[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 53 (Monday, March 24, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1213-H1214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
                 IN MEMORY OF CONGRESSMAN RAUL GRIJALVA

  (Mr. STANTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today alongside his colleagues in 
the Arizona delegation, alongside members of the Congressional Hispanic 
Caucus, alongside members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and 
so many others, to mourn the loss of a political and social justice 
giant, Congressman Raul Grijalva.
  Raul's story is the American Dream. He was the proud son of a bracero 
cowboy from Mexico who went on to become the president of the Tucson 
Unified School District Governing Board, chairman of the Pima County 
Board of Supervisors, an 11-term Member of the United States Congress, 
and the dean of the Arizona delegation.
  His accomplishments in this body are too numerous to list. We would 
be here all night, but it is his legacy of fighting for environmental 
causes that stands out. As chairman of the House Natural Resources 
Committee, Raul led the charge to protect America's public lands, 
including and especially the Grand Canyon, to protect our most precious 
resources, including our water, and he stood up firm for Tribal 
sovereignty.
  He has been a mainstay in these Capitol hallways for more than two 
decades, but he remained an activist at heart. He never forgot where he 
came from or the people who got him to where he was.
  Raul brought the lessons he learned as a Chicano activist in Tucson 
in the 1970s to Washington where he led the Progressive Caucus for more 
than a decade, leading the charge for immigrants and working people.
  He spoke truth to power, but in his quiet way and always with good 
humor. Perhaps Raul's greatest legacy is the generation of Latino 
leaders that he mentored, many of whom stand inside this body and many 
more that fill city halls, county seats, and school boards back home in 
Tucson. As Raul would say: ``It is all about the love.''
  He spent more than a half-century working on behalf of southern 
Arizona until the very end. We offer our deepest condolences to his 
wife, Ramona, his three daughters, and the community of Tucson who will 
dearly miss him. Rest now, my friend.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Gosar), my colleague.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, it is no mystery that Raul and I never saw 
eye to eye on pretty much anything, but it actually benefits this whole 
group because it is about the debate. We can come with our ideas to the 
floor and we can debate each other, and that is the way it should be.
  If you had your idea yourself, Raul would make it so it was important 
to

[[Page H1214]]

you to fight for it. He always was very principled. His humor was 
unwitting. He laughed and I chuckled when he laughed.
  He emulated all of us and what we can do in this body. There are good 
ideas, there are bad ideas, and that is why we have to have this 
debate.
  God bless Raul and his family.
  Remember him in your hearts and say a prayer.
  Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Gosar for those kind 
words. When you and he disagreed, Raul was normally right.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues at this moment to join me in 
a moment of silence for our departed colleague.
  The SPEAKER. The Chair now asks all those present in the Chamber, as 
well as Members and staff throughout the Capitol, to please rise for a 
moment of silence in remembrance of the late Honorable Raul Grijalva of 
Arizona.

                          ____________________