[House Prints, 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


 
                               A Ceremony

                          Unveiling the Portrait

                                  of

                             THE HONORABLE

                          E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA

                  [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2007
                        1300 Longworth Building
                             Washington, DC





















                            COMMITTEE PRINT  

                                A Ceremony

                          Unveiling the Portrait

                                   of

                             THE HONORABLE

                          E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA

          A Representative in Congress from the State of Texas
                    January 3, 1965-January 3, 1997

                      Elected to the 89th Congress
                Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture
          Ninety Seventh through One Hundred Third Congresses

                  [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                              PROCEEDINGS

                               before the

                        COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                            October 2, 2007

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                           WASHINGTON : 2009
53-103 PDF














_______________________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


                               A Ceremony

                         Unveiling the Portrait

                                   of

                             THE HONORABLE

                          E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA

                        COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2007



_______________________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                [ iii ]


                   The Honorable E (Kika) de la Garza

    Kika de la Garza was elected to the U.S. House of 
Representatives in 1964 and sworn in as a Member of the 89th 
Congress in January 1965. He was a Member of the Committee on 
Agriculture since 1965 and was elevated to the Committee 
Chairmanship in 1981.
    During his tenure as Agriculture Committee Chairman, 
Representative de la Garza was one of our nation's top 
agricultural policymakers. A nationally-known advocate for 
American farmers and ranchers, he authored Federal policies to 
strengthen the farms and rural economy; provide adequate price 
and income stability for producers; expand U.S. agricultural 
export opportunities; ensure the availability of affordable 
credit for producers; properly fund agricultural research 
activities; assure producers access to safe, effective crop 
protection methods and other technology applications; promote a 
diversified rural economy; ensure the safety of our nation's 
food supply; and promote the protection of our natural 
resources.
    As Chairman, Representative de la Garza presided over the 
drafting and successful enactment of three major omnibus farm 
bills (1981, 1985, and 1990) that reformed the nation's 
agricultural policies. He also guided to enactment efforts to 
reduce the cost of agricultural programs through several 
deficit reduction bills.
    A long-time proponent of closer trade ties with Mexico, 
Representative de la Garza helped rally Congressional support 
that led to approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA) in November 1993. His other accomplishments include 
legislation to streamline the agricultural lending system, 
strengthen Federal pesticide laws and various other measures to 
assist American agriculture, encourage rural economic 
development, and improve human nutrition.
    Throughout his career, Representative de la Garza supported 
and fought for government policies to foster better living and 
economic conditions for all Americans. He worked hard and 
successfully to provide Federal funds to much needed water and 
sewer services to residents of impoverished Colonias in Texas.
    A strong supporter of civil rights, Representative de la 
Garza also worked for improved access to health care for the 
elderly, veterans, and low-income individuals and for better 
educational opportunities for all Americans. He supported 
policies to improve the nation's infrastructure and maintain a 
strong, cost-effective national defense.
    Mr. de la Garza was born in Mercedes, Texas. He received 
his LL.B. and J.D. degrees from St. Mary's University Law 
School, San Antonio, Texas. During World War II, at age 17, 
Representative de la Garza enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He later 
attended the U.S. Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 
and served as an artillery officer during the Korean conflict. 
He is married to the former Lucille Alamia. They have three 
children, Jorge, Michael and Angela, and seven grandchildren. 
The de la Garza's make their home in McAllen, Texas.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                     P R O G R A M

Master of Ceremonies
  H.R. Bert Pena
Invocation
  Father Daniel P. Coughlin
  Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives
Presentation of Portrait
  The Honorable Collin C. Peterson
  Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
Remarks
  Senator Pat Roberts
  The Honorable Charlie Stenholm
  Senator John Cornyn
  The Honorable Ruben Hinojosa
  The Honorable Solomon P. Ortiz
Address
  The Honorable E (Kika) de la Garza
Unveiling of Portrait
  Mrs. Lucille de la Garza
Special Guest
  The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
  Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Benediction
  Father Daniel P. Coughlin
  Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives








       The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of

                   THE HONORABLE E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA

                       REMARKS OF H.R. BERT PENA

                          Master of Ceremonies

                        TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2007

                                 House of Representatives,
                                    Committee on Agriculture
                                                        Washington, DC.

                       REMARKS OF H.R. BERT PENA

                          Master of Ceremonies

  Mr. Pena. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening, 
distinguished Members of the House and the Senate. The Deputy 
Secretary of Agriculture, Chuck Conner, is here and other 
distinguished colleagues from the Bush Administration. Honored 
guests and ladies and gentlemen, my name is Bert Pena and I am the 
Master of Ceremonies tonight for the official action by the 
Committee on Agriculture to formally unveil the portrait of the 
Honorable E Kika de la Garza, a Congressman from Texas, Member of 
the Texas Delegation and of the Committee on Agriculture for 32 
years and Chairman of the Committee for 14 years.
  We have a full program tonight, and my first duty, as Master of 
Ceremonies, is to call on the chaplain of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, the Honorable Daniel Coughlin, to deliver the 
invocation. Father Coughlin.

