Bill Text: TX HR79 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Honoring the life of Benito Juarez on March 21, 2014, the 208th anniversary of his birth.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-02-07 - Reported enrolled [HR79 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR79-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 79 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Benito Juarez, who was instrumental in bringing | ||
| sweeping changes to Mexican government and society during the | ||
| mid-19th century, was born on March 21, 1806; and | ||
| WHEREAS, A Zapotec Indian and native of Oaxaca, Benito Juarez | ||
| was a teenager when he gained the patronage of the family in whose | ||
| home his sister was working as a servant; tutored privately at | ||
| first, he graduated from the Franciscan seminary in Oaxaca in 1827 | ||
| and received a law degree from the Institute of Science and Art in | ||
| 1834; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Attracted to politics at an early age, he spent | ||
| virtually all of his adult life either in government or waging | ||
| opposition; he served as a city councilman for Oaxaca from 1831 to | ||
| 1833, during which time he strongly supported Indian rights, and in | ||
| the 1840s he served as a civil judge and federal deputy; from 1847 | ||
| to 1852 he held the governorship of Oaxaca; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Driven into exile when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna | ||
| came to power in 1853, Sr. Juarez joined the successful | ||
| revolutionary movement against him; after Santa Anna himself was | ||
| forced into exile, Sr. Juarez became minister of justice, and while | ||
| in that post he was responsible for a law that limited the | ||
| jurisdiction of church courts to ecclesiastical cases; and | ||
| WHEREAS, After serving again as governor of Oaxaca, this | ||
| rising national leader became minister of the interior in November | ||
| 1857 and the next month took office as chief justice of the supreme | ||
| court; when a military coup deposed the government, he became | ||
| president, in accordance with the constitutional line of | ||
| succession, and led the victorious resistance to the usurpers in | ||
| the Reform War of 1858-1861; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Benito Juarez was elected to the presidency in 1861; | ||
| soon, however, he found himself fighting the French, who captured | ||
| Mexico City in 1863; once again he and his troops prevailed, with | ||
| the United States clearly favoring their cause, and in 1867 he was | ||
| again elected president; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Known for his commitment to the indigenous people of | ||
| Mexico and for his support for equal rights and economic reform, | ||
| President Juarez died while working at his desk in the National | ||
| Palace on July 17, 1872; in 1888, the city of El Paso del Norte was | ||
| renamed Ciudad Juarez in his honor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Benito Juarez is a towering figure in the history of | ||
| Mexico; he was instrumental in the transfer of political power from | ||
| creoles to mestizos, in asserting the authority of civil law, and in | ||
| preserving the nation's autonomy in the face of foreign invasion, | ||
| and it is a privilege to honor the memory of this national hero; | ||
| now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby pay special tribute to the life of Mexican hero | ||
| and president Benito Juarez on March 21, 2014, the 208th | ||
| anniversary of his birth. | ||
| Alonzo | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 79 was adopted by the House on | ||
| February 7, 2013, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
