Senate Floor

Secretary will call the roll.

Allen. Alvarado. Gill. Archuleta. Ashby. Becker. Blakespear. Cabaldon. Caballero. Cervantes. Troy. Cortese. Dali. Larazo. Gonzalez. Grayson. Grove. Hurtado. Jones. Laird. Limone. Mcguire. McNerney. Menjivar. Niello. Ochobo. Padilla. Perez. Reyes. Richardson. Rubio. Certo. Small. Cuevas. Stern. Umberg. Valaderas. Wahab. Weber. Pearson. Wiener.

A quorum is present. Members, if we could return to our seats and please rise. Would the guests beyond the gap, the Raylene also please rise. This morning will be led in prayer by our own Senator Cortese, after which remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator.

Thank you, Madam President, for the expanding grandeur of creation. We give thanks this day for this fragile planet Earth. We give thanks this day for the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises. We give thanks for our human community, our oneness transcending all separation.

We give thanks and we pray for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared. We pray for all who labor and suffer for a fairer world. We pray that we may live not by our fears, but by. But by our hopes. Not by our words, but by our deeds. Amen.

Please join me in the pledge. Put your right hand over your heart. I pledge allegiance. Senators, we're going to be starting off with privileges of the floor. Right now we have. We're going to be having two introductions. First, I'd like to acknowledge that in the gallery we have special guests from across the state with Habitat for Humanity.

There we go. Habitat for Humanity. Welcome to the State Senate. Thank you for joining us this morning. We'll be coming right back to our second introduction. For now, messages from the Governor will be deemed read, messages from the Assembly will be deemed read.

Reports of Committee will be deemed read, and amendments are adopted under motions, resolutions and notices. We have no items to discuss. Introduction and first reading of bills will be deemed read flying. Now to consideration of the daily file. We have two items, but right now we're going to start off with file item 17.

Senator Caballero is prepared for file item 17. Secretary. Secretary, please read.

Senate Resolution 16 by Senator Caballero, relative to President Jimmy Carter Day.

Senators, if we could give our undivided attention to Senator Caballero? You may proceed.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise today to present SR 16, which recognizes December 29th as President Jimmy Carter Day in the State of California. Throughout his presidency, President Carter focused his time and attention and made significant contributions to domestic affairs. He established the Department of Energy and created a national energy policy.

He expanded the National Park System to protect the natural environment, he made human and social services programs more robust, and he established the Department of Education, creating a greater commitment to increasing the level of educational achievement in our country.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States States, dedicated his post-presidency to promote conflict mediation, economic and social development, and the advancement of humanitarian causes, including his unwavering commitment to affordable housing through his partnership with Habitat for Humanity, who you recognized on this floor today, and we welcome them here.

For more than 35 years, President Carter exemplified his steadfast belief in the power of service and volunteerism, and he believed it could transform lives and communities. And he acted as a strong voice and champion for affordable, decent housing for all Americans.

In 1984, the Carters joined Habitat for Humanity volunteers to renovate an abandoned building in New York's Lower East Side, which became the annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.

During the 35 years the Carters volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, 35 years, they helped families to build their own homes and advocated publicly about the critical need for decent and affordable housing in the United States and around the world. And they brought Carter Work Projects to California on four occasions.

President Carter's advocacy for affordable homeownership amplifies California's ongoing efforts to uplift families and ensure access to homeownership for all. Please join me in honoring President Jimmy Carter's legacy and his action to strengthen communities, address systematic inequities, and create pathways for families to thrive by recognizing December 29th as President Jimmy Carter Day in California.

Thank you, Senator. I see five mics up. I'm going to start up with Senator Laird.

Thank you, Madam President. I salute the Senator from Merced for bringing this resolution, and of course, Habitat for Humanity played a big role in all our districts and I have had the opportunity of giving the first key to a family in my district, and I know that it's that work, but each of us has some sort of Jimmy Carter story.

