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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The year 2019 marks the 46th anniversary of the year |
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the Honorable Mickey Leland was sworn in as a member of the Texas |
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House of Representatives; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Lubbock in 1944, George Thomas "Mickey" |
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Leland III grew up in Houston's Fifth Ward and earned his bachelor's |
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degree in pharmacy at Texas Southern University; while working as |
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an instructor of clinical pharmacy at his alma mater, he developed |
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an educational outreach campaign offering medical screenings to |
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low-income residents; and |
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WHEREAS, Congressman Leland was only 28 when he won election |
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to the Texas House of Representatives from District 88, then |
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located in Harris County; he quickly gained renown as a champion of |
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health care for the poor, and he helped secure passage of |
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legislation giving those in need access to affordable generic |
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drugs; a member of numerous committees, he became the first African |
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American to serve on the Senate-House Conference Committee as a |
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member of the House Appropriations Committee, and he was vice chair |
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of the Joint Committee on Prison Reform; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1978, following three terms in the Texas |
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Legislature, Congressman Leland was elected to the United States |
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House of Representatives; he founded the House Select Committee on |
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Hunger and helped establish the National Commission on AIDS; in |
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addition, he secured passage of bills providing fresh produce to |
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low-income families and medical clinics and food to the homeless; |
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he also served as chair of the Black Caucus, and he won praise from |
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the State Department for his successful efforts in arranging the |
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release of four Americans imprisoned in Cuba; tragically, he lost |
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his life in a plane crash in 1989, while leading a relief mission to |
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a refugee camp in Ethiopia; his contributions have since continued |
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to resonate, and over the years, a number of facilities and |
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initiatives have been renamed in his honor, among them a federal |
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building in Houston, the Texas Commission on Environmental |
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Quality's Internship Program, and the Mickey Leland College |
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Preparatory Academy for Young Men; moreover, the Barbara |
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Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern |
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University celebrates the contributions of these two |
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groundbreaking representatives from the 18th Congressional |
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District; and |
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WHEREAS, Mickey Leland demonstrated a tremendous commitment |
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to his fellow Texans and to vulnerable people the world over, and |
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his legacy remains a source of inspiration to all; 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 commemorate the 46th anniversary of Mickey |
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Leland being sworn in as a member of the Texas House of |
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Representatives. |