[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E479-E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO SAL TORRES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 28, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me today in 
paying tribute to Gonzalo ``Sal'' Torres, an extraordinary city 
councilman and community leader from Daly City, California. Sal, who 
also served as

[[Page E480]]

Mayor of Daly City, was recently re-elected to the city council and has 
been honored as ``one of the top 20 lawyers under 40'' by the newspaper 
California Law Business.
  Sal has demonstrated his commitment to excellence and his civic 
concern since he was a student of psychology at UCLA. He received the 
Chancellor's Marshall Honors for his academic accomplishment as well as 
his participation in various community service projects, including the 
Amigos Del Barrio Tutorial program. Sal was the Director of this 
excellent program which matched over 200 under privileged elementary 
school students with college students who offered various types of 
academic support. Sal's civic concern with the Hispanic community 
continued following his graduation from UCLA in 1983 in his work with 
Hispanic Consumer Advocates, the first consumer affairs radio show in 
Los Angeles to be broadcast entirely in Spanish.
  Mr. Speaker, Sal earned awards for scholarship and advocacy on many 
occasions during his legal education at the University of San Francisco 
School of Law. These awards included the Judge Harold J. Haley Award 
and the Student Bar Association Award. Today Sal puts his legal 
education to good use as Assistant General Counsel to Tomen Agro Inc., 
where he handles international commerce, anti-trust and trademark 
matters, and public relations.
  The heavy demands of his profession have in no way limited Sal's 
commitment to community service. If anything, the list of community 
activities in which Sal has been involved has grown since the beginning 
of his professional career. Sal has been an active participant in the 
State Bar Association's Human Rights Committee and the Volunteer Legal 
Services Program of the San Francisco Bar. He has volunteered to take 
San Mateo youths on probation to clean up graffiti as part of Daly 
City's anti-graffiti program. He is also the mentor for Unity 2000, an 
organization that aspires to change negative stereotypes about local 
teenagers.
  Sal has also been the General Counsel to San Mateo County's Latino 
Leadership Council, a remarkable organization that strives to educate 
the general public on social, political, and economic issues that 
affect the Latino community. He worked as the Newsletter Editor and as 
one of the Directors of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association. 
Sal also managed to find time to host a weekly public affairs 
television show that focuses on issues of concern to the Latino 
community. This already extensive list only begins to describe Sal's 
endeavors to improve the community and the lives of those around him.
  Mr. Speaker, Sal's service and dedication to Daly City deserves 
special commendation. He was first elected to the City Council in 1996. 
The economic prosperity which the city has enjoyed has given him and 
his fellow council members an opportunity to make an important 
contribution to the health and vitality of the city. Daly City has been 
able to implement a $40 million capital improvement program that is 
creating new community centers, libraries, and improved parks and 
playgrounds.
  Sal has also demonstrated the capacity to handle crisis situations. 
He worked to secure funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) which helped to evacuate and reimburse the residents of 30 
seaside homes that were dangerously close to slipping off a cliff 
following severe winter storms. The residents of Daly City are truly 
fortunate to have Sal's energy and intelligence to advocate their 
interests.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to pay tribute to 
Sal Torres. He has been an outstanding leader whose civic concern and 
whose dedication to public service should be an inspiration for all of 
us. I think the advice that Sal gives to the teenagers whom he mentors 
best describes this spirit: ``Never give up. Follow your heart. If you 
are persistent and believe in your heart that you can do it, nothing 
can ever stop you."

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