[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4639]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MARKING CESAR CHAVEZ'S BIRTHDAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Green) for 2 minutes.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and colleagues.
  Today I rise to honor a hardworking labor leader, Cesar Chavez, who 
founded the United Farm Workers Union and dedicated his life to promote 
nonviolence through boycotts and strikes that would protect farm 
workers from the dangers of pesticides, low wages, and the denial of 
fair and free elections.
  I met Cesar Chavez in the 1970s when he came to organize farm workers 
in Texas. I was a young Texas State Representative and was inspired by 
his leadership then and as he inspires people today in this century.
  Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona. It 
was 10 years later in 1937 that like many other migrant families, his 
parents lost their farm and their home. This was a hardship that led 
them to join thousands of other migrant farmer workers to toil in the 
California fields.
  In 1944 Cesar Chavez enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served and 
fought for the United States in the Pacific during World War II. He 
later married Helen Fabela and fathered eight children. Although Cesar 
Chavez was not able to complete high school because his family required 
his helping hands in the California fields, he not only endured the 
hardships of migrant working conditions but experienced the injustices 
that he later made into a personal crusade for the migrant farm 
workers.
  His personal struggles as a migrant farm worker led him to find a 
nonviolent way to help Hispanic farm workers. In the 1950s, Cesar 
quietly began to study and work for the better working conditions of 
migrant workers. His persistent struggle to help Hispanics led him to 
organize the National Farm Worker group in Fresno, California. Cesar 
Chavez was one of the first Hispanic activists that begun what was a 
series of boycotts and strikes against California grape growers. Most 
notably, he called a boycott against Schenley Industries, a major 
California grape producer. His series of boycotts and strikes caused a 
national awareness that provoked the late Senate Robert F. Kennedy to 
criticize local officials after uncovering strike-breaking practices 
against farm workers. The National Farm Workers Union later reached a 
groundbreaking settlement with Schenley Industries that marked the 
first contract ever signed for farm workers in the United States.
   This was a monumental achievement that the United Farm Workers would 
not have been able to accomplish without the hard work and 
determination of this courageous individual.
   As the struggle to protect farm workers continued, Cesar Chavez even 
sacrificed his health several times by fasting. He saw his fight as a 
personal fight to end the terrible suffering of the farm workers and 
their children.
   Cesar Chavez worked tirelessly to improve the lives of America's 
farm workers by securing their rights to organize and bargain 
collectively for fair working conditions. Chavez showed us that 
together we can make a safe and prosperous America with a strong and 
vibrant economy--an America with good jobs and good pay. Fifteen years 
after his passing, his life's work and legacy continues to inspire 
millions.

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