reminder of the tragedy

       1-23     of family violence in our communities; and

        2-1           WHEREAS, Concerned Texans from all over the state are

        2-2     issuing a call to action today to stop family violence; and

        2-3           WHEREAS, The Silent Witnesses will be on display in the

        2-4     State Capitol as part of a three-day exhibit on the second floor

        2-5     of the Capitol Extension; they will also be a part of the national

        2-6     march of Silent Witnesses from across the country in

        2-7     Washington, D.C., in October, 1997, and, later, will become a

        2-8     traveling exhibit across Texas; now, therefore, be it

        2-9           RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,

       2-10     75th Legislature, hereby recognize the Texas Council on Family

       2-11     Violence's Silent Witness Project on April 1, 1997, and encourage

       2-12     all Texans to act now to end family violence.

       2-13                                                                Moncrief

       2-14                                  ______________________________________

       2-15                                          President of the Senate

       2-16                                       I hereby certify that the above

       2-17                                  Resolution was adopted by the Senate

       2-18                                  on April 1, 1997.

       2-19                                  ______________________________________

       2-20                                          Secretary of the Senate

       2-21                                  ______________________________________

       2-22                                           Member, Texas Senate