[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     IN HONOR OF LUIS FERRE ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS PASSING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, Monday marked the 10th anniversary of the 
passing of Luis Ferre. I rise this morning to pay tribute to this giant 
of a man whom The New York Times called the ``dominant force in the 
politics, economy and culture of Puerto Rico'' for much of the 20th 
century.
  In a real sense, Don Luis personified his beloved Puerto Rico, 
embodying both its progress and its struggles. He was born in Ponce in 
1904, a few years after Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory; was a 
teenager when island residents were granted American citizenship in 
1917; served as a delegate to the convention that drafted Puerto Rico's 
local constitution in the early 1950s; was elected as the island's 
governor in 1968; served as a member of the Puerto Rico Senate, 
including as its president, in the late 1970s and early 1980s; and 
remained engaged in public life as a revered elder statesman well 
beyond his formal retirement from politics.
  Don Luis lived to age 99, but it was the fullness of his life, not 
its length, that is so remarkable. Trained as an engineer at MIT and as 
a classical pianist at the New England Conservatory of Music, Ferre was 
a true renaissance man. He loved ideas, intellectual debate and 
culture, founding the renowned Ponce Museum of Art; but he was also at 
home in the practical world of business, taking a small company and 
transforming it into one of Puerto Rico's most successful 
conglomerates. He published a newspaper, now called El Nuevo Dia, which 
is run by his grandchildren, and has the largest circulation of any 
periodical on the island. Don Luis was also a committed philanthropist, 
who took to heart the biblical axiom: to whom much is given, much is 
expected.
  In 1991, Ferre was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
Nation's highest civilian honor, by President George H.W. Bush, who 
called Ferre ``a public servant of the first order'' and an 
``extraordinary leader in the life of Puerto Rico.''
  On a personal level, Ferre refuted the notion that great men are 
seldom good men. Like any effective leader, he was tough when he needed 
to be, but he was also kind, warm and generous, inspiring affection and 
loyalty as well as respect. Don Luis was a gentleman through and 
through. He was ``old school'' in the best sense of the term.
  Few, if any, Puerto Ricans have accomplished as much in their lives 
as Don Luis or have left behind such a lasting legacy. A proud 
Republican and founder of the local New Progressive Party, Ferre did 
not live to see his goal of statehood for Puerto Rico realized, but he 
encouraged and mentored a new generation of leaders who understand that 
Puerto Rico's ``colonial status,'' as Don Luis called it, deprives 
island residents of political and civil rights, hinders their economic 
progress and harms their quality of life. As I and other pro-statehood 
advocates work to perfect Puerto Rico's union with the U.S., we are 
guided by Don Luis' example and draw strength from his memory.
  Ferre once described himself as revolutionary in his ideas, liberal 
in his objectives, and conservative in his methods. Thanks to Don Luis 
and others, statehood is no longer a revolutionary idea. It has become 
the predominant force in Puerto Rico politics while support for the 
status quo continues to decline and support for separate nationhood 
remains slight.
  Last November, a clear majority of voters in Puerto Rico rejected 
territory status, and more voters expressed a preference for statehood 
than for any other status option. I wish Don Luis had been alive to 
witness this historic event. When Puerto Rico does become a state, as I 
know it will, we will look back upon Luis Ferre's life and say that 
this man, as much as any other man, was responsible for this crowning 
achievement.

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