[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 184 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H5481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CHAMPION CINDY MONTANEZ

  (Ms. BARRAGAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember the life of an 
environmental justice champion, fighter for workers' rights, and former 
southern California assemblymember, Cynthia Montanez.
  Cindy's activism started at UCLA, where she participated in a 14-day 
hunger strike to help establish the Chicano Studies Department.
  At 25, she became the youngest councilmember of her hometown of San 
Fernando.
  At 27, she became mayor.
  At 28, she was the youngest woman elected to the State legislature.
  Cindy used her talents to create immediate change for our 
communities. As an assistant general manager of the L.A. Department of 
Water and Power, she helped transition the Nation's largest publicly 
owned utility to cleaner energy. As CEO of TreePeople, she transformed 
the organization into the fastest-growing environmental nonprofit in 
southern California.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Cindy for her tireless advocacy for Latino 
communities in California. She is gone way too soon. Rest in power.

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