You live till you're 100, and somehow you come across everyone in the universe. And one of mine was, of all things, I was in Managua, Nicaragua as official credentialed election observer in 1990 with John Burton, Loni Hancock, Tom Bates, many other people, and I was--my precinct was the largest one in Managua. It's where the market was, and people lived in the market, and I was there all day watching that the votes were coming okay, everybody put their thumb in the ink, and it was ink that wouldn't wash off.

And I am minding my own business, looking at this, when all of a sudden I'm aware of somebody next to me and it's Jimmy Carter. And he has walked in and he has said, 'how's it going? What's happening here? Is it going okay? Are you seeing fairness?' And he was just there. He went from precinct to precinct, and that was a difficult election.

There was a day or two where they weren't sure that the power was going to be transferred. And his presence and his imprimatur that it was a free and fair election probably contributed to that peaceful transfer of power. Lord knows we need him in lots of countries right now and I appreciate this and I'm glad we're paying tribute to and moving forward this resolution.

I'd like to now recognize Senator Archuleta.

Thank you, Madam President. I want to thank the Senator from Merced for presenting the resolution. It is a great day to honor such a great man. President Carter was an adamant humanitarian and a fellow service member, United States Navy. A lot of people don't realize his service to the United States Navy.

He often stated that he knew what he wanted to be as a young boy. He wanted to be a sailor and grow up and sail the seven seas. In the first grade, he was influenced by his father's service in World War I and his uncle with all the naval equipment that he left behind, and it was something that inspired him.

He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1947 and his family has served in the military over years upon years. A great legacy to the Carter family. President Carter was one who believed in, obviously we heard humanity, we believed in all of us, but he believed in the little guy, the guy who was struggling, and I think that's his legacy as well.

He's been able to establish himself as one of the greatest presidents that we've had, but his duty to the United States Navy was something that he was really proud of. He served various stations including duty on the United States ship Wyoming and also United States USS Missouri in Mississippi rather, and a submarine officer. People don't realize that that is a tough assignment, but he took it on as a submarine officer on United States ship USS Pomfret, and during his presidency, he did not forget about our veterans--and this is what I'm really excited about to share with you--that he signed the Veterans Healthcare amendment in 1979.

The law had made changes to the Veterans Administration's healthcare programs, expanded benefits for disabled veterans, and authorized the construction of of new medical facilities. President Carter set an example for all of us.

His first project in southwest Georgia way back in 1984 was the only, was only the beginning of his 35-year dedication to Habitat of Humanity, building homes for those that need help, building homes that give them character and dignity. The fact that President Carter was so invested in expanding the housing through that program, he will always be remembered as that president that helped build America.

And he is often considered the founder, but he wasn't. He'll keep the record straight. In their pursuit, Mr. And Mrs. Carter helped to renovate, build, and repair over 4,447 homes. When they first worked on Habitat for Humanity, it was a tiny fraction of an organization what it is today. Today it is honored because of him.

Today it's a global entity having helped over 62 million people worldwide one way or another, his continuous effort during his post as president to ensure all people have access to affordable housing, and we call an action. And now more than ever, if he was with us today, he'd be proud of California and our quest to build housing and make sure that the homeless are taken care of. President Carter was a true American who lived through his faith and was committed to serving his country. I'd like to leave you with this quote from the president as a reminder of everything as we do. May I?

Without objection.

'I think every human being has within himself or herself a desire to reach out to others and to share some of their blessings with those who are in need.' President Carter. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Senator McNerney, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President, and I also want to thank the gentlelady from Merced for bringing this resolution forward. President Carter was ahead of his time on a range of important issues, from working tirelessly for peace in the Middle East--Camp David, if you can remember that, it was an incredible achievement--to combating social inequity and fighting disease.

He also engineered the most impactful and value-based post-presidency in the nation's history. He was beloved around the world for his international leadership on human rights and his volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity inspired a generation to combat homelessness by building more affordable housing. He understood before most that we must transition from fossil fuels.

