[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 128 (Saturday, August 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL DOMINICAN DAY PARADE

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Saturday, August 4, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, today I join with the hundreds of 
thousands of Dominican residents of my congressional district and the 
millions of Dominicans around the world in celebrating August 12's 25th 
Annual Dominican Day Parade.
  What was once an expression of pride through Washington Heights has 
grown to be one of the largest and loudest displays of cultural pride 
seen along New York's Sixth Avenue, a culmination of a series of events 
celebrating the Dominican Republic's traditional second day of 
Independence, El Dia de la Restauracion or Restoration Day.
  It is also a time to remember Dominican achievements, on the island 
and in the U.S. A time to remind the world that many of the 
hemisphere's first institutions were established on the shores of 
Quisqueya, including the first cathedral and the oldest university. A 
time to remind the Nation that from the first big wave of Dominican 
migration in the 1960s to the most recent wave in the 1990s, Dominicans 
have struggled and worked hard to become a part of our national 
identity. Their contributions can be found in every facet of U.S. 
life--from baseball stars like Pedro Martinez, David ``Big Papi'' Ortiz 
or Alex Rodriguez to fashion legend Oscar de la Renta to the thousands 
of professionals that do battle as soldiers, doctors, lawyers, 
journalists, educators and social workers.
  I can see that hard work in my own congressional district. Dominicans 
have a zest for grassroots participation, as evidenced by the number of 
Dominicans, especially women, who are involved in government or as 
leaders of professional and nonprofit organizations. They are an 
entrepreneurial group with a keen nose for business and a yearning to 
be their own boss, as evidenced by the way they have transformed the 
livery cab, travel, and hair salon industry.
  Finally, who can deny the strong desire that Dominicans have for 
education. Although graduation rates for all Latinos are way too low, 
more and more Dominicans are choosing to go back to school, get their 
GED and enroll into the city's university system. This is seen by the 
fact that 50 percent of are Latino's that are enrolled in CUNY is of 
Dominican descent. In the number of after-school programs and 
activities that there are in northern Manhattan and other Dominican 
barrios.
  So I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating this day and 
congratulating founder Nelson Pena and the hundreds of volunteers that 
help put on this grand display of pride. The success of our current 
democracy depends on us keeping our doors open to communities that 
energize our economy and our local neighborhoods. It depends on us 
remembering that we are a Nation of immigrants and that how we treat 
our newest Americans will go a long way to how we are treated around 
the world.

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