[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E985-E986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF ALICE McGRATH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 2000

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Alice McGrath, whose six 
decades of devotion to disadvantaged and oppressed people here and 
abroad will be recognized this weekend at the Interface Children Family 
Services' Tribute Dinner, in my district.
  Alice McGrath's life and efforts on behalf of others have been 
memorialized in a play, documentary film, and two books. She began her 
life of humanitarianism in the early 1940s as Executive Secretary of 
the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee. The committee was formed to 
protect the rights of a group of young Mexican-Americans who were 
falsely convicted of murder.
  Her efforts on their behalf were depicted in the well-known play Zoot 
Suit, and the documentary about her, From Sleepy Lagoon to Zoot Suit.
  Since 1984, Alice McGrath has organized and led delegations of United 
States citizens to observe conditions in Nicaragua and to facilitate 
academic research in its political processes. In 1990, she began to 
deliver donated pharmaceuticals to the children's hospital in Managua. 
Alice McGrath has made more than 80 trips to Nicaragua.
  At home, Alice McGrath developed and managed the Pro Bono Program of 
the Ventura County Bar Association and coordinated volunteer services 
at the Ventura County Superior Court.
  Not surprisingly, Alice McGrath has received numerous honors for her 
work on behalf of others, including the Woman of Distinction Award from 
Soroptimist International of the

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Americas, Human Rights Award from the Bahai Community of Ventura 
County, Cruz Reynoso Award of the American Bar Association of Los 
Angeles County, and Community Hero Award from the Ventura County 
Diversity Board.
  Studs Terkel devoted a chapter to her in his book Coming of Age, and 
Debra Sands Miller did the same in her book Independent Women. Her oral 
history has been recorded for posterity by the UCLA Research Library.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been a strong supporter of Interface Children 
Family Services for more than twenty years. The work of the 
organization and its volunteers has bettered the lives of countless 
families in my community. I know my colleagues will join me in 
congratulating Alice McGrath for the honor she so richly deserves and 
thank her for decades of helping others.

                          ____________________