[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 142 (Friday, October 4, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1927-E1928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REMARKS OF KIKA DE LA GARZA AT THE CONGRESSIONAL HISPANIC CAUCUS 
                      INSTITUTE'S 19TH ANNUAL GALA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BILL RICHARDSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 4, 1996

  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, September 30, 1996, the 
gentleman from Texas, Mr. de la Garza, addressed the House for the last 
time. I would like to include for the Record Mr. de la Garza's remarks 
at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 19th Annual Gala.

  Partial Transcript of Congressman Kika de la Garza's Remarks at the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 19th Annual Gala, Wednesday, 
                           September 25, 1996

       This is a great night for me, of course for the tribute, 
     but more important for who we are, and what we do, and what 
     we celebrate here, beyond me. The odyssey began a thousand 
     years ago, in a little corner of Europe called the Iberian 
     peninsula. And then, some 500 years ago, it crossed a vast 
     ocean to a new world. Those galleons were manned by 
     Spaniards, Hispanics. And then they came and explored the 
     coast of the Carolinas, Newfoundland, what we now know as 
     North and South America and began settlements. So the odyssey 
     continued--Spanish, Mexican and Texan, and Confederate and 
     U.S. and we never moved from the same ranch.
       . . . people out of the United States, how not to educate 
     children because their parents might be illegal or . . . that 
     to me was a sad occasion that a child, you know, the Master 
     said, ``Suffer the children to come unto me.'' He didn't say 
     if they were Palestinians or Nazaranians, he said, ``the 
     children, come unto me.'' And here we're saying, ``No, you're 
     not going to teach this child. You're going to throw him out 
     on the street. We don't care if he's educated because his 
     parents are illegal or because he's illegal. That's not 
     right. That's not what America is all about. (Applause) Thank 
     you. (Applause)
       Some of us have been more fortunate than others. I have 
     been more fortunate. But I come to you saying that, to those 
     who receive much, have more to repay, and this is something 
     that we have to look at, and that's been my thrust all along. 
     That we have a . . . When they said life, liberty, and the 
     pursuit of happiness, that's what it means, having a 
     youngster be educated, have a youngster the ability to help 
     themself. If no one else will help them, at least he'll help 
     himself. And I had, throughout my life, the best educators, 
     teachers, since my very first nun, Sister Mary Teresita, and 
     my very first scout master, and following that my first high 
     school coach. We followed them, and we were able to achieve. 
     And my friends, I stand here tonight as part of that oddessy 
     that began long time ago, thank to those who have touched my 
     life along the way. Family, my wife, my kids. I regret that 
     my kids could not be here. One, Mike, is out in the middle 
     of the Mediterranean, the task force with the Enterprise, 
     Lieutenant Commander Mike de la Garza. We're very proud of 
     him. Our daughter Angela works for Jay Morwin (??) in 
     Austin with the Gulf of Mexico initiative. And our heart 
     surgeon George, we're

[[Page E1928]]

