[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19106]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE KANSAS CITY HISPANIC NEWS ON THEIR TENTH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, during this Hispanic Heritage Month, I 
proudly rise today to pay tribute to Americans of Hispanic descent in 
my District. Joe and Ramona Arce, owners of Arce Communications, Inc., 
which publishes the Kansas City Hispanic News, are celebrating the 10th 
anniversary of the start of their local Hispanic publication. On 
September 16, 1996, the Arce family: Joe, Ramona, their daughters, Lisa 
and Rachel, along with the assistance of family friends, Jesus Ortiz 
and Kathleen Cruden, set out on their journey of providing informative 
local news on topics of interest for the growing Latino community in 
the Kansas City Metropolitan Area with their first ten page bilingual 
newsprint.
  Mr. Joe Arce--a product of Kansas City, Missouri's Westside 
neighborhood, a proud long-standing Mexican-American neighborhood--has 
a long history of civic involvement and long been known as an advocate 
of the Latino community, having served on the Boards of many local non-
profit organizations, such as the Guadalupe Centers, the Hispanic Media 
Association, and the Center for Management Assistance. He has also 
served on Advisory Boards, including with the Cabot Westside Clinic and 
Heart of America United Way. With over 25 years of news experience, 
both as a cameraman and reporter at WDAF-TV Channel 4, Joe and his 
family envisioned the formation of a new vehicle by which they could 
``transmit'' the stories of local people as opposed to those carried in 
the mainstream metropolitan papers. I am proud of the Arce family's 
accomplishment, by reaching their goal of providing in-depth stories to 
the readership of the Greater Kansas City Area. The Kansas City 
Hispanic News has emerged as an important link between the local Latino 
community and the general public. Joe and Ramona Arce have demonstrated 
how a passion to obtain newsworthy information and a motivation to 
distribute valuable information can improve a community.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues in the 109th Congress 
please join me in saluting the Arce Family and the Kansas City Hispanic 
News for their years of dedicated service to the Greater Kansas City 
Metropolitan Area. Joe and Ramona, thank you for all your hard work in 
providing a quality newspaper for our community and congratulations on 
your 10th anniversary.