[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 54 (Monday, April 11, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CELEBRATING CESAR CHAVEZ DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 11, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest 
appreciation for the life, legacy, and actions of the late 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.
  Cesar Chavez achieved unprecedented gains for farmworkers.
  His influence also exceeded to empowering the people to strive for 
their own rights.
  Numerous other social movements utilized his tactics in their own 
work.
  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 Cesar Chavez brought as a direct result of his unwavering 
commitment to farm workers' rights.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in celebrating Cesar Estrada Chavez's 
life and legacy.
  America is a better place because of Cesar Chavez.

                          ____________________