[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

[[Page H5453]]

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.

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