[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 16, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2823-H2824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MARCOS MUNOZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Garcia) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to honor my 
friend and activist Marcos Munoz, who lived a life of service and 
commitment to workers' rights.
  Marcos migrated to the United States from Coahuila, Mexico, when he 
was 13 years old. He was looking to make money to help his mother and 
his siblings after his father left them.
  He worked for a Texas rancher, who had him deported when Marcos asked 
for money he was owed after 5 months of backbreaking work.
  When Marcos returned to the U.S. in his twenties, the abuse he 
experienced turned him into an activist, fighting for basic labor 
rights for farmworkers.
  The late Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers, recognized 
Marcos' leadership skills and asked him to lead efforts across the 
United States on behalf of the United Farm Workers union.
  I met Marcos when he came to Chicago seeking support for the second 
grape boycott. I was a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago 
and learned a lot about labor organizing from him.
  Marcos later made Chicago his home, settling in our neighborhood of 
Little Village, where he organized block clubs to create unity and 
elect representatives from the community.
  He later became a steelworker, joined the United Steelworkers union, 
and spent his last years before retirement as manager of supplies and 
linen at Cook County Hospital.
  Marcos passed away on May 15. I was lucky to call Marcos a mentor and 
a

[[Page H2824]]

friend. My wife, Evelyn, and I are thinking about his family during 
these difficult times.
  May you be in glory, my brother.

                          ____________________