[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 791 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 791
Expressing support for the designation of Cesar Chavez's birthday,
March 31, as National Border Control Day.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 20, 2018
Mr. Gohmert submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the designation of Cesar Chavez's birthday,
March 31, as National Border Control Day.
Whereas Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona;
Whereas the Chavez family lost its home in the Great Depression and moved to
California when Cesar was 12;
Whereas Cesar Chavez left school at age 15 to work full time in the fields;
Whereas Cesar Chavez learned that, as biographer Miraim Pawel writes, ``a
surplus of labor enabled growers to treat workers as little more than
interchangeable parts, cheaper and easier to replace than machines'';
Whereas, in 1962, Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association,
which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW), to improve the wages
and working conditions for American farmworkers;
Whereas Cesar Chavez believed that preventing illegal immigration was an
essential prerequisite to improving the circumstances of American
farmworkers;
Whereas, in 1969, Cesar Chavez testified before Congress that ``We gave the
Immigration and Naturalization Services and the Border Patrol stacks and
stacks of information. They did not pull workers out of struck fields. .
. This is why we are forced to boycott: We have had no enforcement by
the Border Patrol'';
Whereas, in the mid-1970s, Cesar Chavez organized the UFW's ``Illegals
Campaign'' to identify and report illegal workers, saying that ``If we
can get the illegals out of California, we will win the strike
overnight.'';
Whereas, in 1974, as part of this campaign, Cesar Chavez sent a memo to UFW
officials announcing ``the beginning of a MASSIVE CAMPAIGN to get the
recent flood of illegals out of California'';
Whereas, in 1979, at a speech before the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C., Cesar Chavez demanded that the Federal Government enforce the
immigration laws and keep illegal aliens out of the country, adding
that, ``if my mother was breaking the strike and if she were illegal,
I'd ask the same thing.''; and
Whereas Cesar Chavez devoted his professional life to ensuring that efforts of
American workers to bargain for higher wages and better working
conditions were not undermined by illegal immigration: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the designation of National Border Control
Day;
(2) expresses strong support for Cesar Chavez's efforts to
educate his fellow Americans about the harmful effects of
illegal immigration; and
(3) encourages the people of the United States to observe
National Border Control Day with appropriate ceremonies and
activities.
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