[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16602]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JENNI RIVERA

  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, before I begin today, I know there are 
millions of people around the world and in this country who are 
mourning the loss of a singer by the name of Jenni Rivera, who was a 
huge star, particularly in Latin America but also in the United States. 
She died yesterday evening in a plane crash in northern Mexico.
  Jenni was a real American success story. She was born in California 
to immigrants from Mexico. She started working at her father's small 
record label in Long Beach, CA, and she recorded from there. She made a 
number of top hits that made all the charts around the world. She was 
recently in Florida to receive a Billboard Music Award and performed at 
the Billboard Music Awards. We saw that on TV. My mom was a huge fan of 
hers--and also kind of the equivalent of ``The Voice'' in Mexico on the 
Telemundo network. She passed away last night.
  Her calling card was she was a singer in a genre of music that is 
largely dominated by males. Yet she brought a powerful voice to that 
genre where she sang frankly about her struggles to give her children a 
better life in this country. Her death at a young age is a real 
tragedy. I know there are millions of people across the country and 
around the world mourning her loss today. She is survived by her five 
children and two grandchildren.
  Our prayers go out for her that God may grant her family the peace to 
deal with this difficult circumstance.

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