[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23445-23446]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IN RECOGNITION OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in recognition of Hispanic Heritage 
Month.
  In 2004, the influence of Latinos in the United States is evident now 
more than ever.

[[Page 23446]]

This community has continued to be a strong thread in the fabric of our 
nation. Influential Latinos can be found contributing in many fields; 
they are doctors and lawyers, teachers and professors, police officers 
and fire fighters, scientists and engineers, mayors and of course, 
Members of Congress.
  As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to highlight their 
service to our Congress. The first Latino members of this chamber were 
non-voting delegates, one from the Territory of Florida, Joseph Marion 
Hernandez in 1822, and the other Jose Manuel Gallegos from the 
Territory of New Mexico in 1853. The first voting member was Romualdo 
Pacheco, from the great state of California, elected in 1877. Since 
then, many Latino Members of Congress, in both chambers, have served 
our nation. These members hail from a diverse group of states and 
territories, including Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, New York, 
Guam and Puerto Rico, to name a few. They have made significant 
contributions, like Senator Dennis Sanchez, from the state of New 
Mexico, who was the first to push for any kind of Civil Rights 
legislation in Congress. Most notable is the formation of the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus in 1976, founded by five Members of 
Congress, Reps. Edward Roybal (D-CA), Henry Gonzalez (D-TX), Herman 
Badillo (D-NY), Eligio de la Garza (D-TX), and Baltasar Corrada del Rio 
(NP-PR). Since then, the CHC has grown exponentially. In the 108th 
Congress, we have seen a record high of 23 Hispanic Members of 
Congress, 7 of them women.
  In my district, the 9th Congressional District of California, the 
contributions of Latino organizations is stronger than ever. For 
example, the Unity Council, under the remarkable leadership of Arabella 
Martinez, has spearheaded the construction of the Fruitvale Transit 
Village, which is a model for mass transit, affordable housing, and 
smart growth. The Unity Council also has programs for first-time home 
ownership, English classes, and subsidiaries that employ a couple of 
hundred people in the Fruitvale community. As Ms. Martinez retires this 
year, she hands over the reins of the Unity Council to Gilda Gonzales, 
a former member of the Oakland School Board, who has served as an aide 
to two Oakland mayors and to this Member, when I served in the 
California state legislature.
  Another example is Anew America, an organization founded five years 
ago and led by Syliva Rosales-Fike who has turned personal tragedy into 
triumph in the Bay Area. After having fled El Salvador after her 
husband was tortured and murdered, she helped to found Anew America. 
The non-profit organization takes ``new Americans,'' newly-arrived 
immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and helps them 
establish their small businesses. The organization teaches the new 
Americans about asset management, finance, and community involvement.
  And lastly La Clinica de la Raza, led by CEO Jane Garcia has programs 
focusing on prenatal care, family planning, parenting skills, and youth 
programs. They have school clinics in almost every Oakland school with 
satellite clinics across the Bay Area. They provide free and low-cost 
health care to thousands of people in the Bay Area. They are 
celebrating their recent move to their beautiful 40,000 square foot 
structure located in the Fruitvale Transit Village, which gives them 
ability to provide comprehensive primary care to all their patients.
  Individuals in my district are the motivating force behind 
organizations such as these and promote civic engagement among Latinos 
in the 9th Congressional District. People like Tulio Serrano, who came 
to this country under asylum, after his family was killed in civil war 
in El Salvador, and had to leave his homeland after several death 
threats. Through the Central American Refugee Committee, a humanitarian 
effort, he organizes people to vote, and links people from Oakland Area 
to people in El Salvador in order to promote education and health. 
There are also women like Tina Flores, who heads the Southwest Voter 
Registration project in Oakland. She is helping engage our community in 
this nation's democratic process. Others, like Ignacio De La Fuente, 
President of Oakland City Council, serve in elected office. A candidate 
for mayor of Oakland in 2006, Council President De La Fuente has been 
instrumental in lowering gang violence, restoring economic development 
in Fruitvale, and in securing funding for job resource centers for day 
workers.
  Latino members of the clergy are also helping in our community, 
including Father Antonio Valdivia, Pastor of St. Luis Bertrand Parish 
in Oakland. He is also a strong leader of Oakland Coalition of 
Congregations, Father Tony works to raise immigrant's awareness of 
community issues and encourages his parishioners to register and vote. 
Another leader is Father Marco Figueroa, Pastor of St. Elizabeth's 
Church, which puts on health education seminars, operates clinics and 
assists in the establishment of new organizations that are vital to the 
community.
  As a Representative from California, I cannot fail to mention the 
over 12 million Latinos that make California the state with most 
Latinos in the nation. As many experts speak of the Latino population 
boom that this country will see in the future, California has been 
prospering from its growth in the Latino community for many years now. 
While Latinos grow in population in the United States, they continue to 
be left behind when it comes to education, health care, jobs, and 
immigration. We must make sure that we do not leave our new fellow 
Americans behind. We must ensure that as the Latino population in 
America grows, we expand their access to a good education, proper 
health care, and equal access to the workforce.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like my colleagues to remember the 
contributions of Latinos to this nation during Hispanic Heritage Month 
and throughout the year, especially as they consider legislation that 
affect this great, diverse community which continues to make America 
the best it can be.

                          ____________________