[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H5449-H5454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REVISING SHORT TITLE OF THE FANNIE LOU HAMER, ROSA PARKS, AND CORETTA
SCOTT KING VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2006
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and pass the Senate bill (S. 188) to revise the short title of the
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
The text of the Senate bill is as follows:
S. 188
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
Section 1 of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta
Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments
Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-246) is amended by striking ``and
Coretta Scott King'' and inserting ``Coretta Scott King,
Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and
Dr. Hector P. Garcia''.
SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 4(a), and section
13(a)(1), of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
1973b(a), 1973k(a)(1)) are each amended by striking ``and
Coretta Scott King'' and inserting ``Coretta Scott King,
Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and
Dr. Hector P. Garcia''.
SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION.
Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 20. A reference in this title to the effective date
of the amendments made by, or the date of the enactment of,
the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Cesar
E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William C. Velasquez, and Dr.
Hector P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and
Amendments Act of 2006 shall be considered to refer to,
respectively, the effective date of the amendments made by,
or the date of the enactment of, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa
Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
General Leave
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. And I now yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 188, a companion bill
to H.R. 6250, providing for revising the short title of the Fannie Lou
Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
On January 31, 2007, I introduced H.R. 745 to add Barbara Jordan and
Cesar Chavez. On June 12, 2008, I authored and introduced the House
companion to S. 188, H.R. 6250, in order to add numbers of individuals
who deserve the recognition of this legislation.
I would like to thank Senator Salazar on the Senate side for his
leadership on this issue. And certainly I would like to thank the
chairman of the full committee, Mr. Conyers, and the ranking member,
Mr. Smith, for their leadership and collaboration, along with the
chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee. I also want to thank
Mr. Keenan Keller of the Judiciary Committee staff and all the staff
who worked with him, Mr. Yohannes Tsehai and Mr. Arthur D. Sidney of my
staff, for their work on the House bill and for their work on bringing
this bill as quickly as possible to the floor.
The bill before us adds the names of Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C.
Jordan, William C. Velasquez and Dr. Hector P. Garcia to the short
title. It is only an addition of names. It is not a deletion of any
names. It is adding to the name portion of the bill only.
These great people are pillars in the Nation's struggle for civil
rights, equality and justice for all, and I strongly support the bill.
Allow me, Madam Speaker, to share the humble beginnings of all of the
individuals that have come before us to be named now to this very
important bill, a bill of which we know was really borne in the sweat
and tears of those who struggled in the civil rights movement. Many
lost their lives in this battle. This reauthorization that occurred in
the last session, and the session before is a testimony to the
struggle.
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born of humble beginnings on March 31, 1927,
in Yuma, Arizona. Early in his life, Mr. Chavez was forced to recognize
the harsh realities of racism that all too often plagued communities of
color. After his family's home and land were taken from them, Mr.
Chavez knew firsthand what it meant to be a victim of gross injustice.
Yet despite this and similar experiences of discrimination, Mr. Chavez
was not deterred. He often said that ``the love for justice that is in
us is not only the best part of our being but also the most true to our
nature.''
At only 10 years old, Mr. Chavez became a migrant farmworker. He
attended 38 different schools before quitting at the end of the eighth
grade to support his family full time.
In 1945, he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the western Pacific
during the end of World War II. After completing his military service,
Mr. Chavez returned to his roots, laboring in the fields.
Mr. Chavez was unwavering in his activities in voter registration
campaigns. He is truly warranting of this honor today.
By day, Mr. Chavez picked apricots in an orchard outside of San Jose.
And be reminded that he served in the United States Navy. But he picked
apricots in this orchard, and by night he was actively involved in
galvanizing voter registration drives. In 1952, Mr. Chavez was a full-
time organizer with the Chicago-based Community Service Organization
(CSO), not only coordinating voter registration drives, but battling
racial and economic discrimination against Chicano residents and
organizing CSO chapters across California and Arizona, as well.
In 1968, Chavez conducted a 25-day fast to reaffirm the United Farm
Workers' commitment to non-violence. In the process, Mr. Chavez gained
the support of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and was propelled
onto the national political scene. Kennedy called Cesar Chavez ``one of
the heroic figures of our time'' and actually flew to be with Mr.
Chavez when he ended his fast.
On August 8, 1994, Mr. Chavez became the second Mexican American to
receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor
in the United States. The award was presented posthumously by then-
President Bill Clinton.
Mr. Chavez dedicated his life to improving the working conditions for
the poor and exploited. He worked on behalf of the migrant workers in
the western United States. He worked also tirelessly to ensure that
Hispanic Americans were involved in the political process. He is
deserving of this honor. And we commend him as we move this legislation
forward.
