HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 54

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Rhonda S. King

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO DECLARE THE NEW MEXICO DWI VICTIMS MEMORIAL OF PERPETUAL TEARS, WHICH HONORS VICTIMS OF DWI, AS THE OFFICIAL NATIONAL DWI VICTIMS MEMORIAL.

     WHEREAS, the memorial of perpetual tears, located thirty-eight miles east of Albuquerque in the city of Moriarty, opened in November 2008 and is now receiving visitors Monday through Friday of each week from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and

     WHEREAS, the memorial of perpetual tears is a visible statement to the world expressing what words cannot by portraying fatalities and injuries caused by DWI; and

     WHEREAS, the mission of the memorial is to recognize and give comfort to victims of DWI and their families by providing visual evidence of pain and sorrow that cannot be denied; and

     WHEREAS, the memorial offers public education on site regarding DWI in the areas of law, prevention, statistics, resources and available services; and

     WHEREAS, the front field of markers at the memorial resembles a federal cemetery with eight hundred forty-nine markers representing the most recent five-year period of deaths in New Mexico attributed to DWI; and

     WHEREAS, during that same five-year period, eighty-four thousand lives were lost in the nation due to DWI; and

     WHEREAS, the memorial was developed over a period of five years through the dedicated support of the city of Moriarty and with generous financial support from the legislature, the city and private donations, including a donation of four acres of land; and

     WHEREAS, in 2006, the city of Moriarty voted to develop an additional phase of the memorial to recognize the victims of DWI nationwide, and funding is currently being sought to complete that phase of development; and

     WHEREAS, the memorial of perpetual tears is the first memorial of its kind not only in New Mexico but in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, the memorial has achieved media recognition nationwide and continues to attract national visitors who are traveling on interstate 40, many of whom make the memorial the actual destination of their trip;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress be requested to declare the New Mexico DWI victims memorial of perpetual tears, which honors victims of DWI, as the official national DWI victims memorial; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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