BILL NUMBER: ACR 113	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 2, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 9, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 6, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 24, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Caballero

                        JANUARY 27, 2010

   Relative to the Bracero Memorial Highway.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 113, Caballero. Bracero Memorial Highway.
   This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway
Route 101 in Monterey County as the Bracero Memorial Highway. This
measure would also request the Department of Transportation to
determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
covering those costs, to erect those signs.



   WHEREAS, Mexican nationals, known as Braceros, were legally
contracted to work mostly in the agricultural and railroad industries
in the Salinas Valley, and elsewhere, to alleviate a labor shortage
during World War II; and
   WHEREAS, Two tragic, preventable incidents illustrate their unsafe
working conditions; and
   WHEREAS, On June 17, 1958, approximately 50 Mexican Braceros were
being transported from a Soledad labor camp to perform field work in
the Salinas Valley. The truck transporting them was a flat bed truck
converted to have a covered metal top, wooden benches, and only
narrow exits at the end of the vehicle; and
   WHEREAS, Purportedly, two gasoline cans were in the truck for two
days prior to the incident, which the driver claimed were emptied the
day before the accident. The driver did not inform the passengers
that they should not smoke because there were gasoline cans in the
truck; and
   WHEREAS, One of the men lit a match igniting a flash fire in the
passenger compartment of the vehicle; and
   WHEREAS, Twelve men died immediately of asphyxia and second-,
third-, and fourth-degree burns as they were trapped in the vehicle,
two more men later died, and an additional 17 Mexican Braceros were
hospitalized; and
   WHEREAS, At that time, there was no state law prohibiting carrying
gasoline cans in vehicles, and no criminal charges were brought; and

   WHEREAS, The National Safety Council considered the fire the worst
noncollision vehicle tragedy in the nation since 1944; and
   WHEREAS, On September 17, 1963, on a lonely stretch of railroad
track paralleling State Highway Route 101 at Thomas Ranch Road in the
City of Chualar, near Salinas, California, 32 Bracero farmworkers
lost their lives and another 24 were injured in the biggest single
fatal vehicle accident in California history and the worst of its
type in United States' history; and
   WHEREAS, The Braceros who were injured and killed were being
transported in a truck converted into a bus without the approval of,
or inspection by, any government agency, on the way to harvest celery
for one dollar ($1) per hour, when struck by an oncoming train; and
   WHEREAS, Legal immigrant farmworkers continue to cross the border
to work in many parts of California without being provided safe
working conditions or being treated with dignity and respect; and
   WHEREAS, In recognition of the Braceros' contributions and
sacrifice in the Salinas Valley and elsewhere in California, it would
be a fitting tribute to designate a portion of State Highway Route
101, between Soledad and Chualar, in Monterey County, as the Bracero
Memorial Highway; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
portion of State Highway Route 101 from milepost 312 to exit 317,
south of Chualar, in Monterey County as the Bracero Memorial Highway;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further

   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.