[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26009]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             EDWARD ROYBAL

  (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay my respects to Edward R. 
Roybal.
  Congressman Roybal was a true leader. He opened the doors for 
Hispanics and minorities in so many ways. He was the first Hispanic to 
serve on the City Council for the City of Los Angeles. He should have 
been the first to serve on the County Board of Supervisors.
  He went on to be elected to the Congress of the United States, where 
he distinguished himself as a courageous defender of minorities, senior 
citizens, and the poor. As the Chairman of the Select Committee on 
Aging, he defended Social Security and Medicare, both of which are now 
under attack. He also worked to expand access to health care and 
improve long-term care.
  He was a gentle man. He was a man of impeccable integrity. He was a 
man whose face reflected what he really cared about and who he really 
was. I will never forget those huge eyes and the way he looked at you. 
You knew you had to handle yourself a certain way in his presence. You 
had to handle yourself in a proper way. He was a very dignified man.
  I shall never forget how I felt each time I was in his presence; and 
a testament to who he was and what he cared about certainly is 
reflected here today in his daughter, Lucille Roybal-Allard.

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