     very proud of him. He's there at home and he's the one 
     that we see more often. But that's the family, that's the 
     evolution, but we're family, all of us Hispanics. That's 
     what our life has been about. Family. Unity. Any primo can 
     find a place . . . we don't have any homeless among the 
     Hispanic community. There's always a relative to go and 
     take them in. (Applause) There are many people in Texas 
     who got me where I am tonight. (Applause)
       (Break in recording)
       . . . When my wife and I go there and they can't hug me 
     much more above my waist, but they come and hug me and all of 
     them are so happy that we're there. I'm . . . That's the only 
     school named after someone that's not dead. So they're glad 
     to see me, ``Yes, that's Kika de la Garza, yes, oh boy.'' 
     (Laughter) But they're learning and that's the future. That's 
     who we're working for. Those of you who are in the corporate 
     world, those of you who help us with the interns and the 
     fellows. I just got a call today from a former fellow of the 
     Hispanic Institute who is a dean at Cornell University. 
     (Applause) And that, my friends, is what it's all about. That 
     we include la familia . . . Unfortunately we're having hard 
     times in this country, and there's no perfect country. We're 
     probably the closest one to perfection, with all our faults, 
     of all the countries in the world. And what we have from 
     Mexico all the way to Chile and Argentina and through the 
     Caribbean, that's the extended family. That's la familia. But 
     because of an accident of history, many of us became American 
     citizens and let me tell you that when we became American 
     citizens we transferred the loyalty. We transferred all of 
     our interest and we have pledged allegiance to the flag of 
     the United States of America. But I respect the Mexican flag 
     because that was part of my family history in the beginning. 
     And that's something that (Applause) . . . that some people 
     would not understand, but we served. I served in the navy. I 
     served in the army. And this is something that . . . ``We 
     can't spend our money on the youngsters because he's 
     illegal.'' There is an illegal dead marine whose family has 
     the Congressional Medal of Honor at home. That, my friends, . 
     . . (Applause) . . . And we served. We have some 
     Congressional Medal of Honor winners here. I saw the winner, 
     Mr. Rojo. Where are you? Will you take a bow? (Applause) . . 
     . And from Mission, Texas, we had Sergeant Lopez and we're 
     going, October the 12th, we're going to commission the U.S.S. 
     Freddy Gonzalez, a new cruiser, and Freddy died in Vietnam. 
     And got the Congressional Medal of Honor, which his mother 
     has, and my uncle Bobby, my mother's youngest brother, died 
     in World War II. And for those that may doubt, let me tell 
     you, I grew up in el barrio en el escuela Catolica. We all 
     lived around the Catholic school. Let me tell you. Joaquin 
     Castro, buried somewhere in the Pacific ocean, only the good 
     Lord knows where he is at, Roberto Gonzalez, killed after 65 
     missions as an aerial gunner, came and died in an accident, 
     his plane fell in Utah. Around the corner, Ricardo Alaniz, 
     Cayo we called him, died in the Battle of the Bulge. Next to 
     him Daniel Garcia, somewhere in the bowels of the Pacific 
     ocean, only the good Lord knows where he's at. My uncle Bobby 
     that lived with us for some time after my grandmother died. 
     Around the corner Merced Salinas, 28 years in the army 
     waiting for thirty, dead in Vietnam. And Panchito Bentania, 
     18 years old, dead in Vietnam. My friend, this is our family, 
     this is our neighborhood--el barrio y la escuela Catolica--
     that's our contribution: everyone served. (Applause) And so I 
     truthfully tell you we don't want any handouts, we just want 
     to be treated as every other American should be treated. And 
     hopefully we will get the same respect and treatment as 
     everyone else. And we'll work. Because Lyndon Johnson came to 
     my district once after he'd left the Presidency for something 
     they had for me and he was asked by the media ``What has been 
     your philosophy of life? What have you tried to do in 
     politics as president?'' He said, ``Very simple--a job for 
     every person able to work, a decent home for his family, and 
     a good school for his children. Beyond that, they can take 
     care of themselves.'' And that's what I have tried to do my 
     friends.
       We are la familia. We are la familia. We have been able to 
     garner a coalition to stop legislation--not to pass--but we 
     can garner our coalition to stop almost any bit of 
     legislation if we can get that coalition going. And we have 
     passed some good legislation. So let me say that as we 
     celebrate Hispanic month, as we look around us at la 
     familia--who the Hispanics are--whatever color, whatever 
     shade of face or hair or how much hair, we know that we have 
     worked together, we know that we have the love that every 
     family has for their children and want to see their children 
     achieve and prosper and succeed in life. We want to see 
     that every child becomes your child--that every child 
     becomes my child--and that together we gather that family 
     and we work to see that the doctor, lawyer, or engineer. 
     It was so great the other night to see in the baseball, in 
     the arts, in education, those that were recognized as 
     having been leaders and having achieved beyond the norm 
     the greatness of these individuals. In my area you know, 
     our brethren and our brothers in the Black College Fund 
     have a saying that a mind is such a terrible thing to 
     waste. My friends, this is true. I grew up--Don Baltisario 
     Guzman could play 5 musical instruments, could write 
     poetry. He was photographer at funerals and weddings if 
     there wasn't anybody to delivery the speech he would be 
     there. This man who was a genius never went to school. Can 
     you imagine had he had a formal education what he could 
     have achieved beyond what he did? And this is what we're 
     talking about. That everyone be able to fulfill their 
     good-given ability and this is . . . Don Baltisario was to 
     me was one of my heroes. There was a scientist, Ben 
     Villalone, and he tamed the wild jalapeno. No one had been 
     able to do that. He's a research scientist at Weslaco and 
     head of that Texas A&M experiment station in Doctor Jose 
     Amador who is here with us tonight and we're very proud of 
     him, that he's here with us.
       And so, let me just put it all together, my friends, that 
     as we achieve, we shouldn't disregard . . . there's a saying 
     ``No see me olvida de donde vine ni quien me puso donde 
     estoy.--I don't want to forget where I came from nor who 
     placed me where I'm at.'' And this is it. I brought them with 
     me tonight. (Applause) I brought them with me tonight. The 
     Freddy Gonzalez, and the Cayo Alaniz, the migrant who worked 
     in the fields, the sailors in those galleons that came across 
     the vast ocean to begin what we celebrate tonight. The 
     mothers who worked in the fields and reared the children, the 
     teachers who worked for free in the neighborhood, the 
     priests, the nuns, the preachers, all of those that came to 
     people of low economic resources. I bring them all with me 
     tonight and any tributes that you give me, really belongs to 
     them. They're here. (Applause)
       They are here, my friends, and I hope that you can 
     visualize that they're here, my friends from the migrants, my 
     friends the campesinos, my friends who worked and toiled, my 
     friends who are able to say ``I never went to school but all 
     my kids have graduated from college.'' That's what it's all 
     about. (Applause) And so let me say, you're saying what is 
     this guy doing? (Laughter) I'm waiting for the President to 
     come. (Laughter) (Applause) May I can tell the submarine 
     story.
       So let me just end with this, my friends. A long time ago, 
     when the explorers were going to the North (Laughter) they 
     stopped in the evening near a big mountain. And one of the 
     soldiers said ``I wonder if anybody will ever know we came 
     this way.'' And his commander said ``Well, I'm going to take 
     care of that for me.'' So he got his saber and he carved his 
     name on the side of the rock and put the date and below it 
     put ``Paso por aqui.'' So my friends I contributed my little 
     grain of sand to the vast ocean of what is the legislative 
     field, but I wanted you to know that hopefully someday 
     somehow the world and our friends and especially my Hispanic 
     family will know that someone named Eligio de le Garza, 
     otherwise known as Kika paso por aqui. Thank you. (Applause)

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