[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 139 (Thursday, September 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        THE PASSING OF DONA FELA

                                 ______


                            HON. RON de LUGO

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 1994

  Mr. de LUGO. Mr. Speaker, one of the great figures of Puerto Rican 
history passed away last week. I was privileged to know her and I want 
to note her death and some of the accomplishments of her life of 97 
years.
  Felisa Rincon de Cautier, known respectfully as Dona Fela, is famous 
for her service as Mayor of San Juan from 1946 to 1969. In this post 
she was, in the words of the San Juan Star, ``at heart a social worker 
who never tired of meeting people, listening to their hopes and needs, 
and taking heed of their complaints.''
  No problem was ever too small to deal with. ``The hand out and the 
personal touch were the hallmarks of her administration,'' as an 
obituary aptly put it. She regularly visited the worst slums and held 
weekly open houses for constituents.
  But Dona Fela's service was not simply limited to individual 
problems. Her goals were social reform and improving the lives of 
people as a whole, particularly society's needy.
  She spent decades fighting for child care programs, legal aid for the 
poor, senior citizens' centers, and Head Start. She also built health 
dispensaries, schools, and public housing with nurseries. And she 
sought fair treatment for the least-powerful municipal employees, such 
as the street cleaners.
  She was also a leader with flair. For 3 years, she convinced Eastern 
Airlines to fly planeloads of snow to Puerto Rico so that island 
children would have a ``White Christmas.''
  An early struggle was helping women in Puerto Rico obtain the right 
to vote. She later helped found the Popular Democratic Party, which is 
identified with the island's commonwealth government.
  I knew her best as a leader of that party and the national Democratic 
Party. We met when we both served on the Democratic National 
Committee--a position that she only vacated with her passing.
  It was as a national Democrat that she was, perhaps, best known to 
politicians in the States. She became a friend of the late, great 
Hubert Humphrey when they both served as mayors and she was fondly 
remembered by President Kennedy for her campaigning for him in New 
York.
  She had the distinction of being the oldest delegate, at 95, to the 
1992 Democratic National Convention in New York.
  Mr. Speaker, I will not say that I noted the passing of Felisa Rincon 
de Gautier with regret because her life was so full and productive. I 
will say, though, that I was blessed in having known her.

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