[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 186 (Thursday, November 9, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5665-H5666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING VETERAN AND COMMUNITY LEADER PHILIP AYALA, SR.

  (Mr. GARCIA of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, as we approach Veterans Day, I 
rise to honor the memory of Philip Ayala, Sr., who passed away just 
over a year ago.
  Phil, as his family and friends called him, was a beloved neighbor in 
Berwyn, Illinois.
  When he was just 17 years old, Phil enlisted in the U.S. Army and 
honorably served our country in Vietnam.
  Phil kept our community safe as a Cook County deputy sheriff and 
fought to make the police force more diverse through his work with 
Congressman Ralph Metcalfe and the Concerned Citizens for Police 
Reform.

[[Page H5666]]

  Phil cofounded El Centro de la Causa, an agency that worked with 
Mexican-American youth and the Spanish-speaking population in the 
1970s.
  In his three decades at El Centro, Phil provided support and built 
the infrastructure that led to the founding of so many other 
organizations in the community.
  For Phil, the ultimate goal was to give back to the community. 
Whether it was meeting with President Carter at the White House 
alongside Latino leaders or serving as a member of the U.S. Commission 
on Civil Rights or through his work in our neighborhoods, Phil 
fulfilled the goal with every fiber in his being.

  Madam Speaker, I thank Phil for his service. May he rest in peace.

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