HOUSE MEMORIAL 70

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Harry Garcia and D. Wonda Johnson

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO NAME A BRIDGE LOCATED AT INTERSTATE 40, EXIT 81, IN GRANTS THE "VIETNAM VETERANS' MEMORIAL BRIDGE".

     WHEREAS, requests for the designation or dedication by name of any department of transportation bridge are submitted to the state transportation commission for approval; and

     WHEREAS, a requested designation by name is intended as a memorial to an event, a person or persons of historical significance or intended as an honor to a person or persons of national esteem; and

     WHEREAS, the Vietnam War was a conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the Vietnam War ended in 1973, and many brave and honorable veterans returned to New Mexico at the end of the war; and

     WHEREAS, there were one hundred fifty-two thousand fifty-five veterans living in New Mexico as of 2014, according to a veterans profile from the workforce solutions department; and

     WHEREAS, within the United States, veterans represented seven and nine-tenths percent of the total population, with New Mexico ranked thirteenth in the nation for concentration of veterans; and

     WHEREAS, just under forty percent of all New Mexico veterans and nearly fifty percent of all conflict veterans had served in the Vietnam War; and

     WHEREAS, these brave men and women veterans are held in national esteem and deserve to be honored for the sacrifices they made on behalf of their families, the state and the nation; and 

     WHEREAS, a fitting honor to recognize New Mexico's Vietnam War veterans would be to have a bridge named in their honor;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state transportation commission be requested to name a bridge located at interstate 40, exit 81, in Grants the "Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Bridge"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the state transportation commission.