Bill Text: TX HR65 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Paying tribute to the life of William C. Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, on June 15, 2013, the 25th anniversary of his death.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-02-20 - Reported enrolled [HR65 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR65-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 65 |
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WHEREAS, June 15, 2013, will mark 25 years since the passing | ||
of William C. Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter | ||
Registration Education Project, and this solemn anniversary offers | ||
a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to the achievements of this | ||
voting rights pioneer and revered son of the Lone Star State; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in 1944, Willie Velasquez graduated from | ||
Central Catholic High School in San Antonio and then attended | ||
St. Mary's University; his dedication to furthering the civil | ||
rights of Hispanic Americans was already evident in his college | ||
years; he helped found the Mexican American Youth Organization | ||
while at St. Mary's and also worked as an organizer for the United | ||
Farm Workers Union in 1966 and 1967; and | ||
WHEREAS, Prominent in a number of groundbreaking Latino | ||
political organizations of the late 1960s and early 1970s, | ||
Mr. Velasquez helped lay the groundwork for the Raza Unida Party, a | ||
political party championing the rights of Mexican Americans, and | ||
for the National Council of La Raza, which has become an important | ||
civil rights and advocacy group; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Velasquez focused on Latino participation in | ||
elections as part of his work for the council, and this led to the | ||
founding of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project in | ||
1974; uniting behind the slogan Su Voto es Su Voz, "Your Vote is | ||
Your Voice," SVREP set out to educate Hispanics about the | ||
democratic process and urge them to take part in elections, and this | ||
vital work has continued for more than three decades; by conducting | ||
thousands of nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote | ||
campaigns, SVREP has helped bring about a dramatic increase in | ||
Latino voters, and the number of registered Hispanics has risen | ||
from 2.4 million in the year the organization was founded to 12.2 | ||
million in 2012; the number of Latino elected officials has also | ||
greatly increased, with some 6,000 Hispanics now holding office | ||
throughout the country; and | ||
WHEREAS, Willie Velasquez also realized the need for an | ||
organization that could gauge Hispanic public opinion and share | ||
those views with elected leaders; toward that end, he founded the | ||
Southwest Voter Research Institute in 1984; now renamed the William | ||
C. Velasquez Institute, it collects and distributes information on | ||
public policy issues that impact Latino citizens, thereby | ||
amplifying their voice in the dialog of American politics; and | ||
WHEREAS, The untimely death of Mr. Velasquez in 1988 at the | ||
age of 44 was a loss deeply felt throughout the country, but his | ||
legacy lives on; in 1995, President Bill Clinton posthumously | ||
awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest | ||
civilian honor, and he was one of the civil rights figures whose | ||
names were attached to the U.S. Senate version of the Voting Rights | ||
Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006; and | ||
WHEREAS, Willie Velasquez is a figure of great importance for | ||
all Americans committed to the concept of representative democracy; | ||
his efforts to expand the electorate and educate the citizens of the | ||
United States about a range of civic issues were a great and | ||
influential contribution that continues to benefit the State of | ||
Texas and the other states of the Union; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of William C. Velasquez | ||
on June 15, 2013, the 25th anniversary of his death, and commemorate | ||
his record of achievement in furthering the nation's democratic | ||
tradition. | ||
Alonzo | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 65 was adopted by the House on | ||
February 18, 2013, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||