[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING NEZAHUALCOYOTL XIUHTECUTLI FOR HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2022

  Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli was born in 
Mexico City. He immigrated to the United States when he was 13 and 
lived in South Carolina during his early years in the states. He 
dropped out of school after two years of college to work for a living. 
He returned to school after four years of doing different kinds of 
jobs, including working as a stocker, a waiter, and working for a small 
bilingual newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.
  He moved to Charleston in 1997 and by working and studying at the 
same time, he was able to finish college in 2003. Part of that time was 
spent working with his parents who were then starting a small Mexican 
bakery in Charlotte. He decided to pursue graduate education in 
anthropology and moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University in 
2004. There, he earned a Ph.D. in 2022.
  He then moved to Florida in 2011 and joined the staff of the 
Farmworker Association of Florida in 2016 as part of the research team. 
In that role, he has been advocating for better working conditions for 
farmworkers in Central Florida and raising awareness about the short 
and long-term effects of heat-related illness.
  In late 2020, he became the general coordinator of the association. 
In that role, he has worked to establish relationships with schools in 
Kissimmee to offer students the opportunity to participate in the 
organization's agroecology program.
  Earlier this year, he met with U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel Levine, and 
myself, to speak about the concerns of Central Florida farmworkers and 
other rural and low-income communities.

                          ____________________