[[Page H5450]]
The next named person to have her name listed on the Voting Rights
bill is Barbara Charline Jordan. Congresswoman Jordan was a friend to
many, a mentor to me, and an icon. The late honorable Congresswoman
Barbara Jordan represented the 18th Congressional District. She was the
maiden holder of this seat. After this opportunity was given through
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I am now privileged to serve, and she
was one of the first two African Americans from the South to be elected
to the House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
Barbara Jordan was known for her eloquence but also to many for her
quiet thoughtfulness and seriousness in the legislative process.
Barbara Jordan was a renaissance woman, eloquent, fearless and peerless
in her pursuit of justice and equality.
I pay tribute also to her sister who has carried on her legacy by
presenting herself to the public and helping people understand
Barbara's legacy, that is to a dear friend, Ms. Rosemary McGowan, who
lives in Houston, Texas, today. All of her family grew up and lived in
Fifth Ward, and we were with them just a few weeks ago when they showed
us the remnants of where they lived. It is now railroad tracks. But we
will never have their history extinguished.
Barbara Jordan exhorted all of us to strive for the excellence, stand
fast for justice and fairness, and yield to no one in the manner of
defending the Constitution and upholding the most sacred principles of
a democratic government. To Barbara Jordan, the Constitution was a very
profound document, one to be upheld.
On January 17, 1996, Barbara Jordan died too early, at the young age
of 59. On that day, Texas and the Nation lost one of its finest
daughters, a woman who had served the people of Houston and Harris
County in State and national government for over a decade. And with
Barbara Jordan's passing, America lost one of its finest citizens.
Barbara Jordan's voice and eloquence was one of a kind, and so was
she.
From her outspokenness during Watergate, to her ethics back in Texas
to improve transparency, accountability and ethics in government, no
stand was too controversial or too unpopular for Barbara Jordan to
take. If she believed that it was the right thing to do, she did it.
She was not afraid to take unpopular stands. And she often ruffled the
feathers of friends and foes alike.
The Washington Post, too, half-jokingly described Barbara Jordan as
``the first black woman everything.'' And a Cosmopolitan magazine
survey of 700 political opinions in 1975 put Jordan at the top of the
list of women they would like to see become President.
And in 1966 she became the first African American woman elected to
the Texas State Senate. She was the only woman in that legislative
session.
In 1972, she came to the United States Congress. She worked on
worker's compensation and she also amended the Voting Rights Act to
include Mexican Americans in Texas and other southwestern States and to
extend its authorities to those States where minorities had been denied
the right to vote.
{time} 1800
She obviously was renowned for her Watergate work and also her 1976
speech to the Democratic Convention. One of Professor Jordan's
colleagues paid her the ultimate compliment. ``She pushed her students.
She said, `You know, you have an obligation. You owe something for what
you have, and you need to pay it back.' '' That was Barbara Jordan,
continuing to give public service.
She ended her life as a professor at the Lyndon Baines Johnson
School. In the tradition of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King and
Thurgood Marshall, she believed that the Constitution should be upheld.
We honor her, deservedly so, by naming her to the Voting Rights Act
of 1965, reauthorized.
The next named person is William C. Velasquez, also a Texan,
affectionately known as ``Willie.'' He paved the way for his generation
and future generations of Hispanics to empower themselves through voter
registration, political empowerment, economic self-reliance and
education.
Mr. Velasquez was one of the founding members of the Mexican American
Youth Organization, MAYO, a Chicano youth organization aimed at social
action. His role in MAYO led to his becoming Texas' first statewide
coordinator of the El Movimiento Social de la Raza Unida, the precursor
of La Raza Unida Party. His involvement with the Latino organization
was extensive. In 1968, as boycott coordinator for the United Farm
Workers, he organized strikes in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
After leaving the UFW, he became the founder and director of the
Mexican-American Unity Council in San Antonio, Texas. In 1970, he was
named field director of the Southwest Council of La Raza.
From 1972 to July 1974, he concentrated his efforts on building the
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. That is what so many of
us know him for, SVREP. Little notice was given when Velasquez opened
the doors to SVREP in 1974, seated on a folding chair behind a small
desk calling from a borrowed rotary telephone to spur Mexican Americans
into politics.
Mr. Velasquez's work of empowering all Americans through political
participation by his nonpartisan voter registration, voter education,
candidate training, get-out-the-vote efforts, this work of SVREP
continues as it began through his work. He enlisted the aid of
community organizers. Together they launched hundreds of voter
registration and get-out-the-vote GOTV campaigns throughout the
Southwest.
The legacy of Mr. Velasquez is apparent. Since its inception, his
organization has cultivated 50,000 community leaders, successfully
litigated 85 voting rights lawsuits, and has conducted 2,300
nonpartisan voter registration and GOTV campaigns. Consequently, voter
registration has grown over the years from 2.4 million registered
Latinos in 1974 to almost 12 million nationwide.
