[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  TRIBUTE TO HUMBERTO ``BETO'' GARCIA

                                 ______


                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 1994

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me 
in commending Humberto ``Beto'' Garcia, upon the occasion of his 
retirement, after 35 years of exemplary service to the U.S. Customs 
Service.
  Beto began his long and illustrious career as a clerk-typist in 1959, 
and his meticulous attention to detail brought him to the attention of 
his supervisors and put him on a track that would take him through 
several positions of importance throughout his career, one of which was 
his leadership of the export control division, a tedious task that Beto 
handled with great skill from 1965-70.
  His hard work as a Custom's inspector from 1970-84 garnered him a 
position on the prestigious Contraband Enforcement Team [CET]. One of 
the duties of the members of CET was a working knowledge of the myriad 
of Customs regulations, so Beto threw himself into learning the regs. 
As a member of the CET, his accurate judgements made on the basis of 
Customs regulations quickly earned him the respect of his fellow team 
members and other Customs workers.
  He is so hard working and dedicated to the ethic of fairness, that 
Customs workers in south Texas consider him an expert in Customs 
regulations. If you have an unusual question about any aspect of the 
Customs regulations, call Beto--he'll know; or he will know which book 
contains the answer.
  During his service to the Customs Service, Beto has seen a host of 
changes in the Service. He has seen the same revolution we have all 
witnessed with the conversion from hard copy papers to computerized 
documents and records. He watched the drug enforcement division of 
Customs grow away from Customs and into the Drug Enforcement Agency 
[DEA].
  He watched the Customs office at the Port of Brownsville grow by 75 
percent. He saw the creation of Foreign Trading Zone [FTZ] Number 62 at 
the Port of Brownsville. In fact, Beto was instrumental in setting up 
the FTZ Number 62.
  I hope that you will all join me and Beto's family--his wife Dinah, 
and his daughters Lenora A. and Lorena A.--in commending Beto for his 
life's work in behalf of our country.

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