He even installed solar panels on the White House. On a personal level, President Carter inspired me on the climate issue when he created the Department of Energy in 1977. I became aware of climate change in 1969 and to see President Carter move forward on addressing it motivated me to go into renewable energies as a career and as a part of his presidential work. What really touched me about President Carter was his campaign for human rights, which was a salve to this nation after the Vietnam War.

He launched the White House Initiative to give additional federal support to the Historical Black Community Colleges, Black Colleges and Universities. Jimmy Carter was a good man, a great president, and and an exemplary citizen for all Americans. I ask for an aye vote and I yield back.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Niello, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I don't have to agree with everything for me to have great admiration and respect for one's career accomplishments and character, and I do have great admiration for President Carter's career accomplishments and character. He probably accomplished more as an active retiree after his presidency than any other retired president that I can think of. He remained active until he passed away at a very old age, and I do have great admiration and respect for President Jimmy Carter.

Senator Arreguín.

Thank you, Madam President. I also rise in support of SR 16 and want to reflect on President Carter's lifetime of public service. He was a shining example of what it means to be a public servant. His humility, compassion, and commitment to lifting up those in need inspires all of us to give back to our community.

It's part of the reason why we are here now as members of the California State Senate, to dedicate ourselves in service for the enrichment of residents of this great state. And President Carter demonstrated firsthand how public service has the power to transform people's lives for the better, how simple acts of kindness, whether it's as an elected official or as a private citizen, can heal and grow communities.

And long after his illustrious political career, which also started as a State Senator in the State of Georgia in 1963 and his distinguished military career before that, he committed himself to be a humanitarian.

And as the resolution describes, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter spent 35 years of their life after their service to this country as president, partnering with Habitat for Humanity, helping build and repair thousands of homes throughout the world for people in need. In 2013, the Carters helped with the construction of 12 homes in East Oakland in my Senate district.

It's remarkable enough that when an 89-year-old volunteers to construct homes, but to have a former President of the United States do it, is a testament to how much he truly cared about housing and the well-being of those in need in our country. We're all incredibly grateful for the partnership between the Carters and Habitat for Humanity and the work they have done in California and throughout the world in advancing homeownership.

And I just also lastly want to reflect on President Carter's commitment to peace, which I think we can all agree is needed now more than ever, not just in the Middle East, but throughout the world, and to that end, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his decades of entiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and promote economic development. In light of everything that's happening in our country and our world, it is so necessary now more than ever to build on his legacy of advancing human rights, social justice, peace, and democracy. I ask for an aye vote.

Senator Padilla.

Thank you very much, Madam President and colleagues. I also rise in support of SR 16 and in the memory of the late President Jimmy Carter, who dedicated his life to offering the highest measure of service to this country, and in particular, his moral example, his humility, his steady leadership are the ideals by which we should measure all of our leaders today.

President Carter's fervor for human rights and the lasting peace that his diplomacy brought delivered and cemented his legacy as a global statesman. History, indeed, I think, has been proven to be much more fair and accurate and kind to his legacy of work. His vision for a brighter future created a pragmatic national energy policy as been mentioned, the Departments of Energy and Education and countless other programs that continue to help millions of Americans to this day.

America and the world are forever changed because of his earnest, steadfast, and lifelong example of respect for his office, of decency, of humility, and class, something I dare say I personally miss very much.

While we mourn the loss of this honorable American hero, we must look to his example and renew our own dedication to making a better tomorrow. Colleagues, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Senator Blakespear, you're recognized.

Thank you. I also rise to support SR 16 today, and I want to thank the Senator from Merced for bringing this forward and recognizing President Carter on the floor of the California State Senate.

I have visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as the Carter Presidential Center, and I encourage all of you to do so if you are ever in Atlanta, Georgia. It is truly inspiring. And like many, I've also participated in the Habitat for Humanity projects and in general, have followed Jimmy Carter's life and legacy.

And when you recognize who someone is, their core, their integrity, their values, his relationships at every ring of intimacy, from the very closest, his wife, on out to world leaders across decades, you realize that President Carter really embodied our commitment to America being the best version of itself, and it's very important that we recognize that, that we see it, that we name it, that we talk about it, and so I'm really grateful to be able to add my support to this resolution today. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Rubio.

