NEW MEXICO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HONORS MAMF WITH MEMORIAL BILL 28 IN THE STATE CAPITOL
The “Whereases” kept coming, each one more laudatory than the preceding one as the New Mexico House of Representatives Chief Clerk read House Memorial Bill 28 “recognizing the Museum of the American Military Family and Learning Center and the Importance of the American Military Family.”
HM 28 was sponsored and introduced by Representative Bill McCamley, Democrat of Las Cruces, and supported by several Members of both parties testifying in favor of this Museum which is focusing on experiences such as their own growing up with or being married to a person serving in one of the military services. Representative McCamley cited his own life in the military and the work MAMF is doing as his reasons for sponsoring the Bill.
When the motion was called, the 52nd Legislature, First Session 2015, approved HM 28 by a unanimous vote of 70 – 0 on the morning of February 25, 2015, resolving that the Museum of the American Military Family and Learning Center be recognized “for its contributions to honoring the American military family.” After the vote, Rep McCamley walked from his desk down to the House Floor to thank the MAMF representatives seated next to the Speaker – Board Members Circe Olson Woessner and Allen Dale Olson and Board Liaisons Larry Hurtado and Stacey Marinaro.
Significantly, the Bill acknowledges that MAMF has “expansion plans that include a permanent home for seven former 1940s military housing units received as gifts.”
The Legislature recognized that there are no other institutions honoring the service of families and that MAMF provides a “forum for people with shared and converging paths to come together as a community, inspiring a sense of history.” It called attention to the Museum serving as a “repository of stories, letters, documents, and photos of military family members throughout the nation’s history.”
HM 28 was scheduled as part of the annual program, “Military Veterans Day at the Capitol” where MAMF also had an information booth near the Rotunda, along with dozens of other organizations which provide services and support for the military. It gave the MAMF volunteers a chance to interact with State Senators and Representatives, Cabinet Secretaries, and dozens of Veterans, Guardsmen, and military family members.
— Allen Dale Olson
To read the bill and who voted, please click the words HM028 HM028HVOTE
