[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SU CLINICA FAMILIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 27, 2001

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Su Clinica Familia 
(Spanish for ``your family clinic''), a comprehensive primary health 
care service center in the Rio Grande Valley, on their 30th anniversary 
of operation in South Texas, and I ask my colleagues to join me in the 
observation of this important milestone.
  Su Clinica's work over the years has provided the only medical care 
available to so many migrant workers and low-income families in the 
Valley over the past three decades. On the anniversary of their 30th 
year in service to South Texas, we are breaking ground on April 6th to 
celebrate the new dimension of their work: academia.
  Su Clinica is now a major principal partner with the Regional 
Academic Health Center (RAHC), and they will be the primary training 
ground for RAHC. This will be a new direction for them in which they 
will recruit, train, and retain doctors and health care professionals, 
all in the Rio Grande Valley.
  Su Clinica burst onto the South Texas community health scene in 1971 
to improve the health for families in Cameron and Willacy Counties in 
South Texas. Su Clinica was the dream of a group of generous patrons, 
the Archdiocese of Brownsville and other charity groups, all who wanted 
to see health care available to migrant and seasonal farm workers.
  I have particular, personal appreciation for Su Clinica Familia. As a 
former migrant worker, I have a unique perspective of what it is like 
to be unable to afford health care. I have vivid memories from my 
childhood about the health of my family. We had no health insurance, 
and thankfully we were relatively healthy.
  But when one of us was sick, my father would gather us up, no matter 
what the time of day, to pray for whoever was sick. That was our health 
insurance. I still advocate that people pray for their loved ones when 
they are sick, but no one should be without basic health care today.
  Su Clinica's unique health care services increase the self-worth of 
the people treated there. That self-worth is evident in the faces of 
the people who walk out of the clinic. The resulting longevity of their 
lives makes for happier families and healthier South Texans.
  I have long had a working relationship with this leader in health 
care in the Rio Grande Valley. There is an enormous population in South 
Texas that have no access to health care, and Su Clinica has gone a 
long way toward decreasing that overall number.
  From seeking the causes of anencephaly along the border in the early 
1990s, to working together today to stem the epidemic of rampant, drug 
resistant tuberculosis along the border, our relationship has been 
strong and productive. The new direction in becoming the primary 
training ground for young doctors and health professionals is a natural 
outgrowth of Su Clinica's three decades of work for our community.
  I ask my colleagues to join me today in congratulating Su Clinica 
Familia for their longevity and success in bringing health care to low-
income South Texans, at a time and in a place where the quality of 
health care has international repercussions.

                          ____________________