[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO THE FIRST ANNUAL CESAR CHAVEZ MARCH

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                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 26, 2007

  Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 20th 
anniversary of the naming of Chavez Drive and the first annual Cesar 
Chavez March in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. A celebration and 
fundraiser for the United Farm Workers members will be held on March 
31st to coincide with what would have been the late Cesar Chavez's 80th 
birthday.
  Born on a family farm, March 31, 1927, Cesar Chavez witnessed 
firsthand the suffering of migrant workers. When the family lost the 
farm during the Great Depression, Cesar toiled in the fields following 
crops across the Southwest. After serving in the US Navy during World 
War II he returned to farm work and began his lifelong commitment to 
justice for migrant workers.
  During the 1960s Cesar Chavez, in reaction to the conditions he 
witnessed in the fields, became a union activist. Adopting the 
techniques of industrial unions like the UAW, Cesar fought against 
agribusiness and unfair laws that forbade farm workers from organizing. 
A nationwide boycott of table grapes and a 25-day hunger strike brought 
the United Farm Workers international attention. His leadership and 
personal commitment forced agribusiness to sign the first union 
contract with the United Farm Workers. He labored to improve the health 
and safety of the workers. He fought successfully to end the use of 
harmful chemicals like DDT and benefited not only the worker but the 
consumer as well.
  When Cesar Chavez died in 1993, over 40,000 people attended his 
funeral. In a show of respect for the man who had changed so many 
lives, our nation posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom.
  Madam Speaker, Flint, Michigan was the first community in our nation 
to honor this great humanitarian by naming a street after Cesar Chavez. 
I ask the House of Representatives to join me in honoring the memory of 
Cesar Chavez and his legacy to the American people.

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