[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E69-E70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MR. JOHNY CESAIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 28, 2004

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of 
Miami's unsung heroes, the late Johny Cesaire, also known popularly by 
my Haitian American constituency as P Jhony of Radio Pep La. His 
untimely demise due to cancer last Monday, January 16, 2004, leaves a 
deep void in our community.
  Though I have had not the opportunity of bonding with him as did my 
mother, Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek, I do reserve the utmost respect 
and genuine admiration for his insatiable quest for simple justice and 
fairness for the less fortunate among us, particularly our newly-
arrived Haitian refugees. Throughout his 10-year stint with Radio Pep 
La, he vividly put a true face and a brave voice on the struggle of 
Haitians across Florida and beyond by portraying their unjust and 
inhumane treatment on the part of government, along with its 
discriminatory immigration laws and provisions that, to this very day, 
continue to impact their lives negatively.
  Mr. Cesaire was virtually the resilient and unyielding voice of the 
Haitian community that called to attention the cruel disenfranchisement 
of Haitians at almost every level of government. With his support the 
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) came about in October 
of 1998 to bring longed-for hope and confidence to Haitians in South 
Florida and throughout the nation. Thanks to him, hundreds of Haitians 
and their families have been given a chance to seek the freedom and 
legalize their status in the United States.
  Our community will be in mourning on Saturday, January 31, 2004 as 
his friends and admirers will come together at Holy Family Church to 
bury this seemingly ordinary man of God, who had done some great and 
extraordinary things during his earthly sojourn. I will certainly miss 
him for his undaunted leadership.
  He talked and lived by the simple adage that the quest for personal 
achievement is not beyond the reach of those willing to dare the 
impossible on behalf of a people buffeted by so much discrimination and 
injustice.
  This is the legacy that Johny Cesaire bequeathed to us, and it is 
with his nobility and compassion for the less fortunate that we will 
always remember him. I am greatly privileged to have been taught by him 
with this credo, and I thank him for giving me the honor of 
representing him in the U.S. Congress. I pray that God grant him 
Eternal Rest.

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