Thank you, Madam President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, today I also rise in support of SR 16 and thank the great Senator from Merced for bringing this forward. His leadership is something that I think today we could all just embody.

His humility and lifelong commitment to service left a mark on so many of us, our country, especially in California. Long after leaving the White House, President Carter continued to shape so many lives through his work with Habitat for Humanity. For decades, he put on a hat, picked up a hammer, and helped build so many homes for families.

His hands-on dedication to affordable housing has, had a direct impact on families across the state, including my district, where Habitat for Humanity has built thousands of homes. In every wall he raised, in every family he helped, he reminds us that leadership is about service and not of self.

His vision for a more sustainable future also continues to resonate. In 1979, during the energy crisis, President Carter came to Los Angeles to urge investments in renewable energy and conservation. As already mentioned, he put solar panels on the White House, a bold move at that time, and laid the groundwork for so many policies that we now carry forward here in California and made California a leader in clean energy.

Above all, President Carter was a man of compassion and kindness, which I think we can all use today. At a time when policies and politics are very difficult, he shows us what is possible if we come together and put people first. He never stopped believing in the power of goodness and bringing people together to do the right thing and for good causes. President Carter's legacy isn't just in words and in history books.

It's going to live on in all the families that he housed, all the dreams he made help come true, and all the children that will have a future because of his work. So I just want to take a moment to make sure that we honor his legacy, that we continue to talk about him as a teacher, and history being one of my passions, I hope that we never forget him, the work that he did, and all the good that he did for all of us. Thank you. I urge an aye vote.

Seeing no other mics up, Senator Caballero, you may close.

Thank you, Madam President. I want to request an aye vote and thank all the Senators who spoke here today and to consider volunteering with Habitat for Humanity during the year. We might even organize a workday while we're here in Sacramento to all come together, and in his honor, work for Habitat for Humanity. There is nothing, nothing like seeing a family receive the keys to their own home. He understood that, he knew that, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote today.

Thank you, Senator. Count me in. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call].

Please call the absent members.

[Roll Call].

Ayes: 36; no: zero. The resolution is adopted. We're going to go back to Privileges of the Floor. Now from the Majority Leader's desk, Senator Cabaldon.

Madam President. Thank you. It is my great honor today to introduce distinguished guests who are in many ways a letter to the Future from 1942.

On this day in 1942, California and the West Coast, the western United States were reeling because the day before, on February 19th, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering the roundup and the detainment in camps in the West Coast and beyond of all Japanese Americans in the West. California was especially hit hard.

And the communities, Japanese American communities here. Because California had been built by Japanese American immigrants who came here in the 1800s, in many cases fleeing a broken economy in a broken country.

Because the United States had forced open the, through military action, the Japanese economy with very little notice, causing a deep depression and recession in Japan that caused many Japanese to flee to better opportunities. And California represented that opportunity. They helped to build communities, to build agriculture, to build infrastructure.

California was not kind in the Constitutional Convention, anti Asian sentiments and policy provisions and articles were added day after day after day in the convention in San Francisco. By 1924, Japanese immigration had been banned entirely. Japanese land ownership prohibited in California.

And yet these Japanese American, that first generation, the Issei generation, had built so much of our state and was committed to our communities. Their kids, the Nisei generation, all American born, were the principal targets of the Executive Order. Most Japanese Americans in 1942 were American born, the Nisei generation and the Sansei.

And they received the order, perhaps unexpectedly, because just a few months earlier, national polling, which I don't Know if it was more accurate then, but national polling said that the overwhelming majority of Americans believed the Japanese Americans were Americans loyal to their country, deserving of our respect and our neighborliness. President Roosevelt said absolutely nothing.

Month after month after month, as the war raged and anti Asian and anti Japanese sentiment grew, he said nothing and he did nothing.

