44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

REQUESTING APPOINTMENT OF A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO OVERSEE THE FEDERAL GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE INVESTIGATION OF NEW MEXICO LAND GRANT CLAIMS FLOWING FROM THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO.

WHEREAS, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848 ending the war between the United States and Mexico and resulting in more than one hundred fifty years of troubled history stemming from New Mexico's territorial merging with the United States; and

WHEREAS, after the treaty was signed and in the years that followed, Hispanic land grantees and their heirs have lost much of the property that was rightfully theirs as part of the community land grants recognized in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and that loss often seemed to stem from inequitable adjudication of the land grants; and

WHEREAS, at the request of New Mexico's congressional delegation, the federal general accounting office will conduct an investigation of the legal obligations of the United States to protect the rights of the community land grants and determine whether those obligations were met in carrying the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, whether the community land grant claims appear to have been equitably adjudicated and how the United States might resolve the problems stemming from failure to protect the rights of the community land grants and Hispanic land grant heirs; and

WHEREAS, many Hispanic land grant heirs believe that their rights have been violated because there has not been a sufficiently vigorous adherence to the tenets and spirit of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and that this federal investigation is essential to reassert and protect those constitutionally inviolate rights; and

WHEREAS, because of the great importance of this matter to New Mexico, it is necessary for the legislature to appoint a committee to oversee and assist the federal general accounting office in its investigation;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it request the New Mexico legislative council appoint a committee to oversee and assist the federal general accounting office in its investigation of New Mexico land grant claims; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee consist of two senators, two members of the house of representatives and four members appointed from a list of persons submitted by the land grant forum of New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be given to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate.