Amended in Assembly June 30, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 18, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 103

Introduced by Senator De León

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Fong, Fox, begin delete and Medina end delete begin insert Medina, Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel  end insert begin insert Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, end insert begin insert Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, end insert begin insert Wieckowski, Wilk, end insert begin insert and Yamada end insert )

March 27, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 103—Relative to California/El Salvador relations.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 103, as amended, De León. California and El Salvador: election.

This measure would commend the government of El Salvador on its handling of the recent election and would recognize the efforts of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and other institutions in assisting with the election in the spirit of the Chapultepec Peace Accords.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of California is
committed to recognizing democratic governments in their efforts
to develop policies that support the rule of law and the long-term
economic growth and shared prosperity of all members of society;
and

WHEREAS, El Salvador and California have long shared
common interests and each stand to benefit from increased trade,
investment, and tourism, as well as cultural, educational, and
scientific exchanges; and

WHEREAS, The 12-year Salvadoran Civil War, which began
in the early 1980s, took the lives of over 75,000 Salvadorans,
resulted in a displacement of over 500,000 people, and was
concluded with the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in
Mexico City in 1992; and

WHEREAS, El Salvador’s peace settlement, as summarized by
the United States Institute of Peace, provided for a cease-fire, the
demobilization of military and guerrilla forces, the establishment
of the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN)
as a political party, and the reintegration of its combatants into
society. The Chapultepec Peace Accords further committed the
government to making changes in the nature, responsibilities, and
size of the country’s armed forces, creating a new national civilian
police force and an intelligence service separate from the military,
implementing human rights measures, adopting electoral and
judicial reforms, and providing limited social and economic
programs primarily benefiting members of the demobilized forces
and war-ravaged communities; and

WHEREAS, A majority of Salvadorans fleeing the civil war
came to the United States, with most coming to Los Angeles and
San Francisco; and

WHEREAS, The City of Los Angeles, a sister city to San
Salvador, is home to the largest concentration of Salvadoran
nationals in the United States, making it inextricably linked to the
nation of El Salvador; and

WHEREAS, Of the 1.6 million Salvadorans who live in the
United States, more than 500,000 call California home. Salvadorans
constitute the second largest Latino community in California, and
live in major cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles; and

WHEREAS, The state’s 22nd Senate District encompasses the
neighborhoods of Pico-Union and Westlake, where many
Salvadoran refugees settled during the Salvadoran Civil War and
is also home to a plaza and statue in commemoration of the
humanitarian Monsignor Oscar A. Romero in MacArthur Park;
and

WHEREAS, The California Legislature supports actions that
would strengthen and facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges in
cities like sister cities Los Angeles and San Salvador; and

WHEREAS, March 24, 2014, was a special occasion, as it
marked the 34th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Monsignor
Oscar A. Romero, whose tomb President Obama visited on March
23, 2011; and

WHEREAS, Monsignor Romero is a historical icon of the
Salvadoran people, and in that spirit, the State of California joins
President Obama, the City of Los Angeles, the Salvadoran
community, the government of El Salvador, and millions of
followers in El Salvador and around the world, in paying tribute
to his life and teachings; and

WHEREAS, El Salvador recently held a presidential election
on March 9, 2014, that according to international observers,
including the Organization of American States (OAS), the United
Nations, and hundreds of United States citizens, was free and
democratic, and for which the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE)
was praised, for the election’s transparency and professionalism;
and

WHEREAS, The State of California joins the United Nations,
international observers, the OAS, and many civil and religious
organizations in recognizing the work of the TSE, the commitment
of the two major political parties to respect the will of the people
as demonstrated by the March 9th election, and the final outcome
announced by the TSE as the legal mandate under the Salvadoran
Constitution; and

WHEREAS, Addressing the socio-economic issues that long
fomented civil unrest in El Salvador prior to the civil war, and
which were again brought to the forefront in the global recession
in 2009, will take time and a consistent commitment by the
Salvadoran government to build an equitable economic
environment that supports the efforts of workers and the middle
class to prosper and benefit from the nation’s economic growth.
To this end, the State of California can serve as an important
economic partner with the newly democratically elected
government of El Salvador, and President Salvador Sánchez Cerén,
in promoting trade and private investment in both El Salvador and
California; and

WHEREAS, The United States prospered from a $692.6 million
trade surplus with El Salvador in 2013; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature, on behalf of the people
of the State of California, commends the Salvadoran people for
their high turnout in the election, as well as the state institutions
for their professional handling of the election process. California
looks forward to a positive and cooperative relationship with
Salvadorans living in California and with President Sánchez Cerén
and his government as they continue to forge new policies and
take actions that promote democratic institutions, the rule of law,
and economic opportunity and growth for all Salvadorans, in the
spirit of the Chapultepec Peace Accords; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President of El Salvador, to the Governor of
California, and to the author for appropriate distribution.