H.R. No. 324

	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Americans across the country will pause on March 31,
	2010, Cesar Chavez Day, to pay tribute to the inspiring life and
	achievements of the founder and longtime leader of the United Farm
	Workers of America (UFW), AFL-CIO, on the anniversary of his birth;
	and
	WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, and later raised in
	California, Mr. Chavez spent much of his youth as a migrant laborer;
	as a Latino and a farmworker, he learned firsthand about the
	indignities of second-class citizenship and the unhealthy working
	and living conditions endured by those who tended the fields; and
	WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946,
	Cesar Chavez returned to California, and in 1948 he married Helen
	Fabela; four years later he became a community organizer for the
	Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group
	that focused most of its work in urban areas, and by the late 1950s
	he had become its national director; and
	WHEREAS, When in 1962 the CSO declined to organize California
	farmworkers, Mr. Chavez and his colleague Dolores Huerta left the
	organization to found the National Farm Workers Association, a
	forerunner of the UFW; their fledgling union gained national
	prominence just three years later when it came to the support of
	workers who were striking against California's grape growers; in
	addition to assuming leadership of the strike, Mr. Chavez launched
	a successful, nationwide consumers' boycott of nonunion grapes; and
	WHEREAS, By the end of the five-year-long strike, the UFW had
	organized all of the California table-grape industry and negotiated
	the first collective bargaining agreements between American
	farmworkers and corporations; in 1975 Cesar Chavez and the UFW
	further succeeded in securing the passage of California's
	Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in U.S. history
	granting farmworkers the right to unionize and bargain
	collectively; numerous other gains achieved under his leadership
	included the establishment of a farmworkers' medical plan, pension
	plan, and credit union, as well as the National Farm Workers Service
	Center, Inc., whose projects include the development of affordable
	housing, health clinics, cooperatives, and a retirement home; and
	WHEREAS, Over the course of his life, Cesar Chavez sought to
	advance La Causa, the movement, through nonviolent means--through
	strikes, pickets, and boycotts; on several occasions he also
	undertook lengthy fasts to draw public attention to the
	farmworkers' struggle; and
	WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez continued to lead the UFW until his death
	on April 23, 1993; more than 50,000 people from throughout the
	nation gathered to mourn him at his funeral, indicative of the
	far-reaching impact he had made on American society; and
	WHEREAS, Since that time, numerous schools, streets,
	scholarships, monuments, buildings, and parks have been named in
	his memory, a number of U.S. cities have initiated annual
	celebrations in tribute to his life, and several states, including
	Texas, have declared his birthday, March 31, a state holiday; in
	1994 Mr. Chavez was posthumously awarded the nation's highest
	honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and
	WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez chose to devote his life to the pursuit
	of social and economic justice through nonviolent means, and his
	courage and steadfastness in this great work brought improved
	health, greater security, and hope for a brighter future to
	countless people; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
	Legislature hereby honor the life of Cesar E. Chavez and join the
	citizens of the Lone Star State in commemorating the birth of this
	revered American.
	Alonzo
	Straus Gattis Menendez
	Allen Geren Merritt
	Alonzo Giddings Miklos
	Alvarado Gonzales Miller of Comal
	Anchia Gonzalez Toureilles Miller of Erath
	Anderson Guillen Moody
	Aycock Gutierrez Morrison
	Berman Hamilton Naishtat
	Bohac Hancock Oliveira
	Bolton Hardcastle Olivo
	Bonnen Harless Orr
	Branch Harper-Brown Ortiz, Jr.
	Brown of Kaufman Hartnett Otto
	Brown of Brazos Heflin Parker
	Burnam Hernandez Patrick
	Button Herrero Paxton
	Callegari Hilderbran Peña
	Castro Hochberg Phillips
	Chavez Hodge Pickett
	Chisum Homer Pierson
	Christian Hopson Pitts
	Cohen Howard of Fort Bend Quintanilla
	Coleman Howard of Travis Raymond
	Cook Hughes Riddle
	Corte Hunter Rios Ybarra
	Crabb Isett Ritter
	Craddick Jackson Rodriguez
	Creighton Jones Rose
	Crownover Keffer Sheffield
	Darby Kent Shelton
	Davis of Harris King of Parker Smith of Tarrant
	Davis of Dallas King of Taylor Smith of Harris
	Deshotel King of Zavala Smithee
	Driver Kleinschmidt Solomons
	Dukes Kolkhorst Strama
	Dunnam Kuempel Swinford
	Dutton Laubenberg Taylor
	Edwards Legler Thibaut
	Eiland Leibowitz Thompson
	Eissler Lewis Truitt
	Elkins Lucio III Turner of Tarrant
	England Madden Turner of Harris
	Farabee Maldonado Vaught
	Farias Mallory Caraway Veasey
	Farrar Marquez Villarreal
	Fletcher Martinez Vo
	Flores Martinez Fischer Walle
	Flynn McCall Weber
	Frost McClendon Woolley
	Gallego McReynolds Zerwas
	______________________________
	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.R. No. 324 was adopted by the House on
	February 26, 2009, by a non-record vote.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House