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.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
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 | ||