Upon news of his death, the Congress adjourned its session for the
day, symbolically illustrating his single-handed effect on our
political process. President Clinton posthumously awarded Mr. Velasquez
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, stating that he was driven by an
unwavering belief that every American should have a role in our
democracy and share in the opportunities of our great Nation, adding
that Mr. Velasquez made this a greater country.
I agree with him. It is for this reason, Madam Speaker, that we are
honored today to be able to add Mr. William ``Willie'' C. Velasquez in
the short title of the Voting Rights Act, now reauthorized, but the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Our next named person, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, was an interesting and
strong Texan. Dr. Hector P. Garcia was a Mexican immigrant who became a
doctor, soldier, war hero and presidential confidante. He dedicated his
life to advocating for the education, civil rights, labor rights and
human rights of our community by struggling against racism and
injustice. His life is an example for the younger generation.
Dr. Garcia received many honors during his life-long fight for
veterans rights. He is a giant in Texas. He is well-known, as we have
found, throughout the Nation, throughout the veterans efforts that have
come about, particularly representing Latinos. He is a giant. His fight
for veterans rights and his struggle against discrimination in housing,
education and voting rights is renowned.
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson made him the first Mexican to
serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Johnson also appointed
him Alternate Ambassador to the United Nations to promote better
relations with Latin America and Spain. Dr. Garcia served Presidents
John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter as an adviser.
President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian honor. Pope John Paul II
recognized him with the Equestrian Order of Pope Gregory the Great.
President Clinton eulogized him as a national hero.
The Treasury Department's new $75 Series I U.S. Savings Bond bears
Dr. Garcia's portrait. The eight Americans depicted on the bonds, which
debuted on September 1, 2007, were chosen for their individual
achievements and service, and, for the first time, to reflect the
Nation's racial and ethnic diversity. Dr. Garcia is the only Hispanic.
Other honorees include General George C. Marshall and the Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King.
[[Page H5451]]
Congress honored Dr. Garcia, who died on July 26, 1996, at the age of
82, by passing a bill in August 1996 that made the American G.I. Forum
a Congressionally chartered veterans organization. Dr. Garcia founded
the organization in 1948, and today it is the Nation's largest Hispanic
veterans group. The charter status recognizes the G.I. Forum as a peer
of the American Legion.
Dr. Garcia was born in a Mexican village in 1914 to a college
professor and a schoolteacher. They fled to Texas in 1918 to escape the
Mexican Revolution. He was one of seven children, six of whom became
doctors. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School,
joined the Army in World War II and served in North Africa and Italy as
an infantryman and combat engineer until the Army officials found out
that he was a doctor. He earned the Bronze Star Medal with six battle
stars in Italy.
A disturbing incident in 1949 convinced Dr. Garcia that the Forum
needed to fight for more than veterans rights. Army Private Felix
Longoria was killed on June 14, 1945, while on patrol in the
Philippines to flush out retreating Japanese. It took nearly four years
to identify and return his remains to his family. A funeral director in
Three Rivers, Texas, told the family that the Anglo community wouldn't
stand for his remains to lie in the chapel for a wake, but he offered
to arrange for Longoria's burial in the segregated Mexican cemetery
separated by barbed wire.
Private Longoria's widow called Dr. Garcia for help, who then
contacted the funeral home and asked permission to use the chapel. The
director told him no Mexican American had ever used the chapel and he
wouldn't allow it because it might offend the whites. Dr. Garcia went
on to talk about this issue and to fight against it, and ultimately he
prevailed when many noticed that the State of Texas, which loomed so
large on the map, looked so small tonight.
So within 24 hours the founder of the newly organized American G.I.
Forum received a telegram from then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who
expressed his regret about what occurred, and therefore he made
arrangements to have Felix Longoria buried with full military honors in
Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
This is truly a story of a hero, and that is why we stand today to
acknowledge Hector P. Garcia, who will be named to the short title of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He will join these heroes, Cesar Chavez,
Barbara Jordan, Willie Velasquez, and now Dr. Hector P. Garcia, for he
has fought for those who could not speak for themselves to in essence
have the opportunity to vote.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation in
honor of these magnificent individuals.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 188, to revise the
short title of the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King
Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006. On
January 31, 2007, I introduced H.R. 745 to add Barbara Jordan and Cesar
Chavez. On June 12, 2008, I authored and introduced the House
companion, H.R. 6250 to S. 188. I want to commend the author on the
Senate side, Senator Salazar.
I would like to thank Mr. Keenan Keller, and Mr. Yohannes Tsehai and
Mr. Arthur D. Sidney of my staff for their work on the House bill and
for their work on bringing this bill quickly to the floor. The bill
before us adds the names of Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan, William
C. Velasquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia to the short title. These great
people are pillars in the nation's struggle for civil rights, equality,
and justice for all. I strongly support this bill.
cesar estrada chavez
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born of humble beginnings on March 31, 1927,
near Yuma, Arizona. Early in life, Mr. Chavez was forced to recognize
the harsh realities of racism that all too often plagued communities of
color. After his family's home and land were taken from them, Mr.
