[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MR. BERT CORONA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 6, 2001

  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of 
the Latino community's most devout civil rights and labor leaders. Mr. 
Bert Corona passed away January 15, 2001 in Los Angeles following a 
series of recent health problems. His death was a watershed in Latino 
and labor history.
  Bonn on May 29, 1918 in El Paso, Texas, Mr. Corona spent his 
childhood moving back and forth between El Paso and the Mexican city of 
Chihuahua. As a student at the University of Southern California, he 
became involved in the labor ferment of the 1930's. He was elected 
President of Local 26 of the International Longshoreman and Warehouse 
Union where he was a close political ally of Harry Bridges, one of 
labor's most progressive leaders.
  During World War II, Bert served in the United States Army Air Corps 
as a paratrooper and a surgical assistant. Following the war, Mr. 
Corona returned to his activist role founding organizations that 
promoted the empowerment of Latinos and working with great 
determination to end discrimination among minorities. In the 1960's he 
founded CASA and Hermandad Mexican, housing and immigrants rights 
organizations. Bert also helped found the Mexican American Political 
Association, one of California's oldest Latino political organizations.
  In 1993, Corona published ``Memories of Chicano History,'' his 
autobiography written with Mario T. Garcia. The book has become a 
staple in Chicano and ethnic studies courses at universities throughout 
the country. Throughout his life, Bert himself taught at several 
universities including Stanford and the California State campuses of 
San Diego, Northridge, Fullerton and Los Angeles.
  It was Bert Corona's vision that helped build the foundation to pave 
the way for Latino advancement in our society. Many Latino leaders of 
today, including myself, are the beneficiaries of his pioneering 
efforts. His life offers an invaluable lesson about Latino leadership 
in the past and provides an inspiring guide for future empowerment and 
contributions to the American social fabric.
  I extend my heartfelt sympathies to his wife Angelina, daughter Margo 
De Ley, sons David, Frank and Ernesto Corona and grandchildren Baltazar 
De Ley, Lisa and Clarity Corona.

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