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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 477 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 477

    Honoring the accomplishments and legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 12, 2010

  Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Reid, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
    Boxer, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
 Bingaman, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. Wyden) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
    Honoring the accomplishments and legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez.

Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez spent his early years on a family farm;
Whereas, at the age of 10, Cesar Estrada Chavez joined the thousands of migrant 
        farmworkers laboring in fields and vineyards throughout the Southwest, 
        when a bank foreclosure resulted in the loss of the family farm;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez, after attending more than 30 elementary and middle 
        schools and achieving an 8th grade education, left school to work full-
        time as a farmworker to help support his family;
Whereas, at the age of 17, Cesar Estrada Chavez entered the United States Navy 
        and served the United States with distinction for 2 years;
Whereas, in 1948, Cesar Estrada Chavez returned from military service to marry 
        Helen Fabela, whom he had met while working in the vineyards of central 
        California;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez and Helen Fabela had 8 children;
Whereas, as early as 1949, Cesar Estrada Chavez was committed to organizing 
        farmworkers to campaign for--

    (1) safe and fair working conditions;

    (2) reasonable wages;

    (3) livable housing; and

    (4) the outlawing of child labor;

Whereas, in 1952, Cesar Estrada Chavez joined the Community Service 
        Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights group, and worked with the 
        organization--

    (1) to coordinate voter registration drives; and

    (2) to conduct campaigns against discrimination in East Los Angeles;

Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez served as the national director of the Community 
        Service Organization;
Whereas, in 1962, Cesar Estrada Chavez left the Community Service Organization 
        to found the National Farm Workers Association, which eventually became 
        the United Farm Workers of America;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez was a strong believer in the principles of 
        nonviolence practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez effectively used peaceful tactics that included 
        fasting for 25 days in 1968, 25 days in 1972, and 38 days in 1988, to 
        call attention to the terrible working and living conditions of 
        farmworkers in the United States;
Whereas under the leadership of Cesar Estrada Chavez, the United Farm Workers of 
        America organized thousands of migrant farmworkers to fight for--

    (1) fair wages;

    (2) health care coverage;

    (3) pension benefits;

    (4) livable housing; and

    (5) respect;

Whereas, through his commitment to nonviolence, Cesar Estrada Chavez--

    (1) brought dignity and respect to the organized farmworkers; and

    (2) became an inspiration and a resource to individuals engaged in 
human rights struggles throughout the world;

Whereas the influence of Cesar Estrada Chavez extends far beyond agriculture and 
        provides inspiration for those working--

    (1) to better human rights;

    (2) to empower workers; and

    (3) to advance the American Dream that includes all inhabitants of the 
United States;

Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez died on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66 in San 
        Luis, Arizona, only miles from his birthplace;
Whereas more than 50,000 people attended the funeral services of Cesar Estrada 
        Chavez in Delano, California;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez was laid to rest at the headquarters of the United 
        Farm Workers of America, known as Nuestra Senora de La Paz, located in 
        the Tehachapi Mountains at Keene, California;
Whereas since the death of Cesar Estrada Chavez, schools, parks, streets, 
        libraries, and other public facilities, as well as awards and 
        scholarships, have been named in his honor;
Whereas since the death of Cesar Estrada Chavez, 10 States and dozens of 
        communities across the United States honor the life and legacy of Cesar 
        Estrada Chavez on March 31 of each year;
Whereas Cesar Estrada Chavez was a recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. 
        Peace Prize during his lifetime;
Whereas, on August 8, 1994, Cesar Estrada Chavez was posthumously awarded the 
        Presidential Medal of Freedom; and
Whereas the United States should continue efforts to ensure equality, justice, 
        and dignity for all people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the accomplishments and example of Cesar 
        Estrada Chavez, a great hero of the United States;
            (2) pledges to promote the legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez; 
        and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to 
        commemorate the legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez and to always 
        remember his great rallying cry, ``Si, se puede!''.
                                 <all>
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