79R17711 KO-D

By:  Rose                                                         H.R. No. 1823



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The dedicated efforts of scholars such as Dr. Ian 
Hancock have played a vital role in making Texans and citizens 
around the world aware of important human rights issues; and
	WHEREAS, A professor of language and linguistics at The 
University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Hancock teaches courses in the 
Department of English, the Department of Linguistics, and the 
Department of Asian Studies; he is also an academic affiliate of the 
Foreign Language Education Center and the Center for Russian, East 
European, and Eurasian Studies at UT; and
	WHEREAS, Born in London, this esteemed scholar earned his 
Ph.D. at London University and has been a member of the UT faculty 
since 1972; he is the author of innumerable articles, conference 
papers, reviews, and monographs and more than 20 books, including 
We Are the Romani People, A History of the Romanies, and A Grammar 
of American Bashaldo Romani; moreover, he is a published poet; and
	WHEREAS, Dr. Hancock's specialty is the study of the Romani 
people, often referred to as Gypsies, and he is the director of the 
Romani Archives and Documentation Center, the leading U.S. facility 
for Romani studies; a member of the four-person delegation that 
petitioned the United Nations for membership of the International 
Romani Union in the 1970s, he was elected in 1990 as its U.N. 
delegate, representing some 12 million Roma throughout the world 
through their coordinating organizations in 32 countries; and
	WHEREAS, Professor Hancock was asked to represent the U.S. 
State Department at meetings with government officials in five 
Eastern European countries, and in January 2005, he visited the 
Czech Republic and Slovakia to advise on human rights issues 
concerning the Roma minorities in those countries; he also serves 
as chair of the Committee for the Disbursement of Looted Swiss 
Assets to Roma Survivors and their descendants; and
	WHEREAS, An expert on the Romani victims of the Holocaust, 
Dr. Hancock was appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council as 
its only Romani member and was invited, along with 48 heads of 
state, to speak in Sweden at the Forum 2000 Conference on the 
Holocaust; a member of the Anne Frank Institute of the Philadelphia 
Center on the Holocaust, he was a much-sought-after interview 
subject in the national and international press in the early 1990s 
when he protested the forced deportation of Gypsies from Germany; 
and
	WHEREAS, Dr. Hancock has been deservedly recognized around 
the world for his humanitarian efforts in behalf of the Romani 
people; he has received the Rafto Human Rights Prize, the Baha'i 
Church Peace Award, and the UT Humanities Award, to name but a few; 
he has also been honored for his teaching with the prestigious UT 
President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award; and
	WHEREAS, Ian Hancock's work as an educator, scholar, and 
human rights activist has significantly advanced the study of an 
important culture and enhanced the lives of Romani people around 
the world, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge his extraordinary 
achievements; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature hereby commend Dr. Ian Hancock for his outstanding 
academic career and honor him for his contributions to our 
knowledge, understanding, and compassion for the plight of the 
Romani people; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for Dr. Hancock as an expression of high regard by the 
Texas House of Representatives.