Chavez knew first hand what it meant to be the victim of gross
injustice. Yet, despite this and similar experiences of discrimination,
Mr. Chavez was not deterred. He often said that ``the love for justice
that is in us is not only the best part of our being but also the most
true to our nature.''
At only 10 years old, Mr. Chavez became a migrant farmworker. He
attended 38 different schools before quitting at the end of the eighth
grade to support his family full time.
In 1945, Mr. Chavez joined the US Navy and served in the Western
Pacific during the end of World War II. After completing his military
service, Mr. Chavez returned to his roots, laboring in the fields.
Mr. Chavez was unwavering in his activities in voter registration
campaigns. By day, Mr. Chavez picked apricots in an orchard outside of
San Jose; by night, he was actively involved in galvanizing voter
registration drives. In 1952, Mr. Chavez was a full time organizer with
the Chicago-based Community Service Organization (CSO), not only
coordinating voter registration drives, but battling racial and
economic discrimination against Chicano residents and organizing new
CSO chapters across California and Arizona as well.
Mr. Chavez was also a passionate member of the labor movement in this
country. In 1962, he moved his wife and eight young children to
California, where he founded the National Farm Workers Association
(NFWA), the first successful farm workers' union in U.S. history.
In 1968, Chavez conducted a 25-day fast to reaffirm the United Farm
Workers commitment to non-violence. In the process, Mr. Chavez gained
the support of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and was propelled
onto the national political scene. Kennedy called Cesar Chavez ``one of
the heroic figures of our time,'' and actually flew to be with Mr.
Chavez when he ended his fast.
In 1991, Mr. Chavez received the Aguila Azteca (The Aztec Eagle),
Mexico's highest award presented to people of Mexican heritage who have
made significant contributions outside of Mexico. When he passed away
on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66, he was the president of the United
Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO.
On August 8, 1994, Mr. Chavez became the second Mexican American to
receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor
in the United States. The award was presented posthumously by then-
President Bill Clinton.
Mr. Chavez dedicated his life to achieving better working conditions
for the poor and the exploited migrant farmers in the western United
States. He also tirelessly worked to ensure that Hispanic Americans
were involved in the political process and were registered to vote. He
is regarded as one of the most important people in the U.S. labor
movement and in the Hispanic voter registration movement in this
country. We honor his life and his legacy with the addition of his name
on this important piece of legislation.
barbara charline jordan
Barbara Charline Jordan was a friend to many, a mentor to me and an
icon. The late honorable Congresswoman Barbara Jordan represented the
18th Congressional District of Texas that I am now privileged to serve,
and was one of the first two African-Americans from the South to be
elected to the House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
Barbara Jordan was a renaissance woman, eloquent, fearless, and
peerless in her pursuit of justice and equality. She exhorted all of us
to strive for excellence, stand fast for justice and fairness, and
yield to no one in the matter of defending the Constitution and
upholding the most sacred principles of a democratic government. To
Barbara Jordan, the Constitution was a very profound document, one to
be upheld.
On January 17, 1996, Barbara Jordan died at the young age of 59. On
that day, Texas lost one of its finest daughters--a woman who had
served the people of Houston and Harris County in state and national
government for over a decade. And with Barbara Jordan's passing,
America lost one of its finest citizens.
Barbara Jordan's voice and eloquence were one of a kind. And so was
she.
Her accomplishments and admirers were legion. As a statesman and as a
teacher, Barbara Jordan transcended race, gender, class, and political
affiliation. She was not afraid to take unpopular stands--and she often
ruffled the feathers of friends and foes alike.
From her outspokenness during Watergate, to her efforts back in Texas
to improve transparency, accountability, and ethics in government, no
stand was too controversial or too unpopular for Barbara Jordan to
take--if she believed that it was the right thing to do.
Her rise through the ranks of state and national politics compelled
The Washington Post to half-jokingly describe Barbara Jordan as ``the
first black woman everything.'' And a Cosmopolitan magazine survey of
700 political opinion leaders in 1975 put Jordan at the top of a list
of women they would like see become President.
In 1966, she became the first African-American woman elected to the
Texas state Senate. She was the only woman in that legislative session.
In 1972, she became the first African-American woman elected to
Congress from Texas after Reconstruction. While in Washington, she
served with distinction on the House Judiciary Committee.
As a public servant, Barbara Jordan sponsored bills that championed
the cause of the poor and the disenfranchised. One of her most
[[Page H5452]]
important bills as state senator was the Workman's Compensation Act,
which increased the maximum benefits paid to injured workers. As a
congresswoman, she sponsored legislation to broaden the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 to cover Mexican Americans in Texas and other southwestern
states, and to extend its authority to those states where minorities
had been denied the right to vote or had their rights restricted by
unfair registration practices, such as literacy tests.
