[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING FR. FRANCIS THEODORE PFEIFER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CHARLES A. GONZALEZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 17, 2009

  Mr. GONZALEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Fr. Francis 
Theodore ``Ted'' Pfeifer, a public servant who has dedicated his life 
to serving others as a spiritual advisor and as an American missionary 
in Southern Mexico. Fr. Pfeifer has been a passionate advocate against 
the drug cartel in Mexico, a dedicated priest and kind friend to the 
San Antonio community.
  Born in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he moved to San Antonio, 
where he completed his theological and pastoral studies at the Oblate 
``De Mazenod Scholasticate,'' now the Oblate School of Theology. He 
served bravely for more than 23 years as an Oblate Missionary in the 
Mexican state of Oaxaca, tending to his pastoral duties as a missionary 
and assuming the additional duties of doctor, dentist, electrical 
journeyman, mechanic, construction foreman, expert in livestock, and 
most notably as a courageous leader against the drug cartel.
  Fr. Pfeifer made history when he began preaching against the 
infiltration of the drug traders on the Southern Mexican villages in 
the early 1980's. His outspoken words from the pulpit against the drug 
cartel brought him face to face with death on numerous occasions. Once 
Fr. Pfeifer miraculously escaped with his life when bullets riddled the 
cab of his truck; rather than cowering at the death threats, he 
fearlessly persisted preaching against the cartel. He continued to 
fight the drug cartel with the Gospel and encouraged 15,000 locals in 
his vast parish to resist the threats, massacres and the alluring 
offers to use their farmland to grow the plants used for drugs.
  The severity of the escalating drug cartel activity in the area 
prompted Fr. Pfeifer to reach out to my father, the late Congressman 
Henry B. Gonzalez. The Oblate's outreach to the U.S. government caught 
the attention of not just my father, but the then U.S. Speaker of the 
House Jim Wright and Congressman Albert Bustamante, who together played 
a pivotal role against the infiltration of the drug cartel in Mexico.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Fr. Pfeifer 
as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of his priestly ordination, a 
lifetime of bravery and the launch of his book ``When the Wolves 
Came,'' a detailed chronicle of the rise of the illegal drug trade. He 
fought hard his entire life for the causes he believed in and never 
retreated at the sight of danger. Fr. Pfeifer's dedication to justice 
and the ongoing battle against the drug cartel are remarkable and I 
wish him continued success in all his future endeavors.

                          ____________________