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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, In 2017, President Donald Trump designated November |
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7 as a national day of remembrance for the victims of communism; and |
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WHEREAS, The date commemorates the anniversary of the |
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Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, when the first communist |
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regime, led by Vladimir Lenin, initiated decades of oppression and |
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violence around the world; despite promises of equality and |
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liberation, communist dictators such as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, |
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Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Nicolae Ceausescu, Fidel and Raúl Castro, and |
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the Kim dynasty of North Korea have murdered vast numbers of people |
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in genocidal purges, persecuted others for speaking out, and |
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suppressed freedom of thought, cultural life, and |
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self-determination movements in more than 40 nations; and |
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WHEREAS, Based on the theories of Karl Marx, this political |
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ideology has been responsible for the deaths of more than 100 |
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million people, and it has subjected countless others to some of the |
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worst human rights abuses in history; as the bipartisan |
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U.S. Congressional Caucus for the Victims of Communism has stated, |
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"Marx's defenders often say he cannot be held accountable for what |
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communist regimes did long after his life and death, but Marxist |
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dictators who massacred their own people were applying communist |
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ideology to political practice"; and |
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WHEREAS, The United States Congress has established the |
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Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., a |
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nonprofit organization tasked with the dual purpose of educating |
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Americans about the history and legacy of communism and honoring |
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those who have suffered and died under it; and |
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WHEREAS, For more than a century, communist regimes have |
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deprived their own citizens of the freedoms of religion, speech, |
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and association, and their official policies of coercion, |
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brutality, and fear have proven incompatible with the ideals of |
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liberty, prosperity, and the dignity of human life; now, therefore, |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize November 7, 2019, as Victims of |
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Communism Memorial Day and commend all those associated with the |
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Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation for their important work; |
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and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the foundation as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |