[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 107 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF CESAR CHAVEZ

                                 ______


                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 5, 1994

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, August 8, President Clinton will 
honor the late Cesar Chavez with this Nation's highest civilian award, 
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is an appropriate tribute to a 
man who dedicated his life to the struggle for justice and dignity for 
the people who produce America's food.
  Born in Arizona in 1927 to Mexican immigrant parents, Cesar Estrada 
Chavez and his family moved to California, where they found work as 
migrant farmworkers during the Great Depression. In the 1960's, Cesar 
Chavez led the first successful effort to organize migrant farmworkers, 
moving from farm to farm, combining the nonviolent teachings of 
Mohandas Ghandi and the organizing techniques of Saul Alinsky.
  When Cesar Chavez emerged as a leading organizer of the farmworkers 
in 1965, migrant farmworkers earned only $1.40 an hour, with no 
benefits. Working conditions in the fields were terrible, sanitation 
was substandard, and, most importantly, the growers refused to 
recognize the right of the farmworkers to bargain collectively.
  The history of labor relations in this country was changed forever 
when the United Farm Workers of America called for a boycott against 
California table grapes to protest the growers' antilabor tactics and 
the abhorrent conditions under which the farmworkers labored. The 
strike was an astonishing success. By mobilizing the conscience of the 
American people behind direct action, the boycott resulted in millions 
of dollars in losses to the growers. An estimated 17 million Americans 
stopped buying table grapes in solidarity with the UFW. On July 30, 
1970, the grape growers signed a landmark contract with the UFW. In 
1975, thanks in large measure to Cesar Chavez's work, the California 
Legislature passed the first collective-bargaining law in the 
continental United States for farmworkers.
  Cesar Chavez also fought to protect the environment and the health of 
workers and consumers. Fighting a national epidemic of pesticide 
poisonings and cancer among farmworkers, Cesar Chavez alerted the 
Nation to this growing health menace and organized a consumer boycott 
to protest the poisoning of the Nation's food supply and of the people 
who pick our crops. The United Farmworkers documented clusters of birth 
defects in farming communities and cancer rates among the children of 
farmworkers more than a thousand times the national average. In 1991, 
largely in response to the UFW campaign, the Environmental Protection 
Agency announced that it would take steps to crack down on the use of 
parathion, a commonly used crop pesticide.
  Mr. Speaker, too often we forget that this Nation was built on the 
courage and tenacity of common citizens who exhibit uncommon 
determination and ability in the face of injustice. Cesar Chavez was 
one such individual--a man who came from the fields of California to 
lead a movement of workers and consumers that changed this country.
  It is fitting that this man, who Robert Kennedy called one of the 
heroic figures of our time, should be recognized with our Nation's 
highest honor. I am pleased to join the millions of Americans drawn by 
Cesar Chavez to the fight against injustice in honoring him. The 
struggle he so ably led remains unfinished. Let us all honor his memory 
and his accomplishments by continuing that work.
  Viva La Huelga. Viva La Causa.

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