And by the time of the order In February of 1942, a majority of Americans believed that Japanese American citizens should be detained, not to mention Japanese American immigrants, those who with only green cards because so many couldn't achieve citizenship because of that 1924 law. So when his order was released, despite the fact that even J.

Edgar Hoover is the Director of the FBI and every other national intelligence and military organization said there was no evidence of disloyalty, of collusion or any of the fears that were being promulgated. President Russia Roosevelt issued the order. Now, I love President Roosevelt. He was a great President.

And it is a reminder that even the greatest among us are capable, can be capable of the worst moral failings and the worst violations of our oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. And that we have to remain constantly vigilant. So these citizens and their families here in California were uprooted with hours notice.

They leave their homes behind, their neighbors behind, begging and asking their neighbors, please look out. I don't know what's going on, but please look after my pets, look after my plants, looked after my farm, looked after my small business.

Many of them weren't back for years being put into concentration camps throughout the west, many just in this region, including my own congressman, Doris Matsui, who was born in an internment camp. Her husband, Robert Matsui, a former congressman who grew up in one so many and struggled to figure out what is this country that we love?

At no point, they never gave up on America, even as America gave up on them. And then the order was finally rescinded after the Supreme Court had upheld it. After Americans said that they supported it. It was finally rescinded in 1944. And on the day of the American victory over Japan in World War II.

I'll give one example out of so many hundreds of examples throughout California. In the small town of Winters, the most recent mayor was the majority leader of the Assembly.

But in Winters, California, in Yolo County, small town on VJ Day, Japantown, which was largely empty because all of its residents had been sent to camp on Vijay Day, Japantown was burned down.

In communities throughout this state, Japanese Americans, citizens and their families came home from internment camps to find that their Properties had been seized, that their neighborhoods, their small businesses, their culture, their churches had all been taken away, their wealth gone. They stuck with this country through the toughest moments.

It took till 1988 when the Federal government finally agreed to reparations, the first of the reparations movements in this country, agreeing to send each family $20,000 as part of the reparations movement and to launch a national campaign to make sure that this never happened again. Ronald Reagan as President issued that apology. It was a 10 year program.

10 years later, in 1998, this Legislature approved the creation of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Fund to take up the work after the federal program had expired. Betty Yee and I were the co chairs of the California legislative staff API caucus. There were zero API legislators at the time. And California led the way again.

But we had to because we were so complicit in what had been done.

And so I want to welcome to the floor today 14 of these messengers from our past and our present about what is possible when we don't stand up, when we allow folks to be sent, whether it's to Tule Lake or to the Darien Gap in Panama, that it is absolutely essential that we, that we stand up for our people and the consequences when we fail.

And so please welcome to the floor of the Senate 14 of the. Of the heroes that persevered, that persisted through the worst crime that a country can commit against its people, stuck with America, stuck with California. And I'm so honored to welcome that they stuck with us and that they're here today. Thank you colleagues.

We have a couple of Senators that. Would like to speak on this item.

Senator Jones, thank you, Madam President. And Senators to our guests, welcome to your California State Capitol. Welcome to your Senate Floor. It's an honor to have you here and a pleasure to meet you and thank you for the stories that you tell. I just wanted to.

It's been a while since I've told my story on this issue and just wanted to kind of recap for the Legislature and our guests the importance of the Japanese culture to my family. In 1943, my grandfather was assigned to a B24 squadron flying in the South Pacific out of Australia.

And he was on a covert mission at the time. He was not wearing US insignias when his plane crash landed on a coral reef in the Longor Islands. He was captured by the Japanese navy and Army. He survived 18 months in a Japanese prison camp in three different locations in Japan.

And those of you that know your Japanese history, know that the American POWs that were in that situation were some of the worst POW conditions in the world at the time. Brutal treatment by the Imperial army and the emperor's prison guards and the folks as a part of that.

But it was the Japanese people that lived nearby the prison camps that disagreed with the Emperor, that risked their lives every single day to bring medical supplies. Food. Everything that they could do to keep the American POWs alive, knowing that if they were caught, they would immediately be executed by the Emperor's army. My grandfather came back.

