[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 42 (Monday, April 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         CESAR E. CHAVEZ: A GREAT AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER

  (Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, Cesar E. Chavez was one of America's 
greatest civil rights leaders. This week, thousands of people across 
the country who were touched by the life of Chavez remember him on the 
1 year anniversary of his death, April 23, 1993. Today I am introducing 
a House joint resolution to establish ``Cesar E. Chavez Day'' on March 
31, 1995, so that on his birthday this Nation may honor a man who 
dedicated his life to empowering people to free themselves from 
oppression.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the importance of 
sharing Cesar Chavez' history so that all Americans can see the results 
that are possible by working for justice through nonviolence in their 
communities. Through his commitment to nonviolent social action, Cesar 
Chavez brought dignity, respect, self-worth and inspiration to millions 
of farm-workers, students, other Americans and people throughout the 
world. Chavez dedicated his life to helping the poor and oppressed 
obtain livable standards of housing and food, and safe working 
conditions.
  Chavez, the grandson of a Mexican immigrant farmworker spent his 
childhood picking grapes, melons, beans, and other staple crops at low 
wages for long hours. As early as 1949, Chavez was committed to 
eliminating the unfair and dangerous environments of some farmworkers. 
In 1962, Chavez united 70,000 farmworkers to form the National Farmers 
Workers Association, predecessor to the United Farm Workers of America. 
Throughout his life, Chavez lived along side his campesino brothers and 
sisters in humble surroundings. He died on April 23, 1993, in San Luiz, 
AZ, a small farming town near the Mexican border.
  Cesar Chavez' struggles for equal rights and equal opportunity 
reached beyond labor issues for migrant workers. Chavez was one of the 
first to address the nationwide state of Hispanics in this country. 
Chavez advocated Hispanic concerns in meetings with heads of state and 
was strongly supported by Robert F. Kennedy and his family. In his 
lifetime Chavez championed environmental campaigns against pesticide 
and chemical abuse and worked for equal rights for millions of urban 
Hispanics to achieve educational, housing, and political opportunities.
  It is only fitting that we as a nation establish a day to honor Cesar 
Chavez as a great American and as an internationally respected 
humanitarian renowned for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the poor 
and exploited. This commemorative legislation will compliment the 
grassroots movements to honor Cesar Chavez throughout the United 
States. My State of New Mexico was the first State in the Nation to 
pass legislation honoring Cesar Chavez. Right now hundreds of people in 
California are retracing the historic steps that Cesar Chavez and 
farmworkers took through the San Joaquin Valley of California in 1966 
bringing attention to the plight of migrant farmworkers. Thousands of 
other supporters in Texas, Michigan, and Arizona have also organized 
efforts to commemorate Chavez.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Cesar Chavez by 
cosponsoring the resolution honoring his birthday.

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