[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 124 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING MEXICAN GUEST WORKERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE BRACERO PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McNerney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the millions of 
Mexican guest workers who came to the United States under the Bracero 
program from 1942 to 1964. The Bracero program is being highlighted by 
the Smithsonian exhibit, Bittersweet Harvest, and is being shown 
throughout the country.
  At a time when our Nation was at war and laborers were scarce, 
President Franklin Roosevelt and Mexican President Manuel Camacho 
created a guest worker program known as the Bracero program. In 
September of 1942, the first Braceros, under this agreement, arrived in 
Stockton, California, the heart of my district. These individuals 
embodied the American Dream by searching for a better life for 
themselves and their families, and worked hard to make it come true.
  The Smithsonian exhibit uses personal stories from the Braceros to 
highlight their experiences in this program and what they endured while 
adjusting to a new life in the United States.
  The San Joaquin Valley remains home to a strong and vibrant Mexican 
population, and the region's heritage and history has been enriched due 
to its diversity.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the contributions of 
the people who came to this country through the Bracero program.


                  Honoring the Life of Flora Arca Mata

  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I also wish to honor the life of an 
education pioneer in my district, Flora Arca Mata. Ms. Mata was the 
first Asian American, specifically, the first Filipina teacher in the 
Stockton Unified School District, breaking barriers of stereotypes that 
Asian Americans faced immediately after World War II, thereby helping 
numerous minority teachers join the education field.
  Ms. Mata retired from teaching in 1978 and passed away last 
Wednesday, at the age of 95.
  Ms. Mata was born in Honolulu and moved to Stockton in the 1920s. Her 
family settled in the Little Manila section of Stockton. She attended 
the University of California at Los Angeles, where she met, and later 
married, her husband, Vidal Mata.
  Upon graduating from UCLA, neither Flora nor Vidal could find 
teaching jobs, so they traveled to the Philippines to teach. Returning 
to Stockton in the aftermath of World War II, Ms. Mata responded to a 
Stockton Unified ad seeking substitute teachers. A year later, she was 
hired to teach kindergartners full-time in the south Stockton school 
area.
  A steadfast public servant, Ms. Mata remained involved in the 
education system until her eighties, working as a substitute teacher 
and volunteering in her granddaughter's kindergarten class.
  Ms. Mata's commitment to the success of our students is an 
inspiration for our entire community. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in recognizing the barriers Ms. Mata shattered and the road she paved 
for other individuals to enter the teaching profession.

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