                               INVOCATION

                      Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin

  Father Coughlin. Let us pray. Father God, America the beautiful is not 
only blessed with awe-inspiring beauty, it also produces the 
safest, most abundant and affordable food in the history of 
humanity. By the constant custodial care of farmers, herdsmen and 
this government, you have led us to a land of plenty, making of us 
a people grateful and gracious and generous.
  Tonight, Lord, it is most fitting, during Hispanic Awareness Month, 
that we celebrate with Members and staff of the House Committee on 
Agriculture to remember the leadership and service of Chairman Kika 
de la Garza. By divine providence, you brought him here to serve on 
this Committee and then he was selected by his colleagues to be 
Chairman of the Agriculture Committee until he stepped down in 
1994. But over those years, under your inspiration, guidance and 
the help of others, his efforts, with three major omnibus farm 
bills, reformed the nation's agriculture policies.
  So Lord, we celebrate tonight with his wife, Lucille, family and 
friends because to this day, he is a man of balance. Family life 
and government work, faith and human labor, farm policies and the 
civil rights of minorities have always been a part of his 
background, his daily life and his hopeful vision for America that 
offers equal justice for all.
  May his own memory of this place this evening, the people who 
surrounded him during his work here and this portrait give him 
great joy and be balanced by the gratitude of many and the just 
reward, Lord, that you have promised to faithful servants who live 
and serve both now and forever. Amen.
  Mr. Pena. Thank you, Father Coughlin, for that very important message 
and beautiful invocation. It is now my pleasure to introduce the 
Chairman of the Committee, the Honorable Collin Peterson, for the 
presentation of the portrait.

        PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT BY HON. COLLIN C. PETERSON

                   Chairman, Committee on Agriculture

  The Chairman. Thank you very much, Bert, and welcome, everybody, to the 
House Committee on Agriculture and we are pleased to see so many 
familiar faces here. Some of you folks I haven't seen for a while. 
Welcome back. Senator Harkin. You got the bill written? You ready 
to go? I have learned that. Well, we are glad to have you here, Mr. 
Chairman. And I am pleased to be here to be part of the ceremony 
and honor my good friend and mentor, my Chairman, Kika de la Garza. 
When I came in 1990, I was way back down on the end of the last 
row. I don't even think Kika could even see me down there. I tried 
to behave myself and I didn't do it all the time, right, Kika? But, 
I did most of the time.
  But Kika, as you all know, served in the House of Representatives for, 
I guess a little over 30 years, from 1965 to 1996. He was 
appointed, as a lot of us on the Committee, to serve on the House 
Agriculture Committee during his first term in Congress and he was 
named Chairman of the Agriculture Committee in 1981, after former 
Agriculture Committee Chairman, Tom Foley, was chosen to serve as 
Majority Whip. He was Chairman during the drafting of three farm 
bills in 1981, 1985 and 1990. He then served as Ranking Member 
during the 1996 Farm Bill.
  During the 104th Congress, Pat Roberts, who is here someplace--where is 
Chairman Roberts?
  Mr. Roberts. Right here.
  The Chairman. There he is. Move up to the front here. You are a 
prominent person, Pat. During the 104th Congress, Pat Roberts 
succeeded him as Chairman. Come on up here. Charlie, come on up 
here. We might as well get you guys organized. Pat Roberts is with 
us tonight. He is going to share a few words, as well as 
Congressman Charlie Stenholm, who we all know served on this 
Committee for a long time, and served as Ranking Member prior to my 
becoming Ranking Member. And as I said, we are pleased to have all 
these leaders in agriculture. We have a lot of Members here. I am 
not going to start trying to name them, because I will forget 
somebody and screw up and be in trouble. But we appreciate you all 
being with us tonight.
  There are many famous stories about Chairman de la Garza. Mr. D, as 
many people knew him, often talked about his own experience of the 
American Dream and referred to his roots as a shoeshine boy in 
Mission, Texas. Anybody who spent any time with Kika in Washington 
knows the famous submarine story. And I hope, Kika, that you will 
share that story with us one more time here in the Agriculture 
Committee tonight. But that is up to you.
  Kika was a constant defender of American agriculture. When farm 
programs were unfairly singled out for deficit reduction, he never 
hesitated to bring out what became known simply as The Chart, which 
is right over here. Anybody that served on the Agriculture 
Committee has seen that chart more times than they want to think 
about. And as you can see, Kika's chart simply showed the fact that 
for all the attention farm spending receives, you really can't get 
much deficit reduction from it. There isn't much there below that 
little line on the bottom which represents how much agriculture is, 
even if you got rid of all of it. Right, Kika?
  During his first year as Chairman in 1981, Kika had to deal with, 
perhaps, the most difficult farm bill ever written, as some other 
folks might--Pat might disagree with that. Near the end of that 
process, he was asked how he liked being Chairman and he told them 
that the only hard job he ever had was harvesting asparagus. Is 
that right? I got it right.
  Kika has received many honors. There is an elementary school named in 
his honor and is it in La Hoya, La Hoya, Texas? And the National 
Resources Conservation Service established the Kika de la Garza 
Plant Materials Center in Kingsville, Texas in 1981. And then there 
is the Kika de la Garza Institute for Goat Research at Langston 
University in Oklahoma. And I can think of a few folks that they 
might have singled out, but for good reason, they chose Kika, 
because Kika has been a tireless advocate for America's farmers and 
ranchers and will be remembered always as a great lawmaker, a great 
leader and a great friend.
  His portrait shows him back at home in Texas where he and his wife, 
Lucille, have retired. I have been down to visit them. It is a 
great part of the world, and a good place to be in the wintertime. 
A lot of my constituents are down there. I can probably campaign 
down there just as well as up home. And as it hangs in our hearing 
room, which it now is doing at a place of prominence, it will 
remind us always of Kika's great legacy of leadership and the 
beautiful, bountiful agricultural landscape that our Committee is 
privileged to represent.
  So I am pleased, on behalf of the House Agriculture Committee, to be 
here this evening, to take part in the ceremony and honor my great 
friend and mentor, Kika de la Garza. Congratulations.
  I am going to introduce Mr. Roberts, Senator Roberts. Were you in here 
when I asked Tom if he had the farm bill done?
  Mr. Roberts. No.
  The Chairman. I can ask you, too. You guys have got to get going over 
there. Anyway, Senator Roberts and I have also been good friends 
and as a former Chairman, I am expecting great things out of him 
over in the Senate to help pull things together because he knows 
what we have to go through. We are pleased to have you here this 
evening, Mr. Chairman, and we welcome our good friend.

                     REMARKS OF SENATOR PAT ROBERTS

  Mr. Roberts. Thank you, thank you. Frank, are you still back there? Oh, 
Frankie. All right. That is my wife, Frankie. She is the speaker in 
my house and I was talking about a member. I just had a suggestion, 
Bert, if people would step forward about five paces, so that will 
let some people out on the patio come in, if they want.
  And I would like to ask staff members who have served here so long just 
to take the member chairs. Mario, why don't you take the lead? You 
always did before. Why don't you take the lead? And Bert, why don't 
you--well, no. No, you got to do this. Mario, grab some of your 
staff guys that I remember. Go up here and just sit over here with 
the Members. Okay, sit down over there. I am trying to create more 
room so people out there on the patio can get in. Those that are 
not trying to leave the premises by a hanging rope. All right. 
Settle down, settle down.
  My name is Pat Roberts and I am pretty much an antique piece of--now, 
come on, settle down, people. This is good stuff. I wrote this. All 
right, okay. Keep going, keep going. You are not done. I remember 
sitting clear back on the Republican side where you couldn't move 
for a lot of different reasons. Hi, Dale. I am just fine, thank 
you. You sure got a lot of staff, Collin. Always screwing things 
up. And my time has expired. It is about time for Fred and Randy to 
knock over the--that is an old joke.
  All right. Okay, listen up and I can get this done. My name is Pat 
Roberts. I am pretty much of an antique piece of House Agriculture 
Committee furniture, now stored in the Senate Assisted Living Home 
across the way. I spent 28 years, 12 as a staff bucket toter, 16 as 
a Member of this Committee. Now, it is important to remember that 
for 26 of the 28 years I was in the Minority. However, I had very 
important duties other than my primary job as administrative 
assistant to a great Congressman, Congressman Keith Sebelius, a 
Member of this Committee. You all remember Keith. If you don't--I 
messed them up. That was his great quote. You can use that if you 
like.
  My primary duties on the Minority, as a staffer, were to learn the art 
of ice sculpturing for Mario. I was to file Vernie's legal papers. 
I was to arrange flowers for Diane. I was to get buckets of ice for 
Bert and the Majority Members--we didn't get any buckets of ice on 
our side--and remind the Chairman that it was Chip Connelly, not 
Chips Connelly. We met in 1336A to work out the CBO mark. I didn't 
give a damn for about 26 years and then all of a sudden I was 
Chairman and I really gave a damn. And we made the mark one time by 
actually counting up a conditioning grain and then we drank it.
  Mel Thompson was my sidekick in the Sebelius office and by doing all of 
these unbecoming duties for the Majority, as a Member of the 
Minority, as a staffer, we received one three-way light bulb a 
month and two rolls of toilet paper. That was during the days when 
Tip O'Neill really ran things. We had discipline. And in Kika-land, 
we also had a great staff. My job was to make sure that Bill 
O'Connor's agriculture program policy encyclopedia was kept in 
order, so I simply wiped his brow. John Hogan was our brilliant 
barrister. And there is a story to that.
  John had an appealing kind of explanation to everything legal, but he 
would clear his voice about every minute and a half. And so we had 
a pool in the Minority, every time Ed Madigan would have, 
basically, John give a report and on how many times John would 
clear his throat. But you had to nail it. You had to nail it 
exactly on the number. Joe Skeen picked 18, Bill Emerson had 17, I 
had about 22. We all got through and it was right on 18 and that 
was it, and Joe Skeen smiled broadly, knowing he had won about a 
$50 pool, because nobody had ever nailed it. When I got up and said 
John, would you explain that one item to me one more time? Emerson 
and Skeen jumped right up and said that is not fair.
  Chuck Hilty of Madigan fame had me press his orange and yellow and 
green and mauve shirt, all the same shirt. Diane and Wonder Woman 
kept us in line. I will never forget the days, after the revolution 
in 1994, when the Majority staff actually discovered the basement 
rat hole where our staff worked. And I remember the staff director, 
I don't know who it was, Vernie or maybe it was Bert and it might 
have been Mario. He said you mean people actually inhabited this 
place? Yes, we did.
  But I digress. That is a Senator's privilege. Kika de la Garza, my 
friend, my colleague, respected Chairman Emeritus of the always 
then powerful House Agriculture Committee. Kika's attributes and 
many accomplishments are listed in his biographical sketch. 
