[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 6271]]

     WELCOMING THE INLAND EMPIRE MARIACHI YOUTH GROUP TO WASHINGTON

  (Mr. BACA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, this week we celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It is a 
time to celebrate the tremendous courage and the bravery of Mexican 
Americans throughout our history.
  I wish to take this opportunity to invite many of the individuals 
today as we begin to celebrate Cinco de Mayo to a festivity that will 
be going on in this area. I currently have invited 28 students from the 
Inland Empire Mariachi Youth Education Foundation to perform Wednesday 
at the upper Senate park here in the Capitol. This is an opportunity to 
learn about cultural traditions and music and heritage. It is an 
opportunity for many of the individuals to see kids between the ages of 
6 to 17 that will be performing here in Washington. For these kids, 
this is the first time that they have come to Washington, D.C., the 
first time that they have flown. It is an opportunity to share in part 
of that heritage, part of the culture, part of the tradition, part of 
the enrichment, part of that motivation.
  I encourage my colleagues that are out there, Members who have an 
opportunity to attend, please come and watch these kids perform as we 
begin to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

                          ____________________