[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17353-17354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING EMILIO NICOLAS, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CHARLES A. GONZALEZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 25, 2005

  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of the pioneers 
of Spanish-language television and a tireless advocate for Latinos 
throughout the United States, Mr. Emilio Nicolas, Sr. He was 
instrumental in establishing KWEX, Ch. 41 as San Antonio's Spanish-
language station and as the United States' first Spanish-language 
station. KWEX became the cornerstone of the network that would become 
Univision, and brought Spanish-language television to millions of 
Latinos. His life is a testament to the ethic of hard work and striving 
to reach seemingly impossible goals.
  Born in Frontera, Coahuila, Mexico in 1930, Emilio Nicolas, Sr. came 
to the United States to learn English and attend St. Mary's University 
in San Antonio, Texas. Graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor's in biology 
and chemistry and a minor in math, Mr. Nicolas then turned his 
considerable focus to earning a Master's at Trinity University in San 
Antonio in 1952 before going to work for the Southwest Foundation as a 
researcher on arteriosclerosis and the polio vaccine.
  In 1955, he left the field of science to enter the burgeoning world 
of television when he joined KCOR TV, America's first fulltime Spanish-
language station, as a producer and director of news. By day, he 
oversaw the news department, and by night, he produced the live 
programming the station beamed into the homes across San Antonio. I 
find this career change remarkable since television was just beginning 
to earn its now dominant role in our society and he encountered a world 
of naysayers who told him a Spanish language station could never be as 
profitable or viable as English stations. Mr. Nicolas proved both Wall 
Street and Madison Avenue wrong.
  In 1961, Emilio Nicolas, Sr. and his group of partners bought KCOR, 
renamed it KWEX, and used the station as one of the first building 
blocks of the Spanish International Network which was eventually sold 
and became Univision. As the station's president and general manager, 
Mr. Nicolas ensured that the station served the needs and interests of 
the local Mexican-American community. Through his leadership, he made 
Spanish-language broadcasting viable throughout the country by 
demonstrating it could be profitable. Mr. Nicolas took corporate 
responsibility seriously, using the broadcasting platform he built as a 
tool to champion the needs of the Hispanic community. His success in 
lobbying Congress in the 1960s to mandate that all television sets be 
equipped to receive both VHF and UHF signals, was an indispensable part 
of that effort.
  Mr. Nicolas, who became president of SICC, the station group for the 
network, provided a cultural venue to Latinos at a time when images of 
our community were scarce and often negative. The big three networks 
dominated the airwaves and the inclusion promised to minorities during 
the 1960's had yet to occur. So, if television can be said to be a 
mirror for our nation, then the reflection Latinos saw at that time was 
distorted and unrepresentative. Mr. Emilio Nicolas, Sr. changed all 
that with KWEX.
  Moreover, he served the community at large in a number of other ways. 
In 1975, Emilio Nicolas, Sr. started the Teleton Navideno, a televised 
drive to raise money for the less fortunate in San Antonio during the 
holidays, in which Archbishop Patrick Flores would eventually 
participate. He was Chairman of the National Association of Spanish 
Broadcasters and served on the boards of the University of the 
Incarnate Word, Southwest Foundation, the University of Texas College 
of Communications, the University of Texas Health

[[Page 17354]]

Science Center, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, 
and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. As should be obvious, Mr. 
Nicolas's considerable time and energy affected numerous facets of life 
for Latinos in our community and throughout the United States. 
Moreover, his efforts and influence were crucial in the amnesty 
legislation of 1986 which made United States citizenship a reality for 
hardworking people from all over the world.
  In this age of mass communication, some say if you can't see an event 
on television, it does not actually happen, so a pioneer like Mr. 
Emilio Nicolas, Sr. was crucial for Latinos. His years of service to 
the Latino community have changed our lot for the better and we owe him 
a debt of gratitude.

                          ____________________