Amazingly, for an esteemed Member of Congress, they are all true. 
And in a day and age where bipartisan is better now described as 
bipolar, I do long for the good old days in the House Agriculture 
Committee, where, when I became a Member, we passed Stenholm-
Roberts amendments, too many to mention. Then after the 1994 
revolution, many Roberts-Stenholm amendments. And then a little 
later, just Roberts amendments. And then I quit and I went to 
assisted living.
  The days as Chairman, when I would be listening to my colleagues across 
the aisle and began to fearlessly jot down notes of rebuttal, that 
is when Dale Wayne Moore, now of department fame, would whisper in 
my ear, ``Sir, you are the Chairman now. You have the votes. You 
don't have to say anything.'' So I just let Tom Harkin go ahead and 
say whatever he wanted to say. Actually, Tom was in the Senate 
then. That wasn't true. The reason we were successful in some 
things during those rather raucous times was due to the experience, 
the wisdom, and the commitment of our Chairman Emeritus, who always 
put agriculture first.
  Now, I am going to tell the infamous submarine story and how we, as 
upstart Republicans, gave Kika a miniature, but genuine submarine 
from which his story evolved. But the last time I mentioned the 
submarine story, and this is a true story, Lucille was standing up 
here and she gave me a sharp elbow to the ribs and said, ``Oh, now 
you have got him started. We will never get out of here.'' That is 
a true story. So Kika, no submarine story, but another one, and a 
little bit shorter. It was 1994, ladies and gentlemen, and I was 
sitting in front of the television in the Dodge City headquarters. 
It was slowly dawning on me that for the first time in 40 years 
there would be a new House Agriculture Committee Chairman. More to 
the point, it would be me.
  I thought of my dad. I thought of my mother. I thought of my family, 
and all of the farmers and ranchers in Kansas. All of the great 
colleagues and staff I had worked for. I thought of my family, and 
the awesome responsibility. I was damn near in tears, when someone 
tapped me on the shoulder and said I had a long distance telephone 
call from someone whose name he did not understand. So I answered 
hello and Kika said, ``I think I have to learn to call you Mr. 
Chairman.'' I stammered back, ``Oh, no. No, no, no, Mr. Chairman. 
You will always be the Chairman of the Committee. You will be 
Chairman Emeritus. You will not be a Ranking Member. But I thank 
you for the call and the congratulations.'' There was a pause and 
then Kika said, ``I didn't call you to congratulate you. I just 
want to know what I am going to do with all of my stuff.''
  After that was all done, he agreed to sit down with me and to give me 
some advice and counsel. And I suppose that this may end up on 
YouTube or something, but we settled on the wellness center and so 
there we sat, in the bubble up tubs. There were two. And at any 
rate, we were exchanging ideas on pending legislation, on 
agriculture program policy, on Members of the Committee. That was a 
hoot. And I told him I was concerned over parliamentary procedure. 
After all, no Republican had to worry about that or an OMB score 
for 40 years. He said don't worry. I will be your parliamentarian 
and he was. Every time somebody would offer an amendment over 
there, he would put his hands over his mouth and say don't worry, 
that will not score. We tried that two years ago and asked about 
the GAO study. And I would say you know, didn't I recall there was 
a GAO study about that two years ago and the score didn't meet, and 
would the gentleman consider withdrawing his amendment. And we got 
through it.
  Ladies and gentlemen, all of us come here to make a difference. We are 
fortunate here tonight to honor a man who has made a positive 
difference in the lives of every American and many people in 
foreign lands. A good man, a humble man and the Chairman of the 
House Agriculture Committee, always. Kika and Lucille, we love you. 
It has been a privilege to serve with you and an honor to be able 
to call you a friend. I salute you, sir. Thank you.
  The Chairman. Well, Charlie, I know that is a hard act to follow, but 
we now are pleased to have another great leader of the House 
Agriculture Committee for many, many years, somebody I learned a 
lot from. I will say, for both Kika and Charlie, for those of you 
out here that aren't happy sometimes with what I do, I learned a 
lot from these guys, so if you are looking for somebody to blame. 
Anyway, we are privileged to have Charlie Stenholm with us, former 
Ranking Member and a long-time Member of the Committee and also a 
Member from Texas.

               REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE CHARLIE STENHOLM

  Mr. Stenholm. Kika and Lucille, this has been a mission of a lot of 
pleasure that you have brought to Cindy and I. And my wife, Cindy, 
is back out here. The family sacrifices and the family 
contributions to all of us who have had the privilege of serving in 
the United States Congress are well known to everyone, but, quite 
often, are understated. And I have to say that I am one of those 
that benefited greatly from the inspiration and leadership that you 
gave, not only on the Agriculture Committee, but how you led your 
life and sharing your family from time to time. That is special.
  First time I met Kika de la Garza was in Crosbyton, Texas. He came out, 
was kind enough to come out and campaign for Charlie ``Who'' that 
wanted to become the next Congressman of the 17th District of Texas 
to replace Omar Burleson. Kika comes out to Crosbyton and we have a 
full house, 300, 400 people there and he gets carried away, tells 
the submarine story and a few other things and promised the people 
in that audience that if they elected Charlie Stenholm, he will 
guarantee I will be on the House Agriculture Committee. Fast 
forward a couple of months or about a year, I get elected, we are 
in, the Steering and Policy Committee is meeting. There is one slot 
left on the House Agriculture Committee and I am still not on it.
  Kika goes to Speaker Tip O'Neill and by the way, Pat, he gave you one 
too many rolls. Kika goes to Speaker O'Neill and said, ``Mr. 
Speaker, you got to help me. I was out in Crosbyton, Texas. There 
were 4,000 men and women from west Texas in that audience and I 
promised them that if they elect Charlie Stenholm I will see that 
he gets on the Agriculture Committee.'' I forgot the part of the 
story, he crawled into the office and begged because this was--
well, the Speaker honored Kika's request and I got on the House 
Agriculture Committee.
  And then we had a lot of experiences past Crosbyton. You know, we were 
in Prague, Czechoslovakia before the fall of the Iron Curtain, 
doing a Memorandum of Understanding with Charles University and 
Texas A&M University in dealing with their beginning to communicate 
with each other. And no matter whether we were in Prague, 
Czechoslovakia or we are dealing with Secretary Niconav, the 
Secretary of the Soviet Union, or whether we were in Italy at the 
World's Wine Fair, Kika always managed to communicate in their 
language. Five languages, always perfectly communicating with a 
slight Spanish accent to each of the languages. But he was able to 
communicate.
  I remember once we were appearing before the Rules Committee. Claude 
Pepper was the Chairman of the Rules Committee at the time and 
Claude looks down at Kika and he says, ``Mr. Chairman, you have an 
ag bill you would like to bring before the House?'' ``Yes, sir.'' 
``Do you have your ducks in a row on this bill?'' And Kika says, 
``Mr. Chairman, I am trying to put my ducks in the wagon, but they 
keep jumping out. But we will do the best that we can.'' How well I 
remember that.
  There is a special quality in all of us, and I look out and see so many 
colleagues, friends from Texas, Madam Speaker, glad to see you here 
today. I know Kika is, also. But as we look out, it is the 
friendships that we make and the associations that we have and 
those things that nothing will ever take away from us. And just as 
I began, I say Kika and Lucille, you have made a great contribution 
to the Stenholm family and I know I speak for everyone here that 
has come to know you and appreciate you. Those that served with you 
and those who worked with you and those who have followed you ever 
since, we appreciate you.
  And now in closing, I want to share a little bit of news that probably 
no one is aware of. You have already heard reference to the 
submarine story and I am not going to go into that. And Lucille, I 
am far enough away from that elbow. But you know, if today you were 
to go down this street to the 17th Street entrance to the World War 
II memorial, you would enter on the south side, which is 
appropriate for one of the most prominent Members from the South, 
Mr. Chairman. There is a series of commemoration plaques that show 
the action on the Pacific front during World War II. Along that 
wall is one sculpture that commemorates the contribution of 
agriculture to our national effort in World War II.
  And immediately after the sculpture commemorating agriculture is, you 
guessed it, a submarine. So agriculture comes before submarines one 
more time. Did Kika strike again? Or should we be thinking of 
naming a submarine for Kika de la Garza? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Mr. Pena. Ladies and gentlemen, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, 
has just arrived. I will recognize the Speaker now, so she may 
deliver her remarks this evening.

          REMARKS OF SPECIAL GUEST THE HONORABLE NANCY PELOSI

                 SPEAKER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Speaker Pelosi. How exciting it is to gather in this room to honor Kika 
de la Garza, Mr. Chairman. This is the second portrait unveiling in 
this room that I have attended, Kika. The first I attended was for 
Speaker Foley in honor of his being Chairman of the Agriculture 
Committee. How wonderful that he brought that important value and 
that important issue to the speakership. I don't have that 
credential as Speaker, because I told them at the time that we did 
have one farm in San Francisco. It was a mushroom farm and it was 
indoors. But nonetheless, I have a full appreciation of your 
leadership and the contribution that agriculture has made to the 
war effort at that time and to the strength of our country and our 
balance of power.
  And if I didn't know that, Chairman Peterson would be reminding me 
every minute, so it is an honor to join him, Chairman Peterson, 
Charlie Stenholm, my Ranking Member of whom we are very proud and 
former Chairman, but now Senator Roberts, to honor this great man. 
I was in McAllen, Texas last week and I saw firsthand the affection 
and respect that the people of the region have for Kika and for 
Lucille. At every stop they were cheered, kissed, hugged and 
revered. And I could see, visiting McAllen and Edinburg and other 
parts there, why Kika and Lucille wanted to go home. What a 
beautiful area, an agriculture area and a patriotic area, Mr. 
Stenholm. Very patriotic area contributing greatly in every way to 
the strength of our country.
  And so here we are, honoring Kika for 32 years of service in the 
Congress of the United States, 1965 to what is it, 1997? My 
goodness. I had the privilege of serving under him for part of that 
time and I saw firsthand a remarkable list of achievements that 
would be the envy of any Member. A founding Member of the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He put the issues of that great 
community on the national agenda and for that, we are all in your 
debt, Kika. He amplified the voice of Hispanic Members and Hispanic 
people throughout our country.
  As the first Hispanic to lead a standing House Committee, imagine that, 
imagine the history of that. Chairman de la Garza left a very 
enormous mark on farm policy. One of his most impressive 
achievements was stiff competition, mind you, for that designation, 
his successful shepherding of three farm bills as Chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee. Three farm bills, Collin.
  The Chairman. I don't think I----
  Speaker Pelosi. We didn't even realize what an accomplishment that was 
until a couple of months ago. Tom Buis, stop laughing so loudly 
here. As Chairman Peterson and many up here will tell you, 
completing a farm bill is a heavy lift. Enacting three is nothing 
short of remarkable. Chairman de la Garza presided over the 
presentation of those three farm bills and that is a reflection of 
his love and understanding of farm country and rural America. As 
Chairman, Kika de la Garza streamlined farm loan programs, 
protected family farmers with emergency assistance in the very 
difficult times of the late 1980s, strengthened rural America and 
our nation's nutrition programs and he has many, many more 
accomplishments.
  It is wonderful to have Chairman de la Garza back in Washington. I see 
Angela and other members of the family and certainly, his dear and 
beloved and beautiful Lucille. I congratulate you on receiving this 
tremendous honor and think it is a real tribute. We have Senator 
Harkin, we have Senator Cornyn from Texas, we have many, many 
Members of the House and that speaks eloquently to the very 
distinguished leadership of Kika de la Garza. Although he has been 
gone 10 years now, he is always part of the legacy of this 
Congress. Thank you, Kika de la Garza, for your patriotism and for 
your leadership to our country. Thank you, Kika.
  Mr. Pena. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, Chairman Peterson, 
Senator Roberts and Charlie Stenholm. I would like to recognize 
three key Members of the Texas delegation, beginning with Senator 
Cornyn, who has graciously come over from the Senate to speak 
tonight. Senator Cornyn.

