Bill Text: CA SCR39 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Jewish American Heritage Month.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 56-25-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 71, Statutes of 2015. [SCR39 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SCR39-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SCR 39 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 71
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 26, 2015
ADOPTED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2015
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senators Block, Allen, Hertzberg, Jackson, Leno,
Stone, and Wolk
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Levine, Linder,
Medina, Nazarian, Thurmond, Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins,
Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, and Williams)
APRIL 9, 2015
Relative to Jewish American Heritage Month.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 39, Block. Jewish American Heritage Month.
This measure would state that the Legislature recognizes May 2015
as Jewish American Heritage Month, encourages all Californians to
participate in appropriate observances with activities that celebrate
and commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month, and commends Jewish
Americans for their notable accomplishments and outstanding service
to the state and the nation.
WHEREAS, For thousands of years, the Jewish people have sustained
their identity and traditions while persevering in the face of
persecution, enslavement, years of wandering, forced segregation, and
the horrors of the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, Ever since the first Dutch Jew set foot in New Amsterdam
in 1654, Jews have been contributing bountifully to the culture and
history of the United States of America, have achieved great success,
strengthened the country, and helped shape the American way of life
through their deep commitment to faith, family, and community; and
WHEREAS, When the first Jewish settlers came to this country, they
sought a place of promise where they could practice their faith in
freedom and live in liberty; and
WHEREAS, In his second year in office, President George Washington
wrote a letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island,
which was one of the first Jewish houses of worship in the United
States of America, reaffirming the nation's commitment to religious
freedom where he noted that the government of the United States would
give "to bigotry no sanction and] to persecution no assistance,"
and that all Americans are entitled to "liberty of conscience and
immunities of citizenship"; and
WHEREAS, It was such a belief that drew generations of Jewish
immigrants to the United States of America to rebuild their lives,
whether it was Jewish families fleeing pogroms or persecution in
Europe during the last century, Holocaust survivors, or Jews trapped
behind the Iron Curtain; and
WHEREAS, This history led many Jewish Americans to find common
cause with the Civil Rights Movement, as African Americans and Jewish
Americans marched side by side in Selma and Montgomery, boarded
buses for Freedom Rides together, and united in their support of
liberty and human dignity; and
WHEREAS, Jewish Americans have continued their strong support for
ending discrimination in voting, employment, public accommodation,
and in society at large, by prominently participating in virtually
every civil rights effort in the American experience, including those
for women, farmworkers, the disabled, and for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender Americans; and
WHEREAS, As a nation of immigrants, the United States is better
and stronger because Jewish people from all over the world have
chosen to become American citizens; and
WHEREAS, Jewish American Heritage Month is the time when the rich
history of Jewish Americans is celebrated and their contributions to
this nation are honored; and
WHEREAS, Anyone interested in learning more about the heritage and
contributions of Jewish Americans should visit
www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov; and
WHEREAS, Jewish American Heritage Month is also an opportunity to
remember and thank the many Jewish Americans who defend this nation's
ideals as members of the United States Armed Forces; and
WHEREAS, Jewish American Heritage Month is also a time to renew
this nation's unbreakable bond with the nation of Israel. This bond
is a partnership built on mutual interests and shared ideals that
transcend politics. Israel and the United States of America are
enriched by diversity and faith, fueled by innovation, and ruled not
only by men and women, but also by laws; and
WHEREAS, Jewish Americans continue to guide the nation's progress
as scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs, public servants, private
citizens, leaders, and parents; and
WHEREAS, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz sponsored House
Concurrent Resolution 315 (H. Con. Res. 315 (109th)) that urges the
President of the United States to issue each year a proclamation
calling on state and local governments and the people of the United
States to observe American Jewish History Month; now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes May 2015 as
Jewish American Heritage Month, encourages all Californians to
participate in appropriate observances with activities that celebrate
and commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month, and commends Jewish
Americans for their notable accomplishments and outstanding service
to the state and the nation; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