She gained national prominence for the position she took and the
statement she made at the 1974 impeachment hearing of President Richard
Nixon. In casting her ``yes'' vote, Jordan stated, ``My faith in the
Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.''
In 1976, she was the first African-American woman to deliver a
keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. She would
deliver the keynote address again at the Democratic National Convention
in 1992.
President Jimmy Carter considered her for Attorney General and U.N.
Ambassador, but she chose to remain in Congress. She seriously
considered challenging Sen. John Tower in 1978, but became ill and
retired from politics.
Representative Jordan left Congress in 1979 to become Professor
Jordan when she joined the faculty of the Lyndon Baines Johnson School
of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. President Johnson was a
mentor to Jordan. Fittingly, Professor Jordan held the endowed Lyndon
B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy.
One of Professor Jordan's colleagues paid her this ultimate
compliment: ``She pushed her students. She said, `you know, you have an
obligation. You owe something for what you have and you need to pay it
back.' And I think they all caught that passion that she had for public
service.''
Professor Jordan, reflecting on her service in Congress, offered this
pearl: ``One sometimes gets the feeling that the Washington politician
feels that all wisdom resides in the nation's capital. That is not the
view of the people on the outside, the people I am now working with and
communicating with. Distance has a way of lessening the impact of what
the Federal Government does.'' Few truer words have ever been spoken.
As a distinguished professor at the LBJ School, Professor Jordan was
able to have a major influence on the next generation of public
officials. She impressed her students with her intellect and ability to
inspire them to achieve excellence in the classroom, and to be
committed to public service.
Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, legislator, scholar, author, and
presidential adviser. She was immensely gifted, and used every bit of
her talent and skill to address, improve, and dignify the conditions of
human life. In the tradition of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King,
and Thurgood Marshall, she challenged the Federal Government and the
American people to uphold the principles set forth in the Constitution.
Today, we honor Barbara Jordan by including her name on the Voting
Rights Act, an Act up which she personally worked. She sponsored
legislation to broaden the Voting Rights Act of 1965 so that its
promises would be extended to all Americans. For this, we celebrate her
and her legacy.
WILLIAM C. VELASQUEZ
William C. Velasquez, affectionately known as ``Willie,'' paved the
way for his generation and future generations of Hispanics to empower
themselves through voter registration, political empowerment, economic
self-reliance, and education.
Mr. Velasquez was one of the founding members of the Mexican American
Youth Organization (MAYO), a Chicano youth organization aimed at social
action. His role in MAYO led to becoming Texas' first statewide
Coordinator of El Movimiento Social de la Raza Unida, the precursor of
La Ram Unida Party.
His involvement with Latino organizations was extensive. In 1968, as
Boycott Coordinator for the United Farm Workers (UFW), he organized
strikes at the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. After leaving the UFW he
became the founder and director of the Mexican American Unity Council
in San Antonio, Texas. In 1970, he was named Field Director of the
Southwest Council of La Raza.
From 1972 to July 1974, he concentrated his efforts on building the
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP). Little notice
was taken when Velasquez opened the doors to SVREP in 1974, seated on a
folding chair; behind a small desk calling from a borrowed rotary
telephone to spur Mexican Americans into politics.
SVREP continues Mr. Velasquez's work of empowering all Americans,
through political participation, by its nonpartisan voter registration,
voter education, candidate training, and get-out-the-vote efforts.
He enlisted the aid of community organizers, together they launched
hundreds of voter registration and get-the-vote-out (GOTV) campaigns
throughout the southwest. The legacy of Mr. Velasquez is apparent--
since its inception, SVREP has cultivated 50,000 community leaders,
successfully litigated 85 voting rights law suits and has conducted
2,300 nonpartisan, voter registration and GOTV campaigns. Consequently,
voter registration has grown over the years from 2.4 million registered
Latinos in 1974 to almost 12 million nationwide.
The groundbreaking work of Mr. Velasquez and his associates created
opportunities for Hispanics to enter into the political arena, and gain
a voice for a significant community in American society.
Upon news of his death, the Congress adjourned its session for the
day, symbolically illustrating, his single-handed effect on our
political process. President Clinton posthumously awarded Mr. Velasquez
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, stating that he ``was driven by an
unwavering belief that every American should have a role in our
democracy and a share in the opportunities of our great Nation,''
adding that Velasquez ``made this a greater country.''
The Presidential Medal of Freedom, in the words of President Clinton,
celebrates those who have changed America for the better and who embody
the best qualities in our national character. His contributions will
broaden the historical understanding of the development and struggle of
the Hispanic community of the United States and further serve to
increase awareness of the influence of Hispanics on our country.
Madam Speaker, it is indeed fitting that we include the name William
``Willie'' C. Velasquez in the short title of the Voting Rights Act.
