[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20937-20938]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 IN RECOGNITION OF FERNANDO VALENZUELA

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very pleased to take a few 
moments to recognize the many important accomplishments of Fernando 
Valenzuela,

[[Page 20938]]

former pitcher, current radio broadcast announcer and long time member 
of the Los Angeles Dodgers family.
  Fernando Valenzuela has been an amazing asset to the Los Angeles 
community. He has enriched the lives of many young children through 
their participation in the Amigos de Fernando children's program--an 
innerci-
ty youth program he founded that is designed to reward underprivileged 
children for their positive and active involvement in community sports 
teams.
  For the third consecutive Major League Baseball season, the Amigos de 
Fernando children's program, with support from the Los Angeles Dodgers, 
has continued to assist local children's groups. Through their efforts, 
inner-city children's groups receive assistance in continuing to guide 
and positively influence the children they service. The Amigos de 
Fernando children's program has provided nearly 1,000 young people of 
the City of Los Angeles with new and positive experiences that would 
have otherwise been unavailable to them.
  Fernando Valenzuela began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 
1979. Since his rookie year in Major League Baseball, he has reached 
many notable accomplishments including honors as Rookie of the Year in 
1981 and the highly coveted Cy Young Award--presented to each league's 
most outstanding pitcher--also in 1981. In addition to his many 
personal accomplishments, Fernando also played a significant role in 
achieving many team distinctions and championships, including the 
National League Pennant and World Series Championships for the 1981 and 
1988 seasons. After a brief absence from the Los Angeles area, Fernando 
rejoined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2003 as a member of 
the Spanish-Language radio commentator team, providing his expertise 
and views to countless fans.
  I invite all of my colleagues to join me and the children of the City 
of Los Angeles in commending Fernando Valenzuela for his great 
leadership and service to the community through the Amigos de Fernando. 
His efforts are truly worthy of this recognition.

                          ____________________