[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FAREWELL TO REPRESENTATIVE FRANK TEJEDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Puerto Rico [Mr. Romero-Barcelo] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to join with so 
many of our colleagues in honoring Frank Tejeda for all his years of 
dedication and service to this Congress, to our people, to our Nation. 
As we honor the memory of the great person that Frank Tejeda was, I 
cannot help but look back and think about moments that I had the 
opportunity to share with him.
  Frank and I began service in the House 4 years ago. And as a matter 
of fact, Frank was one of the first Members that I met when I arrived 
in Washington. I will always remember the time when I was invited to 
participate in a hearing at the Committee on Veterans' Affairs where 
issues related to Hispanic veterans were being discussed and 
particularly Puerto Rico.
  During my opening statement I proceeded to narrate the glorious and 
distinguished history of Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment. 
Specifically, I made reference to the time when the 65th Infantry 
Regiment was asked to cover the withdrawal of thousands of marines 
during the Korean war. Frank, who was a member of the committee and a 
marine himself, recognized the valorous service of Puerto Rican 
veterans in all the major wars and conflicts that this Nation has been 
involved in during this century but then took exception to my comment 
on the withdrawal of the marines and he said, with a smile on his face, 
``but you know, Carlos, we, the Marines, never were withdraw from 
battle.''
  As you see, I believe that this statement characterizes Frank's life. 
He never withdrew from anything. He never gave up. His life was an 
incredible story of triumph over adversity. He lived a life of hard 
work, hard work in his district, hard work in the military, hard work 
here in Congress, hard work wherever he went.
  But most of all Frank understood the value of freedom and honesty and 
he was well aware of the dramatic cost of keeping our cherished and 
hard-fought liberties.
  Frank, I was privileged to have you as my colleague, but most of all 
I was privileged to have you as my friend. We will miss you but your 
memory will be with all of us forever and an example for us to follow.

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