DR. HECTOR P. GARCIA
Dr. Hector P. Garcia was a Mexican immigrant refugee who became a
doctor, soldier, war hero and presidential confident. He dedicated his
life to advocating education, civil rights, labor rights and human
rights of our community by struggling against racism and injustice. His
life is an example for younger generations.
Dr. Garcia received many honors during his lifelong fight for
veterans' rights and his struggle against discrimination in housing,
jobs, education and voting rights. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson
made him the first Mexican American to serve on the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights. Johnson also appointed him alternate ambassador to the
United Nations to promote better relations with Latin America and
Spain. Dr. Garcia served Presidents John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter as
an adviser.
President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Pope John Paul II
recognized him with the Equestrian Order of Pope Gregory the Great.
President Bill Clinton eulogized him as a national hero. The Treasury
Department's new $75 Series I U.S. Savings Bond bears Dr. Garcia's
portrait. The eight Americans depicted on the bonds, which debuted
September 1, 2007, were chosen for their individual achievements and
service and, for the first time, to reflect the nation's racial and
ethnic diversity. Dr. Garcia is the only Hispanic; other honorees
include Gen. George C. Marshall and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Congress honored Dr. Garcia, who died on July 26, 1996, at age 82, by
passing a bill in August 1996 that made the American G.I. Forum a
congressionally chartered veterans organization. Dr. Garcia founded the
organization in 1948, and today is the nation's largest Hispanic
veterans group. The charter status recognizes the G.I. Forum as a peer
of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and others.
Dr. Garcia was born in the Mexican village of Llera, Tamaulipas, on
January 17, 1914, to a college professor and a schoolteacher. When he
was four, his family fled to Mercedes, Texas, in 1918 to escape the
Mexican Revolution. He was one of seven children, six of whom became
doctors.
A 1940 graduate of the University of Texas Medical School, he joined
the Army during World War II and served in North Africa and Italy as an
infantryman and combat engineer until Army officials found out he was a
doctor. He earned the Bronze Star Medal with six battle stars in Italy.
After the war, he opened a medical practice in Corpus Christi and
worked as a contract physician for the Veterans Administration. That's
when he discovered his employer was denying proper medical treatment
and educational benefits to Mexican-American war veterans. He founded
the American G.I. Forum on March 26, 1948, to fight that
discrimination.
A disturbing incident in 1949 convinced Dr. Garcia that the Forum
needed to fight for more than veterans benefits. Army Pvt. Felix
Longoria was killed on June 15, 1945, while on patrol in the
Philippines to flush out retreating Japanese. It took nearly four years
to identify and return his remains to his family. A funeral director in
Three Rivers, Texas, told the family that the Anglo community
``wouldn't
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stand for'' his remains to lie in the chapel for a wake, but he offered
to arrange for Longoria's burial in the segregated ``Mexican''
cemetery, separated by barbed wire.
Pvt. Longoria's widow called Dr. Garcia for help, who then contacted
the funeral home and asked permission to use the chapel. The director
told him no Mexican American had ever used the chapel and he wouldn't
allow it because it might offend the whites.
Dr. Garcia reported the conversation to a Corpus Christi newspaper
reporter and sent 17 telegrams to congressmen, senators, a governor and
other reporters. The telegrams stated, ``The denial was a direct
contradiction of those same principles for which this American soldier
made the supreme sacrifice in giving his life for his country, and for
the same people who deny him the last funeral rites deserving of any
American hero regardless of his origin.''
The statement was aired internationally by radio broadcasters Drew
Pearson, Westbrook Pegler and Walter Winchell, who said: ``The State of
Texas, which looms so large on the map, looks so small tonight. . . .''
Within 24 hours, the founder of the newly organized American G.I.
Forum received a telegram from then Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson that read,
in part: ``I deeply regret to learn that the prejudice of some
individuals extends even beyond this life. I have no authority over
civilian funeral homes. Nor does the federal government. However, I
have made arrangements to have Felix Longoria buried with full military
honors in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery . . . where the honored
dead of our nation's war rest.''
Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson and President Truman's personal aide,
Maj. Gen. Harry Vaughn, attended Longoria's funeral on February 16,
1949. The incident propelled the G.I. Forum's civil rights agenda to
national attention. With its headquarters in Austin, Texas, the Forum
has evolved from a veterans' rights group into a civil rights
organization with more than 160,000 members in 500 chapters in 24
states and Puerto Rico. Today it serves all Hispanics and promotes
greater participation in civic affairs, educational attainment,
employment, equality in income and health services.
