III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 124 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. REID, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. AKAKA) 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; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez spent his early years on a 

family farm; 

Whereas, at the age of 10, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez 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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, after attending more than 

30 elementary and middle schools and achieving an 8th 

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•SRES 124 IS 

grade education, left school to work full-time as a farmworker to help support his family; 

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

United States Navy and served the United States with 

distinction for 2 years; 

Whereas, in 1948, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez returned from military service to marry Helen Fabela, whom he had met 

while working in the vineyards of central California; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez and Helen Fabela had 8 children; 

Whereas, as early as 1949, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was committed to organizing farmworkers to campaign for safe 

and fair working conditions, reasonable wages, livable 

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 with the organization— 

(1) to coordinate voter registration drives; and 

(2) to conduct campaigns against discrimination in 

East Los Angeles; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez served as the national director of the Community Service 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.; 

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Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez 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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, the 

United Farm Workers of America organized thousands of 

migrant farmworkers 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— 

(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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez 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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez 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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez in Delano, California; 

Whereas Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was laid to rest at the headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America, known 

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as Nuestra Sen ̃ora de La Paz, located in the Tehachapi 

Mountains at Keene, California; 

Whereas since the death of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, 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 Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez, 10 States 

and dozens of communities across the United States 

honor the life and legacy of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez on 

March 31 of each year; 

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

Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize during his lifetime; 

Whereas, on August 8, 1994, Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez was 

posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom; 

Whereas President Barack Obama honored the life of service 

of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez by proclaiming March 31, 2010, 

to be ‘‘Ce ́sar Cha ́vez Day’’; 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the accomplishments and exam3 ple of a great hero of the United States, Ce ́sar 

4 Estrada Cha ́vez; 

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

6 Estrada Cha ́vez; and 

7 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

8 to commemorate the legacy of Ce ́sar Estrada Cha ́vez 

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1 and to always remember his great rallying cry, in 

2 the English translation, ‘‘Yes, we can.’’. 

Æ 

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