[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 147 (Friday, November 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                TEXAS STATE SENATOR MARIO GALLEGOS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 16, 2012

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart 
to honor Texas State Senator Mario Gallegos, Jr. For many years, we 
have worked side by side to help improve the quality of life for many 
people around the Houston area. He was a champion for education and 
Latino rights, along with many other numerous issues. Senator Gallegos 
passed away on October 16th, and the Houston Chronicle printed his 
obituary. In honor of Senator Gallegos, I would like to submit the 
text.

       State Sen. Mario Gallegos, 62, a Democratic lawmaker whose 
     22-year career in the Texas Legislature was marked by 
     courage, controversy and dogged commitment to issues of 
     importance to the Hispanic community, died Tuesday afternoon 
     at Methodist Hospital in Houston from complications of liver 
     disease.
       Gallegos, the first Hispanic elected to the state Senate 
     from Harris County, took a special interest in public 
     education, redistricting and other issues he believed would 
     have an effect on the lives of the predominantly working-
     class residents in Senate District 6.
       In 2007, only weeks after undergoing a liver transplant, a 
     sick and weakened Gallegos ignored a doctor's call to return 
     to Houston and installed a hospital bed in the office of the 
     Senate sergeant-at-arms so he could cast his vote against a 
     bill requiring voters to show photo identification. Gallegos 
     argued the bill would discriminate against minority voters.
       In 2011, Gallegos opposed a measure sponsored by state Sen. 
     Dan Patrick, R-Houston, requiring women seeking an abortion 
     to undergo a sonogram. Gallegos told his fellow senators that 
     although he opposed abortion, he didn't believe he should 
     impose legislative restrictions on a woman about ``how to 
     govern her body.''
       ``There were few issues that Mario and I agreed upon,'' 
     Patrick said, ``but throughout my six years in the state 
     Senate he always treated me with kindness and courtesy and 
     professionalism. And he was a friend.''
       State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, described 
     Gallegos as ``a man of matchless generosity who worked 
     tirelessly for his district. I've never known anyone who 
     fought harder for the underdog--for the most vulnerable in 
     our state.''
       Mario Valentin Gallegos Jr. was born in Houston on Sept. 8, 
     1950, and grew up in Magnolia Park, an East End neighborhood 
     near the Ship Channel. He graduated from Milby High School 
     and received his undergraduate degree from the University of 
     Houston-Downtown in 2001.
       Gallegos joined the Houston Fire Department at 18 and 
     served for 22 years, rising to the rank of senior captain. 
     His involvement in union affairs as a firefighter whetted his 
     interest in politics.
       ``As a union member working with (former Houston City 
     Councilman) Ben Reyes, he fell in love with politics,'' said 
     Marc Campos, a Houston political consultant who met Gallegos 
     in 1979. ``He made a number of trips to Austin to lobby for 
     firefighter issues.''
       In 1990, Gallegos was elected to the Texas House of 
     Representatives, where he served for two terms before being 
     elected to the state Senate in 1994. Never a legislative 
     tactician or policy expert, Gallegos was a reliable liberal 
     vote on most issues.
       Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver a few months later, 
     he received last rites and made plans for his body to be 
     displayed near the Capitol Rotunda before being transported 
     to his grave in afire truck
       With about a month to live, he received a phone call on 
     Jan. 18, 2007, informing him that the unexpected death of a 
     teenage boy meant he would get a liver transplant.
       Sworn in as president pro tempore later that year, he told 
     his colleagues that he intended to run for office until he 
     died.
       Survivors include his mother, Olga Gallegos; his wife, 
     Theresa Gallegos; three children, Ali Templer, Melissa 
     Gallegos and Mario Elias Gallegos; four sisters and two 
     brothers; and five grandchildren.

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