[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E693-E694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING HENRIETTA VILLAESCUSA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 2005

  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute 
to Henrietta Villaescusa, who passed away at the age of 84 on March 6, 
2005, in Tucson, Arizona. As we join her family and friends who mourn 
her loss, I would like to acknowledge Henrietta for her remarkable 
contributions to public health, the nursing profession and the Hispanic 
community.
  Henrietta Villaescusa was a pioneering Latina at a time when Hispanic 
women were not widely represented in the nursing field. Henrietta 
served as the only Hispanic public health supervising nurse for the Los 
Angeles City Health Department. She later broke boundaries in the 
federal government as the first Hispanic nurse to serve as Health 
Administrator for the Health Services Administration and the first 
Mexican-American Chief Nurse Consultant in the Office of Maternal and 
Child Health. Henrietta eventually rose to the position of chief nurse 
of the Division of Maternal and Child Health, where she was responsible 
for all nursing aspects of the nation's maternal and children's health 
programs.
  Henrietta's work was not limited to America. She helped improve 
health care in Latin America through her work at the Alliance for 
Progress, the President's Office of Community Development and the 
Agency for International Development.
  Nor was her work limited by her retirement. After officially retiring 
in 1985, Henrietta was asked by the Surgeon General to help develop

[[Page E694]]

the Hispanic Health Initiative. President Reagan's Health and Human 
Services Secretary appointed her to the Task Force on Minority Health 
to advocate for Hispanic health needs. Henrietta also edited the first 
Hispanic Health Bibliography, which highlighted Hispanic health 
research needs and the need to prepare more Hispanic health 
professionals to conduct such research.
  Henrietta gave so much of herself to assist others. She mentored 
Hispanic leaders and shared her vision with the federal government, 
local community health programs in Los Angeles, and organizations 
including the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, the National 
Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organization and the 
Mexican American National Women's Association.
  Her accomplishments as a Latina, nurse and activist for others less 
fortunate are truly extraordinary. She will be greatly missed by those 
whose lives she touched.

                          ____________________