[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 45 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CELEBRATING CESAR CHAVEZ'S BIRTHDAY: A CHAMPION FOR WORKERS RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 1, 2004

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Cesar Chavez's 
birthday. I would like to ask the members of the House to join in 
paying respect to a man who brought awareness of labor injustices 
perpetrated upon migrant workers to national light. Cesar Chavez worked 
tirelessly to improve the lives of America's farm workers by securing 
their rights to recognize and bargain collectively for fair working 
conditions. Chavez grew up in the fruit and vegetable fields and knew 
what it meant to work them from dawn to dusk. He knew the injustices 
that faced labor workers on a daily basis, and knew there had to be a 
change.
  From those fields, Chavez rose to the head of the United Farm Workers 
of America, UFW, instilling in the UFW the principals of non-violence 
practiced by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When the UFW began 
striking in the 1960s, to protest the treatment of farm workers, the 
strikers took a pledge of non-violence, determined not to detract from 
the message of improved labor conditions. Chavez led a successful 5-
year strike-boycott. Through this boycott, Chavez was able to forge a 
national support coalition of unions, church groups, students, 
minorities, and consumers. By the end of the boycott everyone knew the 
chant that unified all groups, ``Si se puede!''--yes we can. It was a 
chant of encouragement, pride and dignity.
  Throughout his lifetime Mr. Chavez continued to speak out and helped 
communities to mobilize by assisting them with voter registration 
drives and insisting that minority communities had just as much a right 
to have equitable access to educational opportunities.
  My constituents of the 15th Congressional District join millions of 
Americans in celebrating and recognizing Chavez's legacy on today his 
70th birthday. This celebration should not be limited to today, it 
should continue and we, as members of Congress should ensure that in 
today's world, the rights of workers are still protected.

                          ____________________