He survived that he weighed 98 pounds when he was rescued at the end of the war, came back, continued his service in the US Air Force, and as an act of gratitude to the Japanese people, went back to Japan and finished his last three years of service in the US Air Force in Japan and retired from the Air Force in Japan.

And that story has always been regaled. Well, not always, because my grandfather took him a while to be able to share that story. So I was actually an adult when he told me that story.

But whenever I drive up 395 today and I see Manzanar and recognize what that stands for, I'm reminded of the service of you all and your commitment to our country. And I thank you for that. And I would encourage all of our colleagues and everybody that is hearing this and participating in this that you drive by.

And if you can't stop, at least drive by and look at at Manzanar and know what some of the history of the United States is, bad history of the United States. But to know that we have folks that lived through that and still didn't give up on America, on the United States of America. I appreciate that.

Thank you. And I hope. Well, one of the good things that came out is a very good relationship with myself and Mariko Yamada, the former Assembly woman from that area.

I have in my district office the announcement that she gave me framed of the internment so that my district staff and the people who visit my office also are reminded of this situation. And let's all work and pray that America never, ever makes the same mistake again. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate you being here.

Senator Alvarado-Gil.

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to my colleague from San Diego for his words of empathy and encouragement. Encouragement because when we acknowledge a place like Manzanar and the history of Manzanar, it reminds us where we've been today, acknowledging where we are and accepting where we don't want to be in the future as Americans.

Manzanar was a war Relocation center, one of 10 camps that the US government set up across the US to incarcerate Japanese people. This became a home to over 10,000 Japanese Americans and their families.

Today, Manzanar is a national historic site in Inyo County, an area of Eastern California in which I represent, and I would say that my constituents have worked diligently over these past decades to preserve the area and to memorialize the lives, the births, the marriages, and, yes, the deaths that occurred at Manzanar site.

It is a coveted area of Senate District 4 and of California, not because of the atrocities that occurred there, but because it is a remembrance of the resilience of. Of the Japanese people and the Americans who served as loyal Californians, loyal U.S.

citizens, Americans in a time of war where it was very difficult just to acknowledge what was happening around us and to explain to our children and our family Members how to process such pieces of history. But yet Manzanar stands today as a testament of that resilience.

And despite facing harsh conditions, the internees came together to build a community. They created schools and published newspapers, organized activities showing that strength and adaptability.

It is now memorialized as a national museum where the photographs and the stories and the artifacts are being preserved and shared with future generations so that we can talk to our children and our grandchildren about this time and share the stories of those many Japanese Americans that we never were able to meet and to know.

So it's such an honor to be able to have you today on your Senate Floor. It's inspiring to think, even in the face of adversity, how Americans can find ways to connect and support each other. And today, we are here for you.

The National Historic Site of Mansinar stands not just as a memorial for the experiences of your ancestors and family Members, but as an educational resource for all Americans.

By exploring the stories of those who live there, those who grew there, and those who died there, we will foster a greater understanding of the empathy and the importance of justice in our society. And reflecting on Manzanar will help us remember that we must stand up against injustice and ensure that that history never repeats itself.

Thank you for being here today, and. We honor you, Senator Umberg.

Thank you. Madam President and colleagues, thank you to our colleague from Yolo for bringing to mind this important, important event in US History. So it's never repeated. And there are many, many stories that have grown out of that horrible, horrible event. But there are some other stories that inspire us.

Let me just ask, who among us has heard of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team? All of you have heard of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team? Because the 442nd Regimental Combat team consisted of Nisei who were mostly in internment camps, who were mostly in internment camps and left to fight in Europe.

The 442nd was the most highly decorated unit in the US army of that size. They suffered more casualties rescuing, by the way, a battalion from Texas. They suffered more casualties, had more Medals of Honor, including Senator Inouye, had more Purple Hearts than any other similarly sized unit in the entire US Military.

