2023 -- S 0839

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION NEW

DEAL CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS

     Introduced By: Senator John P. Burke

     Date Introduced: March 29, 2023

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, On October 29, 1929, the United States Stock Market crashed, thereby

ending what has been called “The Roaring Twenties” and ushering in more than a decade of

economic privation the likes of which had never been seen before in American history and

hopefully will never be seen again; and

     WHEREAS, Before the United States Constitution was altered by the Twentieth

Amendment, newly elected Presidents used to take office on March 4th. As President Franklin

Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was set to take office, America was suffering in unimaginable ways.

The official American unemployment rate was at a record high of 24.9 percent and that number

didn’t count those who could only find part-time work and those who had given up on finding

work. According to a report from Irving Bernstein for the United States Department of Labor,

“There is no doubt that 1933 was the worst year, and March the worst month, for joblessness in

the history of United States”; and

     WHEREAS, When FDR assumed office, there was a feeling that this nation’s democratic

underpinnings were in peril with far right and far left totalitarians on the American scene

threatening America’s very foundations. It was against this backdrop that FDR took office and he

knew that he had to take immediate action to lower the jobless rate in America; and

     WHEREAS, On April 5th, 1933, FDR signed the “Emergency Conservation Act”, also

known as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an act that quickly gave much-needed jobs to

approximately 275,000 enrollees and 10,000 supervisors, in camps across the United States. The

Civilian Conservation Corps, and similar Programs like the Works Progress Administration,

allowed hungry people to get fed, have shelter and gave people hope amidst the despair. The

Civilian Conservation Corps also had the additional advantage of its great benefit to the

Environment; and

     WHEREAS, The State of Rhode Island had more than 15,900 enrollees in the CCC, with

others working in various New England States such as Vermont and Maine. Civilian

Conservation workers did timber stand improvement, forest insect control, developed recreation

facilities, and planted approximately 1 million trees. These CCC workers also helped towns deal

with natural disasters such as the 1938 Hurricane; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates the

90th Anniversary of the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps and furthermore honors the

memory of the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who worked tirelessly to better Rhode

Island’s State parks and forests; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Martin Podskoch, Board member of CCC

Legacy.

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