78R3175 LK-D

By:  Lewis                                                      H.C.R. No. 28 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, During a span of nearly 250 years, beginning in 1619 
and continuing until 1865, approximately four million 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, and 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 promise 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 without access to the lands and eroding the bureau's 
funding; and
	WHEREAS, The United States government has actively supported 
initiatives to indemnify certain groups of people 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, A movement to recognize the impact of slavery on the 
American citizenry has developed and been sustained through several 
generations and continues to have growing support; and
	WHEREAS, Since the abolition of slavery, the United States 
has not taken 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 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the 108th Congress of the United States to 
pass H.R. 40 to establish the Commission to Study 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 the 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.