In 1960, Dr. Garcia became national coordinator of the Viva Kennedy
clubs organized to elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy-president. The civil
rights agenda of the Forum, however, was not at the forefront of the
Kennedy administration's platform, and Dr. Garcia and his supporters
were forced to content themselves with his perfunctory appointment as
representative of the United States in mutual defense treaty talks with
the Federation of West Indies Islands in 1962. The talks were
successful, and the appointment was notable as the first instance that
a Mexican American had represented an American president. After
President Kennedy's assassination, his successor Lyndon Johnson
appointed Dr. Garcia Presidential Representative with the rank of
Special Ambassador to the presidential inauguration ceremonies of Dr.
Raul Leoni in Venezuela.
In 1966, through the efforts of the Forum and other groups, the Texas
poll tax was repealed. The Forum also undertook a march on the Texas
state capital to protest the low wages of Mexican agricultural
laborers. In 1967, President Johnson appointed Dr. Garcia alternate
ambassador to the United Nations. He was tasked with the improvement of
relations with Latin American nations. He made history when, on October
26, 1967, he became the first United States representative to speak
before the U.N. in a language other than English.
In 1968, President Johnson appointed him to the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights. In 1972, Dr. Garcia was arrested at a sit-in protest of
the de facto segregation in Corpus Christi School District.
Madam Speaker, there has never been a more important time to honor
the great legacy of these civil rights pillars and it is, indeed,
fitting that we include the name Dr. Hector P. Garcia in the short
title of the Voting Rights Act.
Madam Speaker, the renaming of this historic piece of legislation is
critically important. These civil rights legends have left an indelible
mark upon my career and they have paved the way for me. Much respect
and honor is due to these individuals. I owe them a debt of gratitude.
I have stood on their backs and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. I am
grateful as an African American, a woman, and a member of Congress for
the sacrifices these individuals have made for all Americans.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 188, which adds
several names to the short title of the Voting Rights Act
Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
The individuals whose names are added by this legislation deserve to
be embodied in that historic legislation for the roles they played in
encouraging the participation of all Americans in the political
process.
Cesar Chavez and Dr. Hector Garcia followed the path of Martin Luther
King, Jr. Mr. Chavez founded and led the first successful farm workers'
union in the United States and became the president of the United Farm
Workers of America, AFL-CIO. From its beginnings, the UFW adhered to
the principles of non-violent change. Mr. Chavez received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United
States, in 1994.
Dr. Hector Garcia was a Mexican Revolution refugee and medical
doctor. He, too, led peaceful protests to empower Mexican Americans to
fight legal and political battles against discrimination through his
founding of the American GI Forum. He was also awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Barbara Jordan was the first African-American woman to serve in the
U.S. Congress from the South. She became the first African-American
woman to serve in the Texas Senate since 1883, where she served as the
chair of a major committee. As a Congresswoman, she sponsored
legislation to broaden the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to cover Mexican-
Americans and to extend its provisions to States where minorities had
been denied the right to vote or had their rights restricted by unfair
registration practices.
Finally, William Velasquez founded the Southwest Voter Registration
Education Project in 1974 to encourage Latinos to join the democratic
process. Starting with a folding chair and a borrowed rotary phone, Mr.
Velasquez's organization cultivated over 50,000 community leaders,
successfully litigated 85 voting rights lawsuits, and conducted 2300
non-partisan voter registration drives. He was also awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995.
The names of these voting rights leaders and Presidential Medal of
Freedom recipients deserve to stand side by side with Fannie Lou Hamer,
Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King, in the short title of the Voting
Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished
gentleman. It is my hope that we will enthusiastically support this
legislation in tribute to these outstanding Americans.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 188, which would
rename the Fannie Lou Hamer Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting
Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, to include the
names of civil rights pioneers Cesar E. Chavez, Barbara C. Jordan,
William C. Velasquez, and Dr. Hector P. Garcia. It passed the other
body unanimously, and I would hope that this House would follow suit.
I want to commend Sheila Jackson-Lee, a distinguished Member of the
Judiciary Committee from Texas, who introduced legislation in the
House. It is vitally important that we all remember the many courageous
leaders whose achievements make possible the work we do today.
The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act was an important
achievement. The extension of this historic civil rights legislation
passed in the last Congress with broad bi-partisan support.
The Voting Rights Act has, since its enactment in 1965, helped to
fulfil the promise of this nation to the world that all are created
equal, and all have an equal right to determine their destinies.
Although the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was meant to
guarantee that ``[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,'' that
guarantee was not given full effect for many former slaves and their
descendants for a full century after its adoption.
The Voting Rights Act changed the legal landscape and gave citizens,
backed up by the Department of Justice, new legal remedies to ensure
that their voices would be heard at the ballot boxes--freely, fairly,
and equally.
It is therefore fitting that we should add the names of these four
civil rights leaders to the title of the Voting Rights Act.
Who were these leaders?
Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to the rights of some of the most
vulnerable and powerless in this nation. The migrant farm workers who
pick our crops were unable to provide even the most basic needs for
their families. Lack of decent pay, schooling, education, sanitation,
housing, and political power made them some of the most oppressed
Americans. In a land of plenty, these workers had nothing.
