[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2218-E2219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       TRIBUTE IN MEMORY OF FORMER CONGRESSMAN HENRY B. GONZALEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2000

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay 
tribute to former Rep. Henry Gonzalez, who passed away on Tuesday, 
December 5th, at the age of 84.
  Throughout his career, Henry Gonzalez was an unwavering champion for 
equal justice and civil rights and a powerful voice for the 
disenfranchised. Henry first entered public life in 1953, when he was 
elected to the San Antonio City Council. The son of Mexican immigrants, 
he came along when Texas was a black and white society and Hispanics 
were generally not considered to be a minority group. Nevertheless, he 
spoke forcefully against segregation of public facilities and helped to 
shepherd passage of desegregation ordinances. Later, after he became 
the first Mexican-American to serve in the Texas State Senate, he 
attracted national attention for successfully filibustering several 
racial segregation bills that were aimed at circumventing the U.S. 
Supreme Court's decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case.

[[Page E2219]]

  In 1961, Henry Gonzalez again broke new ground by being elected the 
first Hispanic Representative from Texas. Ultimately, he served 19 
terms, longer than any other Hispanic Member of Congress. More 
importantly, he never lost touch with his constituents and his 
community during his tenure in Congress. He demanded that issues 
affecting the people of San Antonio receive his personal attention.
  Throughout his time in Congress, Henry Gonzalez served on the 
Committee of Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs. There, he focused his 
legislative efforts on making credit more accessible to ordinary 
people, improving public housing, and helping many Americans to become 
homeowners. Early in his congressional career, he worked for the 
passage the landmark Housing Act of 1964. Later, when he became 
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development in 
1981, he was instrumental in getting approval for a program to assist 
families who faced foreclosure on their homes. He also strongly 
defended public housing programs when the Reagan Administration 
proposed to cut them sharply.
  In 1989, he became Chairman of the full Banking Committee. His first 
urgent order of business was to deal with the collapse of the savings 
and loan industry, a crisis he had predicted throughout the 1980's. As 
he began working to craft a solution, it became apparent to him that 
any bailout, although necessary for the nation's banking system, would 
be extremely unfair to low and moderate income Americans. He realized 
that they would derive little or no benefit from the bailout even 
though they had to share in the burden of fashioning a remedy for the 
excesses and poor decisions of savings and loan managers in the 
previous decade. The need to make credit more available to low income 
Americans and to depressed communities laid the groundwork for later 
legislative efforts and culminated in the enactment of the Community 
Reinvestment Act.
  Overall, the Banking Committee under Henry's leadership held more 
than 500 hearings and obtained enactment of 71 bills. Among the other 
major bills that the Committee produced included restructuring the 
federal deposit insurance system to provide depositors a greater 
guarantee for their savings, making more credit available to small 
business, reauthorizing federal housing laws, and strengthening the 
laws pertaining to financial crimes.
  I want to especially thank Representative Martin Frost for leading a 
special order in honor of Henry Gonzalez. Henry Gonzalez was a giant 
and true champion of Texas, and it is fitting for a Texas Member who 
currently serves in the House leadership to lead this tribute. Henry 
was not just a giant in Texas politics but also a mentor to all of us 
in the Texas delegation. I am certainly proud to have had an 
opportunity to serve with him and learn from his example. The people of 
Texas and his constituents in San Antonio will miss him, and his 
colleagues here in the Congress will fondly remember his kindness, 
friendship, and devotion to public service.

                          ____________________