80R11283 MMS-D

By: Ortiz, Jr. H.R. No. 988

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, The American GI Forum, one of the country's leading civil rights organizations, was founded by Mexican American veterans in the aftermath of World War II; and

WHEREAS, Mexican Americans have long served with valor in the armed forces of this country, compiling an exceptional record of heroism; in the Second World War alone, 12 Mexican Americans, 9 of them from Texas, earned the Medal of Honor, becoming the nation's most decorated minority group in that conflict; on returning home, however, many Latino veterans found themselves denied benefits that they had earned under the G.I. Bill of Rights; and

WHEREAS, To redress that injustice, 700 Hispanic veterans, led by Dr. Hector P. Garcia, founded the American GI Forum in Corpus Christi on March 26, 1948; successful in its efforts to achieve equitable treatment from the Veterans Administration, the forum turned its attention to other veterans' concerns, such as inadequate hospital care and the lack of Mexican American representation on draft boards; and

WHEREAS, The forum demonstrated its effectiveness decisively in 1949, when it intervened to help the family of Private Felix Longoria, a soldier who had been killed on a volunteer mission in the Philippines during World War II; when Private Longoria's body was finally recovered and returned to his home in Three Rivers, Texas, the local funeral home refused his family permission to use its chapel for a service; after the forum sought assistance from members of the Texas congressional delegation, Senator Lyndon Johnson arranged for the soldier's burial in Arlington National Cemetery; and

WHEREAS, In the 1950s, the forum began to use the legal system to combat segregation and other discriminatory practices; forum lawyers helped to secure a landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in Hernandez v. the State of Texas, in 1954, a decision finding that Mexican Americans were discriminated against as a class and that they were entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment; the forum also fought to end separate schooling for Mexican American children, a practice ruled unlawful in 1957; and

WHEREAS, During that same decade, the forum conducted voter registration drives, confronted incidents of police brutality, addressed the problems of migrant workers, and sponsored student scholarships; and

WHEREAS, The group took the name American GI Forum of Texas on September 29, 1954, and became a national organization in 1958; Dr. Clotilde Garcia, Dr. Hector Garcia's sister, founded a women's auxiliary in 1956, and junior GI forums were also launched in some areas; and

WHEREAS, Today, the forum embraces more than 500 chapters across the nation and in Puerto Rico; it continues to support returning veterans and their communities through such endeavors as the Veterans Outreach Program, which provides training, employment, and counseling for veterans in the Southwest, and Ser-Jobs for Progress (SER), whose affiliates operate employment training centers and residential and other services in Puerto Rico and the continental U.S.; and

WHEREAS, For more than half a century, the American GI Forum has played a vital role in our national life, advancing the cause of social justice and touching the lives of countless Americans, and it is indeed deserving of commendation for its exemplary efforts in furthering the highest ideals of this nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas Legislature hereby honor the American GI Forum on the 59th anniversary of its founding and extend to all those associated with this organization sincere appreciation for their outstanding service; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for the American GI Forum as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.