DELAWARE STATE SENATE

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3

HONORING KAMALA DEVI HARRIS FOR HER SERVICE AND INSPIRATION TO THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

WHEREAS, Kamala D. Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California, as a first-generation American and daughter of immigrant parents Shyamala Gopalan, biologist from India, and Donald J. Harris, an economics professor from Jamaica; and

WHEREAS, Kamala D. Harris experienced the Civil Rights movement first-hand as a kindergarten student bused to a predominately white public school who learned to advocate for those who could not defend themselves from the examples of courageous leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, and Charles Hamilton Houston; and

WHEREAS, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from HBCU Howard University in 1986, where she interned in the California State Senate, chaired the economics society, led the debate team and became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority; and

WHEREAS, she earned a law degree in 1989 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1989, where she served as president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990; and

WHEREAS, she began her career as the deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California in 1990 and focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases; and

WHEREAS, Kamala D. Harris became the first woman, the first African American and the first South Asian American elected to serve as district attorney of San Francisco in 2003, where she started a program to give first-time drug offenders a chance to earn a high school diploma and find employment; and

WHEREAS, in 2010 Kamala D. Harris became the first woman and the first African American elected Attorney General of California, a position she held for two terms and often worked alongside Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden; and

WHEREAS, as California Attorney General she won a $25 billion settlement for homeowners hit by the foreclosure crisis, defended California’s landmark climate change law, protected the Affordable Care Act, helped win marriage equality for all Californians, and prosecuted gangs that trafficked in guns, drugs and human beings; and

WHEREAS, Kamala D. Harris became the second African-American woman and first South Asian American elected to the U.S. Senate from California in 2016, where she established a record for fighting for the rights of all communities, co-sponsored legislation to raise wages for workers, to reform America’s criminal justice system, to make healthcare a right for all Americans, to address the epidemic of substance abuse, to support veterans and military families and to expand access to childcare for working parents; and

WHEREAS, she became the first woman, the first African American and the first South Asian American elected Vice President of the United States of America in the same year Delaware voters elected a record number of people of color, women of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community to their own General Assembly; and

WHEREAS, Kamala D. Harris remains an icon and inspiration for children and women of color everywhere, including her own stepchildren Ella and Cole, as well as Delaware’s more than 200,000 African American residents, 30,000 Asian American residents and 25,000 multiracial American residents;

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 151st General Assembly, the House concurring therein, that we present this resolution to Vice President Harris with the most sincere thanks, appreciation and support for her Vice Presidency on behalf of all Delawareans.

SYNOPSIS

This resolution honors Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris for her service and dedication to the United States of America and the inspiration she provides to women and people of color, and offers appreciation and support for her historic Vice Presidency.

Author: Senator Lockman