Edward R. Murrow rightly called it our ``Harvest of Shame.''
Cesar Chavez organized the unorganized, built a national movement,
and won a contract and a life with dignity for these workers. As the
founder of the United Farm Workers, he brought hope, dignity, and self-
respect to thousands of hardworking Americans who had
[[Page H5454]]
faced bleak oppression and disenfranchisement.
With the founding, and the success, of this movement, nothing would
ever be the same.
Barbara C. Jordan was a distinguished Member of this House from
Houston, Texas, from 1973 to 1979, and a member of the Judiciary
Committee.
In 1966, she became the first African American to serve in the Texas
State Senate since 1883.
In 1972, she and and Andrew Young became the first African Americans
elected to Congress from the South since 1898.
If those dates are jarring, they should be. The post-Reconstruction
era was marked by violence, state-sponsored terror, and legal
roadblocks that disenfranchised African Americans throughout the South.
These efforts were so effective in undermining the plain command of the
15th Amendment, that no African American would represent the South in
this House until we enacted and began enforcing the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.
Representative Jordan was both a symbol of that new law, and an
activist who gave those legal guarantees real meaning.
When it came time to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act in 1975,
Representative Jordan sponsored legislation broadening it to include
Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Thanks to
her efforts, the Voting Rights Act now protects the rights of voters
with limited English proficiency.
Always a tireless fighter for social justice, Barbara Jordan was
known for her passion and her eloquence. In 1976, she became the first
African American to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic
National Convention.
For her outstanding contributions to this nation, Barbara Jordan was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in
1994.
A legal scholar, a skilled legislator, an educator, and a fighter for
social justice, Barbara Jordan's name belongs on the Voting Rights Act.
William C. Velasquez, another Texan, and another Presidential Medal
of Freedom honoree, founded the Southwest Voter Registration and
Education Project, the nation's largest voter registration project
aimed at the Hispanic community.
Under his leadership, the SVREP launched hundreds of successful get-
out-the-vote and voter registration drives throughout the Southwest,
greatly expanding the number of registered Latino voters and increasing
Hispanic participation in the political process.
Mr. Velasquez, who was also a leader in the United Farm Workers and
helped found the Mexican American Youth Organization, and la Raza
Unida, helped others believe as he did that ``Su voto es su voz''--your
vote is your voice.
When President Clinton posthumously awarded Mr. Velasquez the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995, he was only the second Latino to
receive the nation's highest civilian honor.
His contributions make it more than appropriate for us to add his
name to the Voting Rights Act.
Dr. Hector P. Garcia was a decorated veteran of World War II, a
physician, and the founder of American GI Forum.
Organized by Dr. Garcia in a Corpus Christi elementary school
classroom one evening in March, 1948, the GI Forum ultimately spread
across the United States and became a leading civil rights
organization.
World War II was very much a watershed in opening up new
opportunities for Texas Mexicans. But civil rights between 1945 and the
late 1950s did not come to Mexican Americans automatically.
Many housing developments, restaurants, movies, swimming pools, and
even hospitals were considered off-limits to Mexican-Americans. Police
and other law enforcement agencies, such as the Texas Rangers and the
Border Patrol, all too often reminded Tejanos of their second-class
citizenship through disparagement or intimidation. Employment
opportunities diminished quickly.
Politically, Texas Mexicans had to pay the poll tax, and cope with
other voting and office-holding restrictions. Mexican American farm
laborers, like those in a labor camp in nearby Mathis, Texas, endured
inhuman living conditions.
Disabled Mexican American veterans were left starving or sick when a
dilatory Veteran's Administration failed to send financial and medical
benefits. Local school officials blithely admitted on the radio that
Mexican American children were segregated. This was the Texas that Dr.
Hector Garcia returned to after World War II.
In 1966, through the efforts of the Forum and other groups, the Texas
poll tax was repealed. The Forum also undertook a march on the Texas
State Capitol to protest the low wages of Mexican agricultural
laborers.
In 1967, President Johnson appointed Dr. Garcia alternate ambassador
to the United Nations. He was tasked with the improvement of relations
with Latin American nations.
Dr. Garcia made history when, on October 26, he became the first
United States representative to speak before the U.N. in a language
other than English. President Johnson also appointed him to the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights.
In 1972, Garcia was arrested at a sit-in protest of the de facto
segregation in Corpus Christi school district. In 1987, he became
involved in the struggle against the campaign to name English the
official language of the United States. His final project was to
improve the standard of living in the colonias in the Rio Grande Valley
along the United States-Mexico border.
A fighter for this nation in combat, a distinguished physician, a
courageous leader in the struggle for equality and freedom, it is
fitting for us to add Dr. Garcia's name to the Voting Rights Act.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 188.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________