[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S978-S979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO REYNALDO MARTINEZ

 Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
friend and chief of staff, Reynaldo Martinez. Rey has recently been 
chosen for the Community Hero Award by the National Conference of 
Christians and Jews, and I am proud of him for receiving this well-
deserved honor.
  I have known Rey since I was a boy. He and I have worked side by side 
since he ran my first campaign and got me as elected student body 
president of Basic High School in 1956. Since then, he has been my 
adviser, campaign manager, and chief of staff. In addition to helping 
take me from assemblyman, to lieutenant governor, to the U.S. Senate, 
he has had many other titles during his life, including teacher, 
lobbyist, coach, education advocate, and husband. To me, Rey is both a 
valued friend and a trusted adviser. To his country and the State of 
Nevada, he is a dedicated public servant and a tireless fighter.
  In his boyhood days, Rey was a great baseball player who led his high 
school team to numerous victories. This left-handed pitcher played a 
leading role in Basic High's multiple State championships, as well as 
its championship of the California Interscholastic Federation. In 
short, our tiny school in Nevada was so good, we beat all of the 
usually dominant California schools.
  Rey's baseball talents led him to Arizona State University, where, in 
addition to his efforts on the field, he earned a degree in teaching. 
After graduation, Rey returned to Nevada to

[[Page S979]]

teach government and coach the Western High School baseball team to 
victory in two State championships. While he was teaching, Rey worked 
on a local Nevada campaign with Monroe Sweetland, an executive with the 
National Education Association [NEA]. Mr. Sweetland recognized talent 
when he saw it, and lured Rey away from the Clark County School 
District to work for the NEA in Washington, DC, and across the Nation. 
After 13 years with the NEA, Rey directed his innumerable talents to my 
government career.
  For more than 30 years, Rey has been a key player in the public 
arena, both in Nevada and across the Nation. He is an invaluable asset 
to all of the organizations and campaigns to which he has lent his 
energy and skill. He has a quick mind and a political acumen which he 
uses to great effect for the causes he believes in. He has been 
recognized for his efforts by groups across the Nation, including twice 
being named Outstanding Hispanic of the Year--in 1990 by the Latin 
Chamber of Commerce, and in 1988 by the New Mexico Club in Las Vegas. 
In 1980, the National Education Association recognized Rey as one of 
its outstanding political and legislative consultants. He has also been 
honored as an outstanding teacher in Clark County and an outstanding 
baseball coach in Nevada. The Community Hero award is just the most 
recent in his distinguished list of accolades.
  The goal of the National Conference of Christians and Jews is to end 
bias, bigotry, and racism. Through advocacy and education, the National 
Conference seeks to promote understanding in all races and religions. 
For someone who has done so much toward these worthy goals, and who has 
served his community so well, Rey is truly deserving of the title 
``Community Hero.''
  It is my pleasure to speak today in tribute to my friend Reynaldo 
Martinez, and congratulate him on being selected for this 
honor.

                          ____________________