H.R. No. 131
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, A passionate advocate for social justice and civil
  rights for the poor and disenfranchised, Cesar Chavez was a true
  American hero, and the anniversary of his birth on March 31 provides
  a fitting opportunity to remember and honor his many contributions;
  and
         WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, Cesar Chavez was 10
  years old when his family lost their farm in the Great Depression
  and became migrant farmworkers; throughout his youth and into his
  adulthood, Mr. Chavez traveled across the Southwest, laboring in
  the fields and vineyards and attending more than 30 different
  schools by the time he was in the eighth grade; and
         WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy for two years, he
  returned home to marry Helen Fabela, whom he had met while working
  in the vineyards of central California; settling with his wife in
  the East San Jose barrio of Sal Si Puedes, he returned to farming to
  support his young family; and
         WHEREAS, Witnessing firsthand the hardships and injustices
  of farmworker life, Mr. Chavez joined the Community Service
  Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights group, in 1952; while
  with the CSO, he coordinated voter registration drives and
  conducted campaigns against racial and economic discrimination; in
  the late 1950s and early 1960s, he served as the CSO's national
  director; and
         WHEREAS, Determined to create an organization that would
  protect and serve farmworkers, he resigned from the CSO in 1962,
  leaving the security of a regular paycheck, and moved with his wife
  and eight children to Delano, where he founded the first successful
  farmworkers union in American history; originally called the
  National Farm Workers Association, the organization later became
  known as the United Farm Workers of America; and
         WHEREAS, For more than three decades, Mr. Chavez led this
  groundbreaking organization by effecting change through peaceful
  tactics such as fasts, boycotts, strikes, and pilgrimages; his
  union's efforts influenced and inspired millions of Americans,
  forging a diverse national coalition of students, middle-class
  consumers, religious groups, and minorities in a hard-won struggle
  to achieve fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, humane
  living conditions, and perhaps most important, dignity and respect
  for the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the country;
  and
         WHEREAS, In 1991, this second-generation American received
  the Aguila Azteca award, the highest award Mexico can bestow on a
  person of Mexican heritage, and in 1994, a year after his death on
  April 23, 1993, his widow accepted the Presidential Medal of
  Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, on behalf of her late
  husband; since his death, communities across the nation have chosen
  to pay homage to Mr. Chavez by naming schools, parks, streets, and
  libraries, as well as scholarships and awards, in his honor; and
         WHEREAS, His motto in life, "si se puede," or "it can be
  done," embodies the legacy that Cesar Chavez has left for the
  world's benefit, and his principles of equality, justice, and
  dignity for all Americans remain as essential and as relevant today
  as they were when he began his important life's work; now,
  therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas
  Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Cesar Chavez by
  recognizing the month beginning March 31, 2007, as Cesar Chavez
  Farmworker Appreciation Month and encourage all Texans to reflect
  on and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this inspiring
  humanitarian.
 
  Alonzo
 
  ______________________________
  Speaker of the House     
 
         I certify that H.R. No. 131 was adopted by the House on
  February 22, 2007, by a non-record vote.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House