BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Gordon, Chair
ACR
137 (Harper) - As Introduced February 11, 2016
SUBJECT: John Wayne
SUMMARY: Recognizes May 26, 2016, as John Wayne Day.
Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1)John Wayne was the prototypical American hero, symbolizing
such traits as self-reliance, grace under pressure, resolve,
and patriotism.
2)Born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset,
Iowa, he moved with his parents as a young boy to California;
in 1916, while the family was living in Glendale, he began
going by "Duke," a nickname that followed him throughout his
life.
3)In 1925, he began attending the University of Southern
California on a football scholarship, playing offensive
lineman; after sustaining a shoulder injury from a bodysurfing
accident in Newport Beach just prior to his junior year, he
withdrew from the university and began working at Fox Film
Corporation as a laborer moving set props and as an occasional
extra in movies.
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4)The first film in which he was the leading actor gave him the
screen name "John Wayne," which he would use for the remainder
of his acting career.
5)Wayne was an avid supporter of the United States military and
toured bases and hospitals throughout the South Pacific in
1943 and 1944 with the United Service Organizations; he was
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1979, engraved with
the words "John Wayne, American" encapsulating his entire
life.
6)In 1968, the University of Southern California established the
John Wayne Scholarship Fund in his honor; and, upon his
passing, in 1979, the John Wayne airport located in Orange
County then named the Orange County Airport, was renamed John
Wayne Airport in honor of his achievements and influence, and
a nine-foot-tall statue of him was raised at the airport.
7)In 1985, Wayne's family founded the John Wayne Cancer
Foundation to "bring courage, strength and grit to the fight
against cancer."
8)John Wayne was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by
then Governor Schwarzenegger in 2007.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
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None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800