|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, June 15, 2011, will mark 23 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, with the number of registered Hispanics rising from |
|
2.4 million in the year the organization was founded to 11.6 million |
|
in 2008; the number of Latino elected officials has also greatly |
|
increased, with more than 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 82nd Texas |
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of William C. Velasquez |
|
on June 15, 2011, the 23rd 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. 90 was unanimously adopted by a rising |
|
vote of the House on February 24, 2011. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|