[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              CESAR CHAVEZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Solis) for 2 minutes.
  Ms. SOLIS. I thank the Speaker and I am very privileged this morning 
to pay special tribute and honor to the legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez. 
Chavez dedicated his life to championing the rights of farm laborers 
and all working people and he did it through nonviolence. Recently I 
returned from a trip with the Speaker to India where I visited a 
memorial to Mahatma Gandhi and I recall that moment thinking about the 
nonviolence that was also expressed by Cesar Chavez in his movement to 
fight for dignity and respect for poor people, for people that were 
being oppressed.
  Like Gandhi, Chavez believed that nonviolence is one of the most 
powerful tools to achieve change, including social and economic 
justice. Chavez was a follower also of Martin Luther King, Jr. 
believing in the power of prayer and spirituality. I have been inspired 
by the works of Cesar Chavez and also by the cofounder of the United 
Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, and with that had introduced a resolution 
in this House to pay tribute to Dolores Huerta, one of the highest 
ranking members of the UFW. Yet until this day, we have not been able 
to bring that resolution up and I wonder why. And I ask the question--
why can't this House also pay tribute to a strong leader, a female, who 
represents the workers? Also with that in mind, I introduced 
legislation, the Cesar Estrada Chavez Study Act, H.R. 359, that did 
pass out of this House, that would for the first time authorize the 
Department of Interior to study public lands important to the life and 
history of Cesar Chavez through the National Park Service. Right now 
that bill has made its way out of the House and is over at the Senate. 
I would ask that the Senate Members there take action on the bill as 
soon as possible.
  We should be grateful and never forget the accomplishments and 
achievements of Cesar Chavez to improve civil rights for every single 
American and those individuals who work and toil in the fields. Let us 
not forget the fruits and vegetables that we receive on our table come 
from those very farm workers here who may not even today have the same 
protections that Cesar Chavez worked so hard for.

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