Recognizes the accomplishments and example of Cesar Estrada Chavez, pledges to promote his legacy, and encourages the people of the United States to commemorate his legacy and to always remember his rallying cry, "Si, se puede!" ("Si, se puede!" is Spanish for "Yes, we can!")
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 86 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 86
Honoring the accomplishments and legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 21, 2013
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Heinrich, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Stabenow, and
Mr. Udall of New Mexico) 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
farm workers laboring in fields and vineyards throughout the Southwest
after 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 eighth grade education, left school to work
full-time as a farm worker 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 farm
workers to campaign for safe and fair working conditions, reasonable
wages, livable housing, and 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 to coordinate voter registration drives and 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 farm
workers in the United States;
Whereas, under the leadership of Cesar Estrada Chavez, the United Farm Workers
of America organized thousands of migrant farm workers to fight for fair
wages, health care coverage, pension benefits, livable housing, and
respect;
Whereas, through his commitment to nonviolence, Cesar Estrada Chavez brought
dignity and respect to the organized farm workers and became an
inspiration to and a resource for 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 to better human rights, empower
workers, and advance the American Dream, which 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 in 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 10 States and dozens of communities across the United States honor the
life and legacy of Cesar Estrada Chavez on March 31st of each year;
Whereas, during his lifetime, Cesar Estrada Chavez was a recipient of the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize;
Whereas, on August 8, 1994, Cesar Estrada Chavez was posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom;
Whereas President Barack Obama honored the life of service of Cesar Estrada
Chavez by proclaiming March 31, 2012, to be ``Cesar Chavez Day'';
Whereas, on October 8, 2012, President Barack Obama authorized the Secretary of
the Interior to establish a Cesar Estrada Chavez National Monument in
Keene, California; and
Whereas the United States should continue the efforts of Cesar Estrada Chavez 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 a great
hero of the United States, Cesar Estrada Chavez;
(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, ``<up-sd-dn !>Si, se puede!'',
which is Spanish for ``Yes, we can!''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2162-2163)
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