Now, can you imagine having everything taken away from you, place in an internment camp, and you volunteer to go fight for that country that just took everything from you? And I've been around long enough to have been able to go some of the four 42nd reunions and talk to some of the veterans.

And I'll never forget the story of one person who told me he was at Manzanar, and he had a family of five. They had a grocery store in Oakland. And when they were interned, they all left. They went to the camp. He volunteered, he fought in Europe. They came back and they'd lost everything. Everything.

And I said, how is it that you basically stayed in the army, by the way? Retired as a lieutenant colonel, fought in Korea. How is it you weren't bitter? You lost everything. The country that you fought for and saw so many people die for basically took everything from your family. Said, how is it you're not bitter?

He said, no, I was happy to go. It was my country and it was my duty. So if you drive down 99, as many of you have, Highway 99, it's dedicated to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

So just as a reminder to all of us of the incredible spirit of those who left the camps to fight for us, it's well worth recognizing the entire generation of those who. Thank you.

Thank you to everyone who beautifully honored our 12 special guests today. Once again, a special welcome from the California State Senate. Going to take a group photo right now. If anyone wishes to be in this photo.

SA.

We'Re going to take a minute or so before we continue with our business.

SA.

We'Re going to continue in 30 seconds. 30 seconds. We're coming back. We have one other item under consideration of the daily file. This item does have an introduction under privileges of the floor immediately following. Like to now turn our attention to file item 5. Senator Niello is prepared.

Secretary, please read Senate Concurrent Resolution 17. By Senator Niello relative to Montessori month.

Senator Niello thank you, Madam President.

I am the late Senator Niello. I apologize for not being here when I was first called, but I appreciate the opportunity to present SCR17, which is recognizing February as Montessori Month. For those of you who don't know, Montessori is a method of teaching that has been around for more than a century.

It has a child focused approach that Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, developed for educating children and it has been transforming schools around the world since 1907. Dr. Montessori has ties to California. She came to our state in 1915 to demonstrate her method at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. That same year, Dr.

Montessori was an invited speaker at the prestigious annual conference of the National Education Association here in California in Oakland. Bringing it back to the present day. When you enter a Montessori classroom, you'll see children working independently and in groups, often with specially designed learning materials.

They're taught to be deeply engaged in their work and respectful of themselves and their surroundings. According to the American Montessori Society, the Montessori method fosters rigorous self motivated growth for children and adolescents in all areas of their development, cognitive, emotional, social and physical.

From its beginning more than 118 years ago, as a single classroom for a group of underprivileged children in Rome, Italy, Montessori education has taken a firm foothold in the entire education landscape. In the US alone, approximately 5,000 Montessori schools now serve over 1 million children.

And here in California, there are close to 600 public and private Montessori schools serving approximately 40 children. Thousand students. The Montessori teaching method, like the traditional teaching profession, faces shortages and credentialing hurdles. They're working closely with the California Commission on Teach Credentialing to develop a pathway for early childhood development permits.

I hope the CTC and the profession will continue to collaborate positively and and contemplate broader pathways to licensure beyond the childhood development permits as we need more educators. In closing, I'd like to share a quote from Dr. Montessori. Do not tell them how to do it, show them how to do it and don't say a word.

If you tell them how to, they watch your lips move. If you show them, they want to do it themselves. So Members please join me in recognizing Montessori students and educators today by supporting SCR17 designating February as Montessori month.

Senator Ochoa Bogh, you're recognized on this item. Thank you Madam President. As a mother of three students of Montessori education, I want you just personally attest to the beautiful and just such empowering method of teaching children. One that really fosters Independence and self driven drive to want to learn.

I can't tell you the foundation that it left on my kids when it came to learning how to write in cursive as their very first form of writing. The ability to count high numbers based on how they present the materials in a very concrete manner.

I just want to thank Sarah Garcia who was my kids, all three of them was the major teacher and actually was the niece of Maria Montessori who had the privilege or who my children had the privilege of having as a teacher in Montessori education in Redlands.

I want to just anything that we can do to foster that form of education.

