[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 191 (Wednesday, December 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S13316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO TOMAS VILLANUEVA

 Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, today I would like to take a 
moment to recognize a very special advocate, activist, and champion for 
equal rights in my home State of Washington on his birthday.
  Tomas Villanueva has been a farmworkers, warehouse packers, and other 
economically disadvantaged laborers advocate since the early 1960s. 
Tomas was one of the first people involved in the United Farmworkers 
Union in my home State and has fought for years to ensure that workers 
are treated with dignity, respect, and under the protections of the 
law.
  Tomas' involvement with the human rights movement began in the early 
1960s when he was inspired by UFW leader Cesar Chavez. And since that 
time, Tomas has fought for numerous causes and people while maintaining 
his reputation as a kind, generous, compassionate and humble leader.
  Tomas has also been a close friend and partner of mine for a very 
long time. He has helped my staff and I recognize the depth of the 
difficult conditions that farmworkers face, and has been a consistent 
voice in fighting to improve conditions through the legislative 
process.
  Farmworker housing is a moral issue, an economic issue, and a family 
issue. Too many workers and their families face very difficult living 
conditions. Some live in their cars. Others share run-down, overcrowded 
rooms with other families. These are not the kinds of living conditions 
we can tolerate in the United States in the 21st century. They are 
certainly not suitable for the people who help put food on our tables 
and who keep our State's economy strong. Tomas knows that we can and 
must do better.
  Tomas Villanueva was 14 when his family emigrated from Mexico. After 
following the crops for three years, the family settled in Toppenish, 
Washington in 1958. Tomas spent the next several years working various 
jobs before earning a high school GED and enrolling in Yakima Valley 
College.
  Hearing about Caesar Chavez's United Farm Workers movement, Tomas 
travelled to California in 1967 to learn about organizing. Returning to 
the Yakima Valley, he helped found the United Farm Worker Cooperative, 
one of the very first Chicano organizations in the State of Washington.
  From 1967 to 1974, Tomas devoted himself to farm worker organizing 
and Chicano movement activism. Out of these efforts came the Yakima 
Valley Farmworkers Clinic, the United Farm Workers Service Center, a 
wave of hop harvest strikes in 1969, 1970, 1971, and a successful grape 
boycott.
  In 1974, Tomas started a construction company with his father and 
brothers, but in the 1980s he was back in the union movement. In 1986 
he became the first president of the newly formed United Farm Workers 
of Washington State. Today he lives in Toppenish and remains active in 
State and local politics.
  Tomas Villanueva continues to be a valued friend, hard-working 
partner, and widely-respected leader in his community. I am so pleased 
to recognize his lifetime of achievements on this special day.

                          ____________________