[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       QUASQUICENTENNIAL OF THE TEXAS STATE CONSTITUTION OF 1876

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 18, 2001

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, the year 2001 marks the quasquicentennial of 
the Constitution of the great State of Texas.
  The Lone Star State's highest legal document has served Texans since 
1876 and--to commemorate this important milestone in Texas history--the 
recent Regular Session of the 77th Texas Legislature adopted House 
Concurrent Resolution No. 319, which the Governor signed on June 15, 
2001. I would like to share with my colleagues the full text of the 
Legislature's H.C.R. No. 319 as follows:

                  House Concurrent Resolution No. 319

       Whereas, The year 2001 marks the quasquicentennial of the 
     Texas Constitution, and the 125th anniversary of this 
     foundation document is indeed worthy of special recognition; 
     and
       Whereas, On August 2, 1875, Texas voters approved the 
     calling of a convention to write a new state constitution; 
     the convention, held in Austin, began on September 6, 1875, 
     and adjourned sine die on November 24, 1875; then its draft 
     was ratified in a statewide referendum on February 15, 1876, 
     by a vote of 136,606 to 56,652; and
       Whereas, The more than 90 delegates to the 1875 
     Constitutional Convention were a diverse group--most were 
     farmers and lawyers; some were merchants, editors, and 
     physicians; some were legislators and judges; some had fought 
     in the Civil War armies of the South as well as of the North; 
     at least five were African-American; 75 were Democrats; 15 
     were Republicans; and 37 belonged to the Grange, a non-
     partisan and agrarian order of patrons of husbandry; one 
     delegate had even served nearly four decades earlier as a 
     delegate to the 1836 Constitutional Convention; and
       Whereas, The Constitution of 1876, a richly detailed 
     instrument, reflects several historical influences; the 
     Spanish and Mexican heritage of the state was evident in such 
     provisions as those pertaining to land titles and land law, 
     as well as to water and mineral law, and remains evident in 
     judicial procedures, legislative authority, and gubernatorial 
     powers; and
       Whereas, Sections aimed at monied corporate domination 
     together with protection of the rights of the individual and 
     others mandating strong restrictions upon the mission of 
     state government in general and upon the role of specific 
     state officials grew out of the Jacksonian agrarianism and 
     frontier philosophy that first infused the thinking of many 
     Texans during the mid-1800's; and
       Whereas, Other sections, such as those providing for low 
     taxation and decreased state spending, were aimed at creating 
     a government quite different from the centralized and more 
     expensive one that had existed under the Constitution of 
     1869, which was itself a product of the post-Civil War 
     Reconstruction Era in Texas; and
       Whereas, Notwithstanding its age, Texas voters have been 
     reluctant to replace this charter, which is the sixth Texas 
     constitution to have been adopted since independence from 
     Mexico was gained in 1836; and
       Whereas, The Constitution of 1876 has been the organic law 
     of Texas for 125 years, and this document, which still bears 
     the imprint of the region's long and dramatic history, has 
     had--and continues to have--a profound influence on the 
     development of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas, 
     Regular Session, 2001, hereby commemorate the 
     quasquicentennial of the Texas constitution.

     

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