[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 104 (Thursday, June 20, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING RAUL PORTO SR.

 Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise today to celebrate the 
life of Raul Porto Sr., a loving husband, father, and grandfather and 
the name behind the beloved Southern California institution, Porto's 
Bakery.
  While today, Porto's is synonymous with southern California, Raul 
Porto Sr. was raised over 2,000 miles away in Cuba. But after Raul met 
and married the love of his life Rosa, hardship hit the Porto family. 
Rosa lost her job, and Raul was forced to work at a labor camp during 
the early years of Fidel Castro's rule. It was during that time that 
Rosa first began baking, making local Cuban favorites and selling them 
to support the family.
  But like so many others in Cuba at that time, they dreamed of a 
better life--a dream that often started on a long waiting list, but 
ended with a ``Freedom Flight'' that brought them to the United States.
  For the Portos in 1971, that meant packing up and flying west to make 
Los Angeles their home. Even in America, while Raul worked shifts as a 
janitor, Rosa continued to sell baked goods from their new home. Soon 
enough, after baking through late nights and even co-opting the kids' 
beds for extra counter space, their business grew enough to support 
their first official storefront property at a local strip mall in 1976, 
the first of what would become six shops across Southern California, 
with a seventh on the way.
  For anyone who has ever been lucky enough to have walked into 
Porto's, to have met Raul or Rosa, or to have tasted one of their 
famous potato balls or guava and cheese strudels, it is easy to see why 
they became so successful. In California, the Porto family didn't just 
bring an affordable slice of home to a growing Cuban American 
community. They expanded to both add to and reflect the diversity of 
the region, eventually serving fruit tarts, croquetas, tres leches, and 
more.
  Today, at any Porto's location, you will likely find a line out the 
door of customers eagerly waiting to pick up one the iconic pastry 
boxes that bear Rosa's face. You might find one of Raul and Rosa's 
three children--and now co-owners--Beatriz; Raul, Jr.; or Margarita 
working. And if you talk to any Californian lucky enough to have a 
Porto's nearby or the countless others thousands of miles away who 
order Porto's shipped across the country, they will tell you the same 
thing: to them, Porto's is home.
  On a personal note, Porto's has filled the tables of Padilla family 
gatherings for years. My wife Angela and I were even proud to celebrate 
our wedding with a cake from Porto's in April of 2012.
  Raul and Rosa's story is one of family, of struggle, and of 
perseverance. But most of all, it is a story of immigrants bold enough 
and brave enough to still chase the American dream. Because of it, 
Californians will always remember Raul Porto, Sr.
  Today, our hearts go out to his three children, his grandchildren, 
and the entire Porto family.

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