[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             82ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF CESAR CHAVEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  Mr. ORTIZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life, work, and 
82nd anniversary of the day Cesar Chavez was born.
  He was born on March 31, 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. Chavez was a civil 
rights, Latino, farm worker, and labor leader. To some he was also a 
religious and spiritual figure; and to all, he was a community servant 
and a crusader for nonviolent social change. He also spent his time as 
an environmentalist and consumer advocate. But above all, he was a 
person who had the strength and courage to fight for what he knew was 
right and to try and rid the world of injustice.
  After spending most of his childhood as a migrant farm worker with 
his parents, Chavez joined the U.S. Navy in 1946 and served in the 
Western Pacific just after WWII.
  For more than three decades Chavez led the first successful farm 
workers union in American history, achieving dignity, respect, fair 
wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, and humane living 
conditions, as well as countless other rights and protections for 
hundreds of thousands of farm workers. Against previously 
insurmountable odds, he led successful strikes and boycotts that 
resulted in the first industry-wide labor contracts in the history of 
American agriculture. His union's efforts brought about the passage of 
the groundbreaking 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act to 
protect farm workers. Today, it remains the only law in the nation that 
protects the farm workers' right to unionize. We must continue to 
protect farm and agricultural workers who are a dedicated labor force 
and a vital contributor to our economy.
  As I reflect on his life and work, I am privileged to be a fellow 
Veteran of the U.S. Armed Services and a fellow Mexican American. It 
was my honor to serve the country that we both felt strongly enough to 
continue to fight for its betterment. Chavez not only fought for 
Latinos, but he fought for the dignity of this nation, and for that we 
are forever grateful.

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