I wish every child could have that opportunity and highly encourage anyone with grandchildren or children to look into the local Montessori schools as a form of learning because it is empowering, it is beautiful and so motivating so on that I respectfully encourage, respectfully ask for an I.

Vote seeing no other MIC ups and Niello, you may close.

Appreciate the support for ACR scr. I'm still back in the Assembly. 17.

You're in the good place now Senator. This item is eligible for unanimous support. Any objection? I'm seeing no objection. Ayes, 34. No zero. The resolution is adopted.

Issues of the floor.

We're moving to that next.

Thank you.

Now moving to privileges of the floor. Senator Niello, you may proceed with your introduction of your guest.

Well, I was the late Senator Niello. Now I'm the early Senator Niello. Thank you very much. Today joining me in the gallery in coordination with resolution are a couple of Montessori educators in my district, Melanie Brown and Katie Dodd. They are educators with the modern Montessori teacher education college.

And they're also joined by a couple of students of the Montessori method in my area. Lucy Albert and Claire. Claire Brown right up there in the gallery above us.

Welcome to the State Senate.

Thank you.

Thank you. We're now returning to motions and resolutions. We have one item. The Senator with the adjourning memory, the Senator with the one adjourning memory. If I can get floor leadership to help me out here. Floor leadership to help me out with the Senator for the adjourned memory. Senator Wiener.

Thank you very much, Madam President and colleagues, with profound sadness that I rise to ask that the Senate adjourn in memory of a great San Franciscan and a great Member of our LGBTQ community, James Robbie Robinson, who was a founding Member of the San Francisco Tavern Guild and an active part for decades of our LGBTQ community.

He died on February 5th at the age of 89. Born in Virginia, Robbie moved to San Francisco after serving in the air Force in 1957. He began his career as a bartender in various gay bars in San Francisco, including the Silver Dollar, the Hideaway, and the Rendezvous.

As police continually harassed patrons and owners of gay bars around San Francisco, as happened in so many cities, Robbie, showing extraordinary leadership, joined with others to create a phone tree system.

If we remember phone trees from back in the day, they created a phone tree in 1961 so that if police were terrorizing or harassing customers in one bar, they could very quickly get the word out to all of the other bars in the area, so, so people could protect themselves.

It was an era when people were not out and when often not out, and if they were outed, like by being arrested, by doing a perp walk, that could end their career, end their family. It was just a very scary time. And RABI organized to allow people to protect themselves.

In 1962, this, an official phone tree network became the Tavern Guild, which grew to include more than 180 people at 86 different establishments by 1980. And it existed for decades before being disbanded formally in 1995 after being hit very hard by the AIDS crisis, a number of other cities had copied the Tavern Guild model.

So Robbie had that impact throughout the country. Robbie left bartending in 1970 to become a barber at the Viking in the Castro, a long standing barber shop in the neighborhood. When he then bought that barber shop in 1980, he became one of San Francisco's earliest gay business owners. Outside of owning bars.

Robbie is someone who was just so present in the community, had such deep ties. I was very close with him and he was always very supportive of me and would just send me very nice emails encouraging me. He was also extremely close with Senator Mark Leno, who preceded me in this body.

And actually it was Senator Leno who called me to let me know that Robbie had passed away. And he was just a very kind, wonderful human being who did so much for the community. And he will just be deeply, deeply missed. He is survived by his brother, Douglas Robinson, Jr. And his nephew, Will Prater.

Please join me in a journey today in memory of Robbie Robinson.

A Senate condolences to his family. Please bring his name forward so that the Senate may properly memorialize him. If there is no other business, Senator Gonzalez, the desk is clear. The next floor session is scheduled for. Monday, February 242025 at 2:00pm thank you.

The Senate will be in recess until 3:30, at which the adjournment motion will be made. We will Reconvene Monday the February 242025 at 2:00pm As a reminder, the desk will be open for introductions today and tomorrow. Tomorrow's deadline is 5pm to introduce your bills. May the odds be ever in your favor.