TITLE: Congratulating Arturo Vargas on his 20th anniversary as executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and NALEO Educational Fund.

SUMMARY: Congratulating Arturo Vargas on his 20th anniversary as executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and NALEO Educational Fund.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Arturo Vargas is celebrating his 20th anniversary as executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and NALEO Educational Fund, and the attainment of this milestone provides a fitting opportunity to recognize this esteemed individual; and WHEREAS, Founded in 1981 by Congressman Edward R. Roybal of California, NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading nonprofit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service; along with guiding NALEO Educational Fund, Mr. Vargas serves as the executive director of NALEO, an affiliated nonpartisan organization that represents more than 6,000 elected and appointed Latino officials across the nation and that provides a forum for them to discuss issues of critical importance to the Latino community; and WHEREAS, Born in El Paso, Mr. Vargas holds a bachelor's degree in history and Spanish and a master's degree in education, both from Stanford University; before assuming the helm at NALEO and NALEO Educational Fund, he worked for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) as vice president for community education and public policy; during his time at MALDEF, he also directed the group's National 1990 Census Program, an outreach and public policy effort to promote a full count of the Latino population; earlier in his career, he served as the senior educational policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in Washington, D.C.; and WHEREAS, In addition to leading two vital organizations, Mr. Vargas currently serves as a member of the U.S. Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations and as a board member for the Alliance for a Better Community and for Zero Divide; he previously held appointments to the 2010 Census Advisory Committee and to the 2001 and 2011 Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commissions; his work has earned him numerous honors, including the Hispanic Magazine Hispanic Achievement Award for Community Service, the National Association for Bilingual Education President's Award, and repeated appearances on the Latino Leaders Magazine list of the 101 most influential Latinos; and WHEREAS, Mr. Vargas has contributed to improving the lives of Latinos in this country in many ways, and he may reflect with pride on his outstanding accomplishments; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas Legislature hereby congratulate Arturo Vargas on his 20th anniversary as executive director of NALEO and NALEO Educational Fund and extend to him sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Mr. Vargas as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. Rodriguez of Bexar Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 2196 was adopted by the House on May 21, 2015, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House