[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 9, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E390-E391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING CESAR CHAVEZ'S BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2013

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest 
appreciation for the life, legacy, and actions of Mr. Cesar Estrada 
Chavez.
  The changes that Cesar Chavez fought for throughout his life have 
dramatically changed the way that farm workers are treated in our 
country. Cesar Chavez was one of the Nation's greatest civil rights 
activists and the tireless champion of migrant farm workers fighting 
for humane working conditions.
  As a young man Cesar Chavez worked in the fields where he saw 
firsthand the dangerous conditions which farm workers were forced to 
endure. In 1952 he became an organizer for the Community Service 
Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group, and eventually became 
the national director of the organization.
  In 1965, Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with 
Dolores Huerta which evolved into the United Farm Workers union. The 
National Farm Workers Association was successful in securing fair wages 
and safe working conditions for farm workers. The UFW also led a 
worldwide grape boycott that helped ensure farm workers had a voice in 
contract negotiations.
  Cesar Chavez is also known for his fasts which he used as a 
nonviolent method of promoting his beliefs. In 1972 Chavez fasted in 
response to Arizona's passage of legislation that prohibited boycotts 
and strikes by farm workers during the harvest season.
  On April 23, 1993 Cesar Chavez died, bringing great sadness to the 
farm workers community that he spent his life fighting for. With his 
death also came a great sense of pride for all the progress that Chavez 
brought as a direct result of his unwavering commitment to farm 
workers' rights.

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  I urge my colleagues in joining me in celebrating Cesar Estrada 
Chavez's life and legacy. America is a better place because of Cesar 
Chavez.

                          ____________________