[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 155 (Friday, November 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO MARY LOU TULLOS GARCIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 4, 1999

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend and pay tribute to 
Mary Lou Tullos Garcia of Harlingen, a woman who does the most 
important work in our society, teaching our children. Mary Lou has been 
selected as the recipient of the National Mujer Award by the National 
Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI).
  The Mujer Award pays tribute to the sustained lifetime achievement of 
a woman of Hispanic descent who has made significant contributions to 
the empowerment and well-being of the Hispanic community. Last year's 
winner of this award was Dr. Antonia Novello, former Surgeon General of 
the United States.
  Mary Lou was chosen for this award for her dedication and her work 
improving the schools and schooling for the severely and profoundly 
disabled children and youth and for tending to the needs of their 
families. NHLI, in conferring the award, said that Mary Lou exemplified 
the vigor and strengths of ``La Mujer Latina.''
  The NHLI also says that the award recognizes a woman of Hispanic 
descent who has served her community well, and acted with justice, love 
and the deepest of pride in her culture.
  I am enormously proud of Mary Lou Tullos Garcia for her commitment 
during her lifetime to those less fortunate than many of us. Our 
educators in this country are always my heroes because of the hard work 
they do every single day to teach the next generation of Americans.
  But, today I am particularly proud of Mary Lou for her dedication to 
teaching those who are the hardest to teach, and sometimes the hardest 
to each. The Harlingen community is richer for her presence in the 
public schools. The lives and families she has touched have benefitted 
mightily from her work. She indeed embodies the attributes of a 
Hispanic woman who labors every day, without credit, to make better the 
community in which she lives.
  National Hispana Leadership Institute is the only leadership 
development program in the United States focusing exclusively on the 
development of Hispanic women who are leaders. It prepares Hispanic 
women for positions of national influence, public policy and advancing 
the national Hispanic community.
  The awarded will be conferred at a black-tie gala on Friday, November 
12, at the Walt Disney World/Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in commending Mary Lou Tullos Garcia for 
receiving this prominent award.

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