[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1237-E1238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     TRIBUTE TO ATTORNEY BILL TAMAYO

                                 ______


                         HON. RONALD V. DELLUMS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to share with you and my 
colleagues that after 16 years, attorney Bill Tamayo, leaves the Asian 
Law Caucus [ALC] where he directed the immigrant rights project working 
on behalf of low-income immigrants and refugees, to join the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission. A 1978 graduate of the Martin Luther 
King, Jr., School of Law, University of California at Davis, attorney 
Tamayo has set a standard of commitment, dedication and community 
activism as an attorney, advocate and as a human being concerned with 
the quality of life of his fellow citizens.
  Bill served as cocounsel on civil and human rights issues including 
immigration raids--International Molders and Allied Workers Union, 
Local 164 versus Nelson--and succeeded in legal challenges of 
Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] regulations on the 
exclusion of Asian elderly who received public benefits, deportation of 
foreign-trained Filipino nurses, restriction on legalization and the 
building of INS detention centers in Oakland and Vallejo, CA. He was 
cocounsel in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission versus Tortilleria 
La Mejor, a landmark 1991 decision holding that undocumented workers 
are protected by the employment discrimination provision of Title VII 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  Bill understood the importance of legal challenges; however, what 
makes him distinct from others in the legal profession is that also 
[[Page E1238]] became legislative advocate. He worked and spoke out 
against various proposals to cut back on legal immigration, due process 
rights of immigrants and for the battered immigrant spouse provisions 
of the violence Against Women Act. He has published several articles on 
immigration rights, and on Asian Americans and public policy on 
immigration matters and on Asian American political.
  Bill has served on the Boards of the Coalition for Immigrant and 
Refugee Rights and Services, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health 
Forum, and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council. He served as 
the chair of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. 
From 1986-88, he was a National vice-president of the National Lawyers 
Guild.
  In the 16 years with the Asian Law Caucus, Bill's accomplishments and 
achievements are indeed remarkable. It is an indication of the role 
Bill Tamayo has played and will continue as a leader and participant in 
the struggle for peace, justice, and social equality. I join with 
countless other civil rights and community leaders in honoring this 
dedicated public servant, Attorney Bill Tamayo.


                          ____________________