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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Juanita Valdez-Cox, the executive director of La |
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Union Del Pueblo Entero, is a true champion of farm workers and |
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migrant and low-income families in Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, Since 2007, Ms. Valdez-Cox has served as the |
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executive director of LUPE, a nonprofit organization founded by |
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Cesar Chavez to help farm workers and their families outside the |
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workplace; she also serves on the board of the Cesar Chavez |
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Foundation and on the advisory committee of the foundation's Si Se |
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Puede Education Program, as well as on the board of directors of |
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Proyecto Azteca, on the national planning committee of the Equal |
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Voice for America's Families campaign, and with the Annie E. Casey |
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Foundation Fellowship for Children and Families; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Valdez-Cox has deep roots in the movement she |
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now helps to lead; she grew up in a migrant family and began picking |
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crops in the fields while still young, traveling with her family |
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from southern Florida to northern Idaho; after working for a |
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migrant Head Start program, she earned her GED and then an |
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associate's degree in early childhood development from The |
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University of Texas--Pan American; and |
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WHEREAS, Following a move to Austin in 1979, Ms. Valdez-Cox |
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took a position with ACORN as a community organizer, but soon |
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returned to the Rio Grande Valley to devote herself on a full-time |
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basis to the farm workers' movement; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Valdez-Cox served as a regional coordinator and |
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a state director with the United Farm Workers and was elected to its |
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national executive board in 2000; she has been affiliated with LUPE |
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since 2003; for her lifelong contributions promoting social, |
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economic, and legal reform, she is receiving the 2013 Emma Tenayuca |
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Award from the South Texas Civil Rights Project; and |
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WHEREAS, In all of her endeavors, Ms. Valdez-Cox is supported |
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by her husband of 41 years, Vaughn Cox, who joined LUPE in 2002, and |
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together they take pride in a fine family that includes two sons, |
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Michael Gabriel and Lucas Noel, a daughter-in-law, Iriela, and two |
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grandchildren, Camila Isabella and Mateo Lucas; and |
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WHEREAS, Tireless in her quest to secure equal rights and |
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fair treatment for all Texans, Juanita Valdez-Cox has earned the |
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respect and gratitude of people from around the Lone Star State, and |
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she is indeed deserving of recognition; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor Juanita Valdez-Cox for her advocacy work |
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in behalf of farm workers and migrant and low-income families in |
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South Texas and extend to her sincere best wishes for continued |
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success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Ms. Valdez-Cox as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |
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Guerra |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 2334 was adopted by the House on May |
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22, 2013, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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