                     REMARKS OF SENATOR JOHN CORNYN

  Mr. Cornyn. For a Member of the United States Senate, I will be 
uncharacteristically brief, since Senator Roberts has said just 
about everything that could be said. And I always look to him for 
guidance on a variety of issues, but particularly, when it comes to 
agricultural issues. I am a humble barrister by profession and 
while I have consumed vast quantities of agricultural products 
during my lifetime, I don't consider myself an expert.
  But I do want to say just a couple of words of appreciation to Kika de 
la Garza and his wonderful family and say, coming from Texas, he is 
a Texas legend and somebody who has done so much for our state and 
to advance not only the cause of agriculture, which employs, 
roughly, one out of every five Texans, but obviously has made a 
tremendous impact here in Washington and across our nation and 
literally, around the world. So Kika, thank you for allowing me to 
come by and share just a few words of appreciation. Thank you for 
your great service, the tremendous impact you have made on this 
great Nation and this is a fitting tribute for those many years of 
wonderful service. Thank you.
  The Chairman. We are going to officially accept this portrait on behalf 
of the House of Representatives and we have the Speaker here and 
she is the appropriate one to do that, so at this time, I think we 
will have Lucille come up and we will unveil the portrait and then 
the Speaker will officially accept it and then we will hear some 
words from Kika. So if the rest of the delegation wants to come up 
from Texas, Hispanic Caucus, the more the merrier.
  [Portrait unveiled]
  Speaker Pelosi. So on behalf of the Congress of the United States, it 
is a great honor to accept this magnificent portrait of Chairman 
Kika de la Garza. For a long time to come, anyone who visits the 
Congress, visits the Agriculture Committee, will see the energy, 
the dedication, the patriotism in this great portrait of Kika. 
Congratulations, Kika. You are looking good.
  The Chairman. Ruben. Before we have Kika speak, I am going to have the 
current Member from Kika's district say a couple of words, Ruben 
Hinojosa, my good friend.

                REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE RUBEN HINOJOSA

  Mr. Hinojosa. Thank you, Collin. I appreciate very much the opportunity 
to say a few words. I was very pleased to hear Father Dan and Bert 
Pena open the program and delighted to hear Chairman Collin 
Peterson and former Chairman Pat Roberts, now Senator Roberts, from 
Kansas; Charlie Stenholm. But I also want to acknowledge many of 
the current Members of Congress and former Members of Congress who 
are here today. I especially want to recognize all of the Members 
of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who are here to pay their 
respects to the founder, together with Congressman Roybal from 
California. These two men and a few others were the ones who 
started the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which today celebrates 
its 30th anniversary, and we thank each and every one of you who 
are here today.
  I am pleased to be here with my wife, Marty, and my family, all of us 
to honor a great American and a great Texan, the Honorable E Kika 
de la Garza. I am very proud to represent the Congressional 
District, number 15 from Texas, that Congressman de la Garza 
represented, honorably, for over 32 years. When Kika became 
Chairman of the this House Agriculture Committee, he was the first 
Hispanic, since 1917, to chair a House standing Committee in the 
House of Representatives. To hear the words of our speaker, Nancy 
Pelosi, in recognizing him for his outstanding and extraordinary 
work as Chairman, it gave me great pleasure because I can look up 
to Congressman de la Garza, whom I replaced after his retirement, 
and look forward to someday trying to do some of the great work 
that he did.
  During that 15-year tenure as Chairman, Kika successfully led the way 
for the House to pass the three omnibus farm bills that were 
mentioned earlier. Although we are here tonight to honor his work 
on the Agriculture Committee, through the unveiling of his official 
portrait, Kika did not just confine his work in Congress to 
agriculture issues. In 1976, he became one of the founding Members 
of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which he chaired from 1989 to 
1991. A strong supporter of civil rights, safeguard for minorities, 
Kika fought for improved access to healthcare for the elderly and 
for veterans, bettered living conditions for lower income 
individuals and the impoverished, and increased access to 
educational opportunities for all Americans.
  In closing, Marty and I want to recognize his wife, Lucille, who has 
been his strongest supporter and who, I am sure, is very proud to 
be here tonight to see her husband, Kika, get this well-deserved 
honor. Kika and Lucille, my sincere congratulations and thank you 
for all your public service to our great country and the great 
people of south Texas. God bless you.
  The Chairman. Thank you, Ruben, and we have been joined by the Ranking 
Member, the current Ranking Member of the House Agriculture 
Committee, former Chairman, whose picture we just hung here, we 
hung him two or three weeks ago and we are going to hang Kika 
tonight. But Bob, we are glad to have you with us. So ladies and 
gentlemen, without further ado, my Chairman, always my Chairman, 
the Chairman Emeritus of the House Agriculture Committee, Kika de 
la Garza.

             REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA

  Mr. de la Garza. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. 
Chairman. I want to commend you on the great work that you are 
doing as Chairman of the Agriculture Committee that I had the 
privilege of presiding over for a few years. To all of my 
colleagues that are here, those that have left us and gone to the 
Senate, Pat Roberts, and my other colleagues that are here, my 
family is here with me. We are very proud of our son, Jorge; Jorge 
and his wife and his daughter, Laura, and Tina and Jorge. Where are 
you, Jorge? There you go. Would you come up here in front? Laura 
and Jorge. Jorge is, I can't say it, cardiothoracic surgeon. Our 
son, retired Commander of the U.S. Navy, Mike de la Garza. Mike, 
Amelia, and our official photographer, Angela.
  Thank you so very much. Philip. Where is Philip? There you go. They 
said so many nice things about me, I had thought I had died and 
gone to heaven. Is this how it is going to be? But I appreciate all 
of you being here and the artist that did the painting, the 
portrait, is here, also. Thank you so very much. I didn't want to 
say I am--I don't know why, by protocol, and I didn't want to be in 
a coat and tie with a flag in the background hanging in the 
Agriculture Committee, so this young lady pictured it well and did 
a good job. Cousin Joe Miller, a nephew. Did I miss anyone?
  Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. I hope you enjoy--someone 
asked me are you going to have hors d'oeuvres? I said of course. 
She asked if they would be light or heavy? She didn't come? She is 
in here someplace. She didn't know if she wanted light or heavy 
hors d'oeuvres. But everything they said about me was part of a 
team effort. Those that work for the Agriculture Committee, those 
that worked for the Agriculture Committee through my tenure before 
and we were there together, we did it together in a really unusual 
way. We were receiving criticism for all the spending that went to 
the rich farmers of America and this chart has been to every State 
in the Union.
  That little line at the bottom, that is all we spent for agriculture. 
That is it. I would show this chart in Chicago, and New York, says, 
``What, all the rich farmers are getting richer?'' No, we are not. 
We are giving you all the good food that you eat and the now famous 
submarine story. I was invited--they come, freshmen, young members, 
they come from the military to greet you and to welcome you. When 
the Navy fellow came, he said I see you are an old Navy fellow. I 
said, ``Yes, I was in the Navy. Can you help me get onboard a 
ship?'' He said, ``Sure, when do you want to go?'' Because I was in 
the Navy and never had been on a ship. He says, ``When do you want 
to go? Let me know.''
  So couple of weeks later, he came by, a Commander, and said, ``We got 
you. You are going on a Navy ship.'' It was the USS Macon, CA132. 
It was someone from Georgia here. The Macon was a ship that I went 
on. When we were out there, I asked the Commander how about 
submarines? He said, ``Well, we will see about you going on a 
submarine.'' So a couple of weeks later they invited me to come on 
a submarine and there we were, out in the Gulf of Mexico, into the 
Atlantic. You may have heard about some whales jumping on land and 
getting out of the water? That was me in my submarine. But we did 
it.
  Finally, I asked the commander, how, knowing that this was the height 
of the confrontation with the Soviet Union and they knew where our 
ships were, in port or at sea, they knew where our planes were, on 
the ground or flying. They knew where everything was, except one 
thing. They didn't know where that submarine was. And that is what 
saved us from the Soviet Union going after us because they didn't 
know where that submarine was. And this is what saved us, this is 
what kept us safe.
  But the most important part, and I tell it to you here, I asked the 
commander, how long can you keep this thing underwater? He says, 
``Oh, take a guess.'' I said, ``I don't know, one year, two years, 
three years?'' He said, ``No. You are in the Congress?'' ``Yes, of 
course.'' ``You are on the Agriculture Committee?'' ``Yes.'' He 
said we can keep this submarine underwater as long as we have food 
for our crew. That was the secret. So who saved us from all that 
happened with the Soviet Union? It was the farmers and ranchers of 
America.
  They did it for us and I was proud to be a very small part of that 
endeavor, but had it not been for the farmers and ranchers of 
America, we would have been just another nation without enough food 
to sustain ourselves, so thank you, farmers and ranchers of 
America. I say it right here, in the Agriculture Committee, that I 
had the privilege and honor of presiding and thank you for this 
beautiful--I am not leaning on the fence because I am tired. I am 
leaning because I am proud of what is behind me: Santa Gertrudis 
cattle and the grass and the fence.
  I might tell you a little personal--the name of the Santa Gertrudis 
originally came from the now famous King Ranch. But it was named 
Santa Gertrudis because it belonged to the de la Garza family. The 
mother of the de la Garzas was named Cruz, so they named the ranch 
Santa Cruz de la Garza because it belonged to a de la Garza family 
and the mother of the de la Garzas was named Gertrudis, so they 
named the ranch Santa Gertrudis de la Garza, which I don't know how 
far down the line I came, but I am proud of it. I am proud of it.
  So this has been a team effort. To those of you that worked on the 
Committee with us and helped three omnibus farm bills and a 
multitude of other bills for the U.S., for the world, for America 
and for you, who partake of the bounty of our great agricultural 
system. So thank you very much. God bless America and God bless 
agriculture.
  Mr. Pena. Ladies and gentleman, I would like to recognize the Dean of 
the Hispanic Caucus and a senior Member of Congress from Texas, the 
Honorable Solomon Ortiz.

               REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

  Mr. Ortiz. Thank you. Even before I came to Congress, Kika was already 
a star and he was my mentor, after I took half of the district that 
Kika represented, Brownsville and all the way to Kleberg County. I 
know it has been a long time coming, but we come here to honor a 
great American. I will never forget when they opened a Bingo site, 
we had a big ceremony and all of the community was there and all 
the leaders were there. Even winter Texans were there. When we saw 
Kika, when the winter Texans came over and they saw those tall 
aviators, tall, and Kika, this lady came to Kika and she said, 
``Kika, how come you are so short?'' And he said let me tell you 
why. He says I served in a submarine and the bunks were so small 
that they did not give me a chance to grow.
  But Kika, we are here to honor you because of your leadership and your 
family. It takes the efforts of a great family, a wife and the 
children. I will never forget, when I came to the first Hispanic 
Caucus meeting, I was one of six Hispanics when I came to Congress 
and Kika stood up and he said somebody once said that behind a man 
is a great woman. Lucille stood up. He says not behind, besides a 
man. So Kika, we are just here to honor you today and to wish you 
the best. You have been a great role model for all of us, not only 
in south Texas, but throughout the country. Congratulations.
  Mr. Pena. I am looking around for Members of Congress who would like to 
speak now. If not, of course, we want to thank the Friends of 
Agriculture Portrait Committee, including the American Peanut 
Shellers Association, U.S. Sugar Corporation, Chicago Mercantile 
Exchange, and so many others who contributed to making the portrait 
possible. Dalton Yancey is here. He started with us a long time ago 
to put this together. Vernie Hubert is here, Fred Clark and others, 
including Mario Castillo. I want to thank Debbie Smith. Debbie, 
thank you for your hard work and dedication to the Committee on 
Agriculture, and thank you for guiding us through the process. And 
I would like to recognize Jena Rawley-Whitaker, the artist who 
painted the beautiful painting, for a few words.

                    REMARKS OF JENA RAWLEY-WHITAKER

  Ms. Rawley-Whitaker. I just want to say that when I found out I was 
going to paint a Congressman and a Chairman of the Agriculture 
Committee, I was relieved to know he would be in jeans and a cowboy 
shirt. You know, there is just something about a man in boots. And 
so I really was thrilled to get to do that. I want to tell you that 
in recent times, as an Executive Director of a homeless shelter in 
Amarillo, I have come to discover that I am in touch with 
legislation and programs that Kika de la Garza put into place, so 
that I can minister to the veterans, we have a lot of homeless 
veterans; the immigrants and the elderly that come to us. They are 
helpless, they are hopeless. They have nothing and they don't know 
what to do. And through Kika de la Garza and his work that he did 
in these areas, championing these minority groups and these little 
groups that have no hope of making it work for them. I just want to 
say, for example, in August, this August, we fed 14,000 people in 
our little homeless shelter in Amarillo, Texas and that was because 
of a food bank program that Chairman de la Garza put into place. So 
I just want to honor him for that today. Thank you.
  Mr. Pena. I thank all of you for being here tonight. I would like to 
call on the chaplain of the U.S. House, Father Dan Coughlin, to 
give us the benediction.

                              BENEDICTION

                      Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin

  Father Coughlin. Mr. de la Garza, I tell you, there is a scripture 
story. The story stays alive as long as there is a story teller. 
Obviously, tonight your story will live on and on. Let us pray.
  We bless you and praise you, Lord God of creation, for your abundance 
and resources you have poured on this nation. May the American 
people always rejoice in a rich harvest of the fields and 
productive herds as they grow in compassion for the poor and the 
hungry at home and around the world. We bless you and we praise 
you, Lord, our redeemer, for the good work, past and present of the 
House Committee on Agriculture. May their endeavors on policies and 
laws increase both production and protection of America's food and 
lead to even more responsible trade with our neighbors.
  And finally, tonight, Lord, this gathering of family and friends are 
truly your sign of Kika's blessings in life. We ask you and praise 
you, as a source of life and love, for the Honorable Kika de la 
Garza, his wife, their three children and seven grandchildren. May 
this celebration affirm the gratitude of colleagues, the people of 
Texas and of this nation for a job well done and express their 
prayerful hope for long life and happiness and health which you 
alone can give, Lord, for you reward the good and the just forever 
and ever. Amen.
  [Whereupon, at 7:05 p.m., the ceremony was adjourned.]

                                 Guests

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                           COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                         
                                 103rd Congress     

                      E. (Kika) de la Garza, Texas, Chairman

GEORGE E. BROWN, Jr., California,    PAT ROBERTS, Kansas,
  Vice Chairman                        Ranking Minority Member
CHARLIE ROSE, North Carolina         BILL EMERSON, Missouri
GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma              STEVE GUNDERSON, Wisconsin
LEON E. PANETTA, California          TOM LEWIS, Florida
DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas                 ROBERT F. (BOB) SMITH, Oregon
CHARLES W. STENHOLM, Texas           LARRY COMBEST, Texas
HAROLD L. VOLKMER, Missouri          DAVE CAMP, Michigan
TIMOTHY J. PENNY, Minnesota          WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado
TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota            BILL BARRETT, Nebraska
MIKE EPSY, Mississippi               JIM NUSSLE, Iowa
BILL SARPALIUS, Texas                JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio
JILL L. LONG, Indiana                THOMAS W. EWING, Illinois
GARY A. CONDIT, California           JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota        JACK KINGSTON, Georgia
CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California         BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
EVA M. CLAYTON, North Carolina       JAY DICKEY, Arkansas
DAVID MINGE, Minnesota               RICHARD W. POMBO, California
EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama            CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida
JAY INSLEE, Washington               NICK SMITH, Michigan
THOMAS J. BARLOW III, Kentucky       TERRY EVERETT, Alabama
EARL POMEROY, North Dakota           FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma
TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania             RON LEWIS, Kentucky
CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
SCOTT BAESLER, Kentucky
KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia
BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi
SAM FARR, California
PAT WILLIAMS, Montana
BLANCHIE M. LAMBERT, Arkansas
------
                                 ------

                           Professional Staff

                        Dianne Powell, Staff Director
    Vernie Hubert, Chief Counsel/Legislative Director
            Gary R. Mitchell, Minority Staff Director
                      Glenda L. Temple, Hearing Clerk




                                  [24]


