Full Text of HR0746 102nd General Assembly
HR0746 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, With the month of March designated as Women's | 3 | | History Month and with Latino Unity Day celebrated on March | 4 | | 23, the members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish | 5 | | to recognize activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta, who has | 6 | | worked her entire life to improve social and economic | 7 | | conditions for farmworkers and has served as a leader in the | 8 | | fight against discrimination and as a defender of civil | 9 | | rights, equal rights, and dignity for all; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernández | 11 | | to Juan Fernández and Alicia Fernández in Dawson, New Mexico | 12 | | on April 10, 1930; she grew up in Stockton, California and | 13 | | attended Stockton High School, where she was active in | 14 | | numerous school clubs and the Girl Scouts; she received her | 15 | | associate teaching degree from the University of the Pacific's | 16 | | Delta College; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta briefly taught school in the | 18 | | 1950s, where she saw many hungry farm children coming to | 19 | | school and thought she could do more to help them by organizing | 20 | | farmers and farm workers; she began her career as an activist | 21 | | when she cofounded the Stockton chapter of the Community | 22 | | Service Organization (CSO) in 1955, which led voter | 23 | | registration drives and fought for economic improvements for |
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| 1 | | Latinos; alongside activist César Chávez, she founded the | 2 | | National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962, which was | 3 | | the predecessor of the United Farm Workers' Union (UFW) formed | 4 | | three years later; she served as UFW vice president until | 5 | | 1999; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Despite facing ethnic and gender bias, Dolores | 7 | | Huerta was a talented negotiator, securing services for | 8 | | farmworkers in California in the form of Aid to Families with | 9 | | Dependent Children and disability insurance in 1963; she | 10 | | helped organize the 1965 Delano strike of 5,000 grape workers | 11 | | and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that | 12 | | followed; throughout her work with the UFW, she organized | 13 | | workers, negotiated contracts, and advocated for safer working | 14 | | conditions, including the elimination of harmful pesticides; | 15 | | she also fought for unemployment and healthcare benefits for | 16 | | agricultural workers; she was the driving force behind the | 17 | | nationwide table grape boycotts in the late 1960s that led to a | 18 | | successful union contract by 1970; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta led another consumer boycott of | 20 | | grapes in 1973 that resulted in the ground-breaking California | 21 | | Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which allowed farm | 22 | | workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and | 23 | | conditions; she worked as a lobbyist to improve workers' | 24 | | legislative representation throughout the 1970s and 1980s; |
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| 1 | | since the 1990s and 2000s, she has worked to elect more Latinos | 2 | | and women to political office and has championed women's | 3 | | issues; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta continues to work tirelessly, | 5 | | developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women, | 6 | | and children; as founder and president of the Dolores Huerta | 7 | | Foundation, she travels across the country in support of | 8 | | campaigns and legislation that work toward equality and defend | 9 | | civil rights; she continues to be a voice for social justice | 10 | | and public policy; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta has been honored for her work as a | 12 | | fierce advocate for farmworkers, immigrants, the working poor, | 13 | | and women; she has received numerous awards, including the | 14 | | Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights in 1998, the | 15 | | Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the Ohtli Award from | 16 | | the Mexican Government, the James Smithson Award of the | 17 | | Smithsonian Institution, and multiple honorary doctorates from | 18 | | universities throughout the United States; she was inducted | 19 | | into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 and the | 20 | | California Hall of Fame in 2013; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta's accomplishments and | 22 | | contributions should be properly memorialized within the | 23 | | history and culture of the United States, as she deserves |
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| 1 | | proper recognition for her numerous sacrifices in the name of | 2 | | justice and the amelioration of severely inadequate working | 3 | | conditions; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 | | we recognize Dolores Huerta for her activism as a labor | 7 | | organizer, her contributions to workers' rights, and her | 8 | | dedication to social justice; and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That we additionally recognize Dolores Huerta | 10 | | for continuing to fight the good fight, serving as an | 11 | | inspiration to everyone; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to Dolores Huerta as an expression of our esteem and | 14 | | respect.
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