IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 297 
Honoring the life and expressing the deepest condolences of Congress on 
the passing of Edward Roybal, former United States Congressman. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2005 
Mr. ORTIZ (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. STARK, Ms. ZOE 
LOFGREN of California, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. 
SALAZAR, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 
COSTA, Mr. BACA, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. 
REYES, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. 
DAVIS of California, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. FARR, Mr. WAXMAN, 
Ms. MATSUI, Ms. LEE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. MCDERMOTT, 
Ms. WATSON, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. MILLENDER- 
MCDONALD, Mr. SHERMAN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. DELAURO, 
Mr. HOLT, and Mr. DREIER) submitted the following concurrent resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Honoring the life and expressing the deepest condolences 
of Congress on the passing of Edward Roybal, former 
United States Congressman. 
Whereas Edward Roybal was born on February 10, 1916, in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved at the age of 6 
with his family to the Boyle Heights barrio of Los Ange-
les;
•HCON 297 IH 
Whereas his pioneering efforts in the Congress for civil rights 
and social justice on behalf of the elderly, Hispanics, and 
others has inspired generations of Americans; 
Whereas Edward Roybal attended public schools, graduating 
from Roosevelt High School in 1934, and continued his 
education at both the University of California in Los An-
geles, where he studied business administration, and at 
Southwestern University, where he studied law; 
Whereas Edward Roybal is a distinguished veteran who 
served in the United States Army during World War II; 
Whereas Edward Roybal worked as a public health educator 
for the California Tuberculosis Association, and eventu-
ally served as Director of Health Education for the Los 
Angeles County Tuberculosis and Health Association 
until 1949; 
Whereas Edward Roybal founded the Community Service Or-
ganization in 1947 with Fred Ross and a group of Mexi-
can Americans forging a partnership between the Mexi-
can-American and Jewish communities of East Los An-
geles, and as the President of the organization, fought 
against discrimination in housing, employment, voting 
rights, and education; 
Whereas Edward Roybal was elected to the Los Angeles City 
Council in 1949 and, as the first Hispanic to serve on the 
city council in more than a century, served for 13 years; 
Whereas on November 6, 1962, Edward Roybal became the 
first Hispanic elected from California to serve in the 
House of Representatives since 1879, and served for 30 
years;
•HCON 297 IH 
Whereas during his 3 decades of service in the House of Rep-
resentatives, Roybal worked to protect the rights of mi-
norities, the elderly, and the physically-challenged; 
Whereas during his tenure in the House of Representatives, 
Congressman Roybal served on several important con-
gressional committees, including the Committee on the 
Post Office and Civil Service, the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and as the 
Chair of the Select Committee on Aging; 
Whereas in 1971, Congressman Roybal was selected to serve 
on the exclusive Committee on Appropriations, where he 
remained for the rest of his tenure in the House of Rep-
resentatives and eventually chaired the Subcommittee on 
Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government in 
1981; 
Whereas, while serving as a member of the Committee on Ap-
propriations, Edward Roybal was a powerful advocate for 
the funding of education, civil rights, and health pro-
grams and was 1 of the first members of Congress to 
press for and obtain funding for HIV and AIDS re-
search; 
Whereas Congressman Roybal was committed to providing 
opportunities for Spanish-speaking Americans, helped es-
tablish a Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Span-
ish-speaking people in 1968 with the goal of improving 
education, housing, and employment opportunities for 
Spanish-speaking Americans, and authored the first edu-
cation bill to provide local school districts with assistance 
with special bilingual teaching programs; 
Whereas in 1976, the County of Los Angeles opened the Ed-
ward R. Roybal Clinic in East Los Angeles;
•HCON 297 IH 
Whereas in 1976, Congressman Roybal was 1 of the founding 
members and became the first chair of the Congressional 
Hispanic Caucus, a legislative service organization of the 
House of Representatives that today is comprised of 21 
Representatives; 
Whereas Congressman Roybal was instrumental in the estab-
lishment of several national nonprofit organizations dedi-
cated to advancing and promoting a new generation of 
Latino leaders, such as the Congressional Hispanic Cau-
cus Institute and the National Association of Latino 
Elected and Appointed Officials; and 
Whereas Congressman Roybal received numerous honors and 
awards, including two honorary doctor of law degrees 
from Pacific States University and from Claremont Grad-
uate School, as well as the prestigious Presidential Citi-
zens Medal of Honor from President William Jefferson 
Clinton: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the United States Congress honors the 
trail-blazing life and pioneering accomplishments of Con-
gressman Edward Roybal and expresses its condolences on 
his passing. 
Æ