[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 45 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN HONOR OF ANTONIA HERNANDEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 2, 2004

  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, it is with utmost pleasure and privilege 
that I rise today to recognize and pay tribute to a great American and 
good friend, Antonia Hernandez, Former President and General Counsel of 
the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). To 
me, Antonia is many things: a national leader on civil rights and 
public policy, a pioneer who has opened doors for countless 
underrepresented Americans in this country, and a wonderful friend and 
mentor who after 23 years with MALDEF, has embarked on another 
ambitious journey by leading one of this country's premiere charitable 
institutions, the California Community Foundation.
  Born on May 30, 1948, Antonia was raised in Torreon, Coahuila, 
Mexico. At the age of eight, her parents, Manuel and Nicolasa 
Hernandez, emigrated, family and all, to the United States and settled 
in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. Growing up in 
the housing projects of East Los Angeles, Antonia learned her strong 
work ethic and core values from her parents. As the eldest of seven 
children (Maria, Guadalupe, Lisa, Mary Ann, Peter, and Manuel), Antonia 
demonstrated an incredible entrepreneurial spirit at an early age, 
going door-to-door in her housing project selling tamales to help 
support the family.
  Antonia is a proud alumna of Garfield High School and East Los 
Angeles College. The first in her family to attend college, Antonia set 
her sights higher and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in history 
in 1970 and a Juris Doctorate in 1974 from the University of 
California, Los Angeles.
  On October 8, 1977, Antonia married Michael Stern, and together they 
have become an indivisible team, blessed with a true partnership, 
friendship and love. Family has always been the top priority for these 
proud parents of three: Benjamin, Marisa, and Michael.
  Antonia's illustrious career has taken her from the Los Angeles 
Center for Law and Justice to the Legal Aid Foundation, the United 
States Senate Judiciary Committee and of course MALDEF, where she 
quickly became an indispensable asset and emblematic of MALDEF's 
tenacity to prevail. Her collaborative style and incredible network of 
relationships have propelled MALDEF to the top of our nation's leading 
civil rights and public policy organizations. She served a remarkable 
and unprecedented 18 years as President and General Counsel of this 
preeminent organization. Under her guidance, MALDEF has gained long-
term financial stability going from an organization that began in 1968 
with a $2.2 million grant from the Ford Foundation to one that operates 
a $6.5 million annual budget and has offices in Los Angeles, 
Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Sacramento and San 
Antonio.

  What mark has this human being left on America? She heroically led 
the fight defeating the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in the 
California courts in the 1990's. She courageously worked on the 1995 
Edgewood case which held that the Texas legislature had the authority 
to require wealthier districts to share that wealth with less fortunate 
districts. Today, while still a work in progress, we are moving towards 
an educational system that provides a fair opportunity to all Texan 
children. And Latino families are forever indebted to Antonia for her 
instrumental role in pursuing accurate census counts in 1990 and 2000. 
Under her leadership, MALDEF took the lead in conducting nationwide 
census outreach campaigns and kept a vigilant watch over the 
complicated redistricting process so that Latinos would, for the first 
time, have a strong political voice throughout the country.
  Antonia's years of demonstrated leadership led the California 
Community Foundation to name her as its new Chief Executive Officer and 
President. With this new position comes the opportunity to forge new 
paths and serve Californians in new ways.
  Antonia's legal career has always embodied her passion for helping 
the Latino and other disenfranchised communities to ``make sure that 
everyone has a place at the table.'' One of her former colleagues best 
characterized Antonia as someone who can interact respectfully with the 
most modest, humble immigrants and then translate their needs into 
action. As Antonia closes one chapter of her distinguished career and 
begins another, I would like to say ``thank you'' on behalf of the 
countless people whose lives she has changed by opening doors, leading 
by example and always holding firm to her convictions. Her innumerable 
contributions will be felt and appreciated for generations to come.
  Mr. Speaker, as family, friends, and colleagues gather to pay tribute 
to Antonia, it is with great admiration and pride that I ask my 
colleagues to join me today in saluting this truly remarkable example 
of the American dream. Fortunately for all of us Antonia has much vigor 
and fight reserved for her new calling at the helm of the California 
Community Foundation. Antonia, you have earned the luck that will be 
with you.

                          ____________________