[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DANIEL HILARIO BARAJAS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ALAN GRAYSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2014

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Hispanic Heritage 
Month, to recognize Daniel Hilario Barajas for his service to Florida's 
Ninth Congressional District. Daniel Hilario Barajas was born on May 4, 
1982 in Winter Haven, Florida, into a migrant farm worker family. He 
grew up working the orange groves of Florida, tobacco fields of North 
Carolina, and apple orchards of Michigan.
  As a young man, Daniel had legal problems due to misguided 
affiliations with gangs. Though he did not complete high school, he 
earned his GED in 2001. In 2009, he decided to walk away from gang life 
and founded the ``Library of Hope,'' a charitable organization focused 
on collecting books and eyeglasses to donate to inmates in Polk County. 
Daniel is also a Fourth Degree member of The Knights of Columbus, which 
he joined in 2010.
  After the passing of his younger sister, Maria Isabel, in June 2012, 
Daniel began taking a more active role within the leadership of The 
Young American Dreamers (YAD) which his sister founded in 2010. Daniel 
uses his own personal story of his struggles as a farm worker and 
former gang member, as examples when speaking with at-risk kids. 
Through his leadership as the Executive Director of YAD, Daniel has set 
educational standards for all members and set up an in-house tutoring 
program. He travels often from Polk County to Tallahassee and 
Washington, DC, advocating for the issues that affect his community and 
YAD members.
  Daniel has successfully helped stop the deportation of the father of 
four YAD members and is a respected local leader of the immigration 
reform movement. He challenged Polk County's Board of County 
Commissioners to build a new sidewalk between Auburndale and Lakeland, 
after two students were fatally hit due to the lack of a walkway 
outside the newly built Tenoroc High School. On August 8th, 2014, 
construction work began on this much needed sidewalk. Currently, Daniel 
is working on the passage of legislation that will designate Lake Shipp 
Drive in Winter Haven as a memorial highway in remembrance of his 
beloved sister, Maria Isabel.
  Daniel credits his father, Hilario, and his mother, Maria, both of 
whom are veterans of the social justice movement, having worked with 
Cesar Chavez himself, with guiding him. Daniel also attributes his life 
changes to his sister, Maria Isabel, and is grateful to her husband, 
Enrique Martinez, for helping him in all that he does. Daniel looks to 
his children, Mayra and Carlos, as the motivation for his social 
justice work. He intends to show his children how democracy works, so 
that they are left with a better world when they become tomorrow's 
leaders.
  I am happy to recognize Daniel Hilario Barajas, during Hispanic 
Heritage Month, for his perseverance and commitment to helping the 
Central Florida community.

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