0001|                          SENATE MEMORIAL 14
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0002|     43rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 1997
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                                   
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                              A MEMORIAL
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0011|     COMMEMORATING THE FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY OF SENATOR MANNY M. ARAGON,
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0012|     PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE.
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0013|     
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0014|          WHEREAS, a half-century ago, on March 22, 1947, Charlotte
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0015|     Aragon gave birth to Mel Aragon's son, Manny M. Aragon, who
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0016|     would become president pro tempore of the New Mexico senate;
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0017|     and
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0018|          WHEREAS, Manny M. Aragon spent his youth playing football,
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0019|     basketball and baseball, and was named an all-state athlete
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0020|     several years in a row; and
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0021|          WHEREAS, in a prophetic turn of events, Manny's first car
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0022|     had no reverse gear, and would only go forward at full speed,
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0023|     foreshadowing his stamina, his boundless energy and his
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0024|     approach to life; and    
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0025|          WHEREAS, Manny M. Aragon began his political career as a
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0001|     delegate to the 1968 Democratic convention, the tumultuous tone
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0002|     of which, many friends and foes would argue, set the tone for
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0003|     the rest of his political career; and
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0004|          WHEREAS, in 1975, Senator Aragon, a freshman legislator
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0005|     from Albuquerque's south valley, passed the very first bill he
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0006|     introduced, which required employers to reinstate employees,
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0007|     with pay, if their appeal to the personnel board was
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0008|     successful; and
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0009|          WHEREAS, Senator Aragon showed his compassion, caring and
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0010|     courage by spending a cold February night in 1980 at the
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0011|     penitentiary of New Mexico during the infamous prison riot,
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0012|     comforting and assisting survivors; and
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0013|          WHEREAS, in 1982, a young, cavalier, "atroz" Manny M.
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0014|     Aragon was honored, along with several of his friends, with a
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0015|     personal police escort from the Plaza Hotel when Albuquerque's
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0016|     finest abruptly ended a game of "liar's poker", whereupon Manny
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0017|     remarked, "This is Bull!"; and
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0018|          WHEREAS, now, fifteen years later, a more circumspect,
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0019|     thoughtful, politically correct, soft-spoken Manny M. Aragon
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0020|     chooses his words more carefully and is more likely to impart
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0021|     pearls of wisdom such as, "Just what you need at a prison
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0022|     command post--a waffle iron!"; and
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0023|          WHEREAS, it is fitting that Manny comes from a
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0024|     neighborhood known as "Tortilla Flats", since the Steinbeck
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0025|     novel of that name tells a modern-day tale of King Arthur and
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0001|     his knights, and the president pro tempore of the senate is
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0002|     building his own modern-day castle in that neighborhood, and
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0003|     will live there one day, if he can ever get the place finished;
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0004|     and 
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0005|          WHEREAS, Manny M. Aragon, serving his tenth year as senate
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0006|     president pro tempore, is uniformly recognized by the citizens
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0007|     and by the legislators of the state as the leading advocate for
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0008|     the poor, minorities, working class, women and children and
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0009|     others who are underrepresented in the state, or overlooked
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0010|     completely; and
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0011|          WHEREAS, Senator Aragon's priorities as a public officer
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0012|     have remained true to his earliest political philosophy, and
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0013|     his priorities are evident in the legislation he sponsors every
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0014|     year, which this year includes an appropriation to weatherize
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0015|     the homes of low-income New Mexicans, comprehensive legislation
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0016|     to relieve prison overcrowding and a memorial seeking the
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0017|     release of Tibetan political prisoners, who are only seeking
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0018|     religious and political freedom;
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0019|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE
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0020|     OF NEW MEXICO AND ALSO UNCLE HARRY that they wish Senator Manny
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0021|     M. Aragon a very happy fiftieth birthday, and wish his family,
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0022|     including his mother, Charlotte, and his children, Greg and
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0023|     Angela, an enjoyable family celebration of that event; and
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0024|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the senate of the state of New
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0025|     Mexico thank Senator Aragon for his years of dedicated public
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0001|     service, and acknowledge his many accomplishments achieved
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0002|     through his infamously energetic motivation.
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