III 

★(Star Print)

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 92 

Honoring the accomplishments and legacy of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2009 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DURBIN, 

Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. BURRIS, Mr. REID, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BENNET, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. 

LAUTENBERG, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the accomplishments and legacy of Ce ́sar Estrada 

Cha ́vez. 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was born on March 31, 1927, 

near Yuma, Arizona, where he spent his early years on 

his family’s farm; 

Whereas at the age of 10, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez joined the 

thousands of migrant farm workers laboring in fields and 

vineyards throughout the Southwest, when his family lost 

their farm due to a bank foreclosure; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, after attending more than 

30 elementary and middle schools and achieving an 

eighth-grade education, left to work full-time as a farm 

worker to help support his family; 


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SRES 92 IS1S 

Whereas at the age of 17, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez entered the 

United States Navy and served the Nation with distinction for 2 years; 

Whereas in 1948, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez returned from military service to marry Helen Fabela, whom he met working in the vineyards of central California, and had 8 children; 

Whereas as early as 1949, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez committed 

himself to organizing farm workers to campaign for safe 

and fair working conditions, reasonable wages, decent 

housing, and the outlawing of child labor; 

Whereas in 1952, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez joined the Community Service Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights 

group, and worked to coordinate voter registration drives 

and conduct campaigns against discrimination in East 

Los Angeles, and later served as the national director of 

the organization; 

Whereas in 1962, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez left the Community 

Service Organization to found the National Farm Workers Association, which eventually became the United 

Farm Workers of America; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was a strong believer in the 

principles of nonviolence practiced by Mahatma Gandhi 

and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez effectively utilized peaceful 

tactics, such as fasting in 1968 for 25 days, in 1972 for 

25 days, and in 1988 for 38 days, to call attention to the 

terrible working and living conditions of farm workers in 

the United States; 

Whereas under the leadership of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, the 

United Farm Workers of America organized thousands of 


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SRES 92 IS1S 

migrant farm workers to fight for fair wages, health care 

coverage, pension benefits, livable housing, and respect; 

Whereas through his commitment to nonviolence, Ce ́sar 

Estrada Cha ́vez brought dignity and respect to the farm 

workers who organized themselves, and became an inspiration and a resource to other people in the United 

States and people engaged in human rights struggles 

throughout the world; 

Whereas the influence of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez extends far 

beyond agriculture and provides inspiration for those 

working to better human rights, to empower workers, and 

to advance an American Dream that includes all its inhabitants of the United States; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez died on April 23, 1993, in 

San Luis, Arizona, only miles from his birthplace of 66 

years earlier; 

Whereas more than 50,000 people attended the funeral services of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez in Delano, California, and 

he was laid to rest at the headquarters of the United 

Farm Workers of America, known as Nuestra Sen ̃ora de 

La Paz, located in the Tehachapi Mountains at Keene, 

California; 

Whereas since his death, schools, parks, streets, libraries, and 

other public facilities, and awards and scholarships have 

been named in honor of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez; 

Whereas since his death, 10 States and dozens of communities across the Nation honor the life and legacy of 

Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez on March 31 of each year, the day 

of his birth; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was a recipient of the Martin 

Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize during his lifetime, and 


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after his death was awarded the Presidential Medal of 

Freedom on August 8, 1994; and 

Whereas the United States should not cease its efforts to ensure equality, justice, and dignity for all people in the 

United States: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the accomplishments and exam3 ple of a great American hero, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez; 

4 (2) pledges to promote the legacy of Ce ́sar 

5 Estrada Cha ́vez; and 

6 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

7 to commemorate the legacy of Ce ́sar Estrada 

8 Cha ́vez, and to always remember his great rallying 

9 cry, ‘‘Sı ́, se puede!’’. 

Æ 


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