H.R. No. 91

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, June 15, 2012, will mark 24 years since the passing

of William C. Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter

Registration Education Project, and this solemn anniversary offers

a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to the achievements of this

voting rights pioneer and revered son of the Lone Star State; and

WHEREAS, Born in 1944, Willie Velasquez graduated from

Central Catholic High School in San Antonio and then attended St.

Mary's University; his dedication to furthering the civil rights of

Hispanic Americans was already evident in his college years; he

helped found the Mexican American Youth Organization while at St.

Mary's and also worked as an organizer for the United Farm Workers

Union in 1966 and 1967; and

WHEREAS, Prominent in a number of groundbreaking Latino

political organizations of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr.

Velasquez helped lay the groundwork for the Raza Unida Party, a

political party championing the rights of Mexican Americans, and

for the National Council of La Raza, which has become an important

civil rights and advocacy group; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Velasquez focused on Latino participation in

elections as part of his work for the council, and this led to the

founding of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project in

1974; uniting behind the slogan Su Voto es Su Voz, "Your Vote is

Your Voice," SVREP set out to educate Hispanics about the

democratic process and urge them to take part in elections, and this

vital work has continued for more than three decades; by conducting

thousands of nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote

campaigns, SVREP has helped bring about a dramatic increase in

Latino voters, with the number of registered Hispanics rising from

2.4 million in the year the organization was founded to 11.6 million

in 2008; the number of Latino elected officials has also greatly

increased, with more than 6,000 Hispanics now holding office

throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, Willie Velasquez also realized the need for an

organization that could gauge Hispanic public opinion and share

those views with elected leaders; toward that end, he founded the

Southwest Voter Research Institute in 1984; now renamed the William

C. Velasquez Institute, it collects and distributes information on

public policy issues that impact Latino citizens, thereby

amplifying their voice in the dialog of American politics; and

WHEREAS, The untimely death of Mr. Velasquez in 1988 at the

age of 44 was a loss deeply felt throughout the country, but his

legacy lives on; in 1995, President Bill Clinton posthumously

awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest

civilian honor, and he was one of the civil rights figures whose

names were attached to the U.S. Senate version of the Voting Rights

Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006; and

WHEREAS, Willie Velasquez is a figure of great importance for

all Americans committed to the concept of representative democracy;

his efforts to expand the electorate and educate the citizens of the

United States about a range of civic issues were a great and

influential contribution that continues to benefit the State of

Texas and the other states of the Union; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas

Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of William C. Velasquez

on June 15, 2012, the 24th anniversary of his death, and commemorate

his record of achievement in furthering the nation's democratic

tradition.

Alonzo

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 91 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on February 24, 2011.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House