[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 151 (Tuesday, November 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H10194-H10195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PAYING TRIBUTE TO ED ROYBAL

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take my Special 
Order at this time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe). Is there objection to the request 
of the gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to join my colleagues in 
paying tribute to our former colleague and friend, Congressman Ed 
Roybal.
  Many people who are in Congress now did not have the privilege of 
serving with him. They serve with his very distinguished daughter, 
Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, but the legacy lives on. I wish 
everyone in this Congress could have seen the outpouring of love and 
support and devotion to Ed Roybal at his magnificent funeral at the 
Catholic Cathedral in Los Angeles. We know how respected Ed Roybal is 
in this body. It was wonderful to see the love of the people he was 
closest to in California. Many of us went there, and we told his many 
friends and his family and those close to him of the respect in which 
he was held here.
  Mr. Speaker, I knew Ed Roybal very well for many years. I was a big 
fan of his when he was doing work with the farm workers organizing in 
California. He was a legend in our State. And then he continued his 
leadership for our country in the Congress of the United States.
  When I was first named to the Appropriations Committee, Ed Roybal was 
my chairman. We were in the majority at the time. He was my chairman on 
the Treasury Postal Subcommittee. So, on a daily basis, I saw firsthand 
his command of the policy, of the issues, the power of his advocacy and 
his determination to help all Americans.
  Ed Roybal had no time for government of the few. He was about the 
many. When others in Washington turned their backs on seniors, the 
disadvantaged, and the poor, Ed Roybal was there. He was the first 
Member of Congress to appropriate funds for HIV/AIDS, and that sounds 
very remarkable and commendable now. It was very courageous at the 
time. He then was a leader. He fought the good fight with courage. He 
had a special grace about him and a dignity and a twinkle in his eye.
  In recognition of his leadership on public health, the Campus of the 
Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta was named in his honor. Ed 
Roybal probably has more buildings in California named for him than any 
other politician ever in California. But at the CDC,

[[Page H10195]]

at the Centers for Disease Control, they named an entire campus for 
him, if that gives Members any idea of the respect and the gratitude 
that they felt for Ed Roybal.
  Fiercely proud of his Hispanic roots and deeply patriotic, the two 
went hand in hand. Ed Roybal loved America. He helped found the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Caucus's Institute and embarked 
on a mission to provide scholarships to needy Latino children and 
expand opportunities for all Americans.
  Through his work as founder emeritus of the National Association of 
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, he contributed to the 
advancement of Latino political power first in Southern California and 
then in the Nation. Hundreds of Latino elected officials have since 
followed in his footsteps, all knowing that they stand on his 
shoulders. By his courage and his determination to open the doors to 
minorities, Latinos have become much more active in politics and all 
facets of American society. Indeed, in our State of California, we are 
now a minority majority State, so we see regularly and firsthand the 
magnificent contribution of the Latino community to our great country, 
and Ed Roybal was very much a part of facilitating all of that.
  As I said, Mr. Speaker, Eddie Roybal loved his country and he loved 
his family, speaking with pride of them every day that he served here. 
Tonight we bring the deepest sympathy of this Congress in which he led 
and served and indeed the sympathy of our entire country to the family 
he loved, he adored. I hope it is a comfort to Ms. Roybal-Allard's 
beautiful mother, Lucille, her name is Lucille as well, and his three 
children, our colleague Lucille, her sister Lillian and Ed, Jr., that 
so many people mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad 
time.
  With the life and leadership of Ed Roybal, God truly blessed America.

                          ____________________