[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 135 (Friday, September 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1020
 
  TRIBUTE TO DONA FELISA RINCON DE GAUTIER, ``WOMAN OF THE AMERICAS''

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, today I join the Puerto Rican community of 
New Jersey and throughout the United States and Puerto Rico in mourning 
the death last Friday of Dona Felisa Rincon de Gautier. Dona Fela, as 
she was affectionately known to her fellow Puerto Ricans, was one of 
Puerto Rico's most distinguished citizens of the 20th century.
  On Monday, thousands of residents of the beautiful city of San Juan, 
where she was the only woman mayor for 22 years, lined the streets to 
pay final respects to their beloved Dona Fela. They tossed flowers at 
her funeral procession as it wound its way down the streets of old San 
Juan to her burial at Rio Piedras cemetery.
  Mr. Speaker, the people of Puerto Rico loved Dona Fela. They loved 
her because she loved them. Her love for all of them, but especially 
for the poor, was manifest in a lifetime of deeds: getting electricity 
for those who had no light, water for those who were thirsty or could 
not bathe, paying bills for those who could not make ends meet, or 
buying shoes for those who could not afford them.
  Dona Fela was loved because she was a true public servant. In 1932, 
Puerto Rican women won the right to vote because Dona Fela led that 
fight. She entered politics that year and never ceased to fight the 
good fight: for child care, legal aid for the poor, senior citizens' 
centers, and Head Start. So great was her popularity and so vast her 
power that many have compared her to Franklin Roosevelt.
  Mr. Speaker, Puerto Rico may have lost a political giant, but her 
legacy lives on. It is only fitting that we remember this ``Woman of 
the Americas'' in the U.S. Congress.

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