[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN REMEMBERANCE OF LORENZO CHAVEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 7, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, last month my home state of New 
Mexico lost a great man. Lorenzo Armijo Chavez, who spent his entire 
life in the Land of Enchantment, died at the age of 90. Born and raised 
in Magdalena, Lorenzo rose from modest beginnings to become a 
celebrated attorney, state legislator, and father of Albuquerque Mayor 
Martin Chavez. He was a legend in his own time, and he leaves a long 
and unique legacy.
  Afflicted with polio, Lorenzo received his Bachelor of Arts degree 
from the University of New Mexico in 1941. Attending Georgetown Law 
School as a full time student, Lorenzo earned his Juris Doctor degree 
while working 70 hours per week in charge of the Reading Room at the 
Library of Congress. He was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal 
Staff for 2 years and co-authored ``Insurance-Rate Making,'' graduating 
third in his class.
  Upon graduation, Lorenzo became a law clerk for Justice Ambrose 
O'Connell in the Court of Custom & Patent Appeals in Washington, D.C., 
followed by work for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the 
District of Columbia, in charge of War Risk Insurance. He then became a 
special assistant to the Attorney General of the U.S. in charge of land 
condemnation in New Mexico. In this position, he obtained for the 
Federal Government the land where Sandia Corporation is now located for 
$3.00 per acre.
  In 1946, he started his law practice in Albuquerque. During these 
early years, he was elected to the House of Representatives in the New 
Mexico Legislature representing Socorro County where the press 
characterized him as one of the two most effective freshman 
legislators. Despite pressure from influential and other friends, he 
refused to run for any other public office; during ensuing years, he 
refused appointments as a judge in the various courts, preferring to 
represent the injured workmen whom he felt had been sorely neglected by 
the courts for years. He helped create new law protecting injured 
workers. Additionally, he tried the first Federal court case where a 
Native American served in the jury.
  During the Johnson Administration, he served his country for $1.00 
per year as a special advisor on Minority Enterprises to Howard 
Samuels, head of the Small Business Administration, where he encouraged 
and promoted loans to Spanish Americans and other minority businessmen 
throughout the United States. In the 1960s he was a member of Civilian 
Orientation Corps for the Defense Department.
  In 1962, Lorenzo founded and became the first president of the 
American Savings and Loan Association in Albuquerque, NM. Also in the 
1960s, he served on the Board of the prestigious International Academy 
of Trial Lawyers, of which he was a member for many years. After the 
death of U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez, he raised the funds 
necessary, contributing substantially himself, to have a statue of the 
Senator cast and placed in Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington, 
D.C. where it will remain for posterity. He made the presentation 
himself, along with Senator Hubert Humphrey, Vice President Lyndon 
Johnson, and other distinguished statesmen, to U.S. Congress.

  Lorenzo's love and compassion for the poor and the underdog 
manifested itself in legal representation, despite lucrative offers 
from the insurance companies. He handled over 16,000 plaintiffs suits 
in every county of the state where there was a court, winning over 90 
percent of them, and handling 68 cases in the Supreme Court of New 
Mexico, winning 99 percent of those cases. During his 52 years of law 
practice, he tried cases in every surrounding state as well as in 
California and Illinois. He handled some 12 cases in the Court of 
Appeals for the 10th Circuit and handled cases in the Court of Claims 
in association with eventual U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. He 
handled cases in the New Mexico Federal District Court. His pro-bono 
cases were numerous. These accomplishments led to him being the first 
New Mexican accepted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers 
and he was regularly named in America's Best Lawyers.
  Lorenzo served as a mentor to many up-and-coming Hispanic lawyers, 
including former Governor Toney Anaya. He was a founder of the G.I. 
Forum, a Hispanic veterans' political group. Former Governor David 
Cargo recalls Lorenzo approaching him in the 1960's and urging broader 
Hispanic representation on boards of regents throughout the state.
  When taxpayers complained about the high income tax they paid, 
Lorenzo's favorite comment was that he was delighted to pay taxes, that 
he remembered only too well when he didn't make enough money to pay 
taxes at all. He had firm principles--and, I believe, right ones. He 
expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively.
  Lorenzo is survived by his wife, Sara Chavez, three sons, Larry, Phil 
and Martin, 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. When Martin was 
running for office and he was asked to name his heroes, his father was 
always the first person he named.
  Mr. Speaker, Lorenzo Chavez lived a long, productive and admirable 
life. He was a kind and loving husband, father and grandfather and 
enjoyed his life with family and friends to the fullest extent. His 
life left an indelible mark in the most significant of ways. He never 
forgot the foundations of family values, love and concern for others, a 
good education, and a solid work ethic. A great man is no longer with 
us, but will always be remembered in the minds and hearts of everyone 
who knew him. I cannot think of a more honorable legacy than that.

                          ____________________