[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    TRIBUTE TO THE DEL VALLE FAMILY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2000

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the ``The Puerto 
Rican Family of the Millennium,'' the Del Valle Family. Telesforo del 
Valle, Sr., Rafaela Leon del Valle and Telesforo del Valle, Jr., were 
honored on Wednesday, June 7 by the National Puerto Rican Day Parade of 
New York, GALOS Corp. of New York and Puerto Rico and Manhattan Valley 
Senior Center.
  Telesforo del Valle, Sr., was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, in 
1908. He moved to Brooklyn before moving to ``El Barrio'' in Manhattan. 
He was a guitarist and a composer and in 1932 he became a member of a 
musical group called ``Trio del Valle''. In 1941, while studying law, 
he joined the National Guard and Civil Defense. In 1945 he made history 
as the first Puerto Rican elected Councilman at Large in the City of 
New York. He was also the first Hispanic candidate to form his own 
political party. In 1948 he became the first Hispanic from New York to 
run for the United States Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1958 Telesforo, Sr., and his wife Rafaela Leon del 
Valle, who was born in the town of Guarbo, Puerto Rico, formed an 
organization known as ``Loyal Citizens Congress of America, Inc.''. 
They established offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. They 
organized the first military troop of Hispanic cadets in New York and 
New Jersey to prevent and combat juvenile delinquency. A major goal of 
the organization was to provide guidance to workers and to intervene in 
labor disputes.
  Loyal Citizens Congress of America had over a thousand members who 
were knowledgeable on the political and electoral systems. With their 
support, Telesforo, Sr., was appointed by New York Governor Nelson 
Rockefeller to be his campaign director in the Hispanic communities of 
New York State. Rockefeller won the Latino vote by 85 percent. It was 
the first time the Republican Party ever won in East Harlem.
  In 1985, Mr. And Mrs. Del Valle were recognized with the ``Valores 
Humanos'' award. Mrs. Del Valle was honored by the newspaper ``El 
Diario'' of New York as the most prominent feminist in the State of New 
York. Their son, Telesforo del Valle, Jr., Esquire, is a criminalist 
who has followed in their footsteps and whose career and achievements 
are great sources of pride for them.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the 
``The Puerto Rican Family of the Millennium,'' the Del Valle Family.

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