Recognizing the leadership and historical contributions of Dr. Hector Garcia to the Hispanic community and his remarkable efforts to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States of America.

Thank you, Chairman Conyers, for giving a beautiful description of my good friend Dr. Garcia, and thank you for bringing this to the floor.

I also want to thank my good friend from Texas (Mr. Smith) for bringing this resolution to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor an American hero who is very well respected in the community. Today, we honor the life and work of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, who is a recognized leader of better health care for all Texans and who is a legendary civil rights advocate and promoter of education for Hispanics.

My resolution, H. Con. Res. 222, honors a lifetime of the extraordinary achievements of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, who lived and worked in my congressional district in Corpus Christi, Texas, for many years.

Dr. Garcia's family emigrated from Mexico in 1914 and settled in Mercedes, Texas. After graduating from medical school, he served with great distinction in World War II. He attained the rank of major and earned the Bronze Star with six battle stars. When the Army learned that Dr. Garcia was a physician, he was asked to practice his profession by treating his fellow soldiers.

When he moved to Corpus Christi, he opened a private practice where he treated all patients regardless of their ability to pay. I was there many times when people just didn't have any money. He was able to give them what they needed free of charge. He was a very honorable man, and he turned down profit to make a better life for all of us, not only in south Texas but throughout the United States.

Dr. Garcia first became known in south Texas for his public health messages on the radio. He was on the air three times a week with a Spanish program, ``Your Health and Welfare.'' During this time, he struggled to bring attention to severe illnesses such as tuberculosis, which enabled the public to become better educated about its health needs. His messages brought to light the many health issues of the region and the glaring poverty in south Texas.

A man of tremendous talents, Dr. Garcia prized education and fought for other Americans to also value education. In the 1940s, he struggled to abolish the one-room segregated ``Mexican schools'' that one would find across the Texas landscape. As a result of this example of leadership, Texas schools in Corpus Christi were eventually desegregated, substandard schools for children of Mexican and Latino descent were closed, and students who previously did not have access to adequate education were given the same opportunities available to others. Because of these efforts, four schools are named after him in Texas and one in Chicago, Illinois.

Perhaps most significantly, he emerged as founder of the GI Forum, a Mexican American veterans association to redress the injustices experienced by returning World War II veterans. The GI Forum initiated countless efforts on behalf of Americans in the areas of health care and veterans benefits, and now have more than 160,000 members in 500 chapters in 24 States and Puerto Rico. His civil rights movements would then grow to combat discrimination in housing, in education, and in voting rights.

In recognition of these achievements, President John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Garcia a member of the American Treaty Delegation for the Mutual Defense Agreement between the United States and the Federation of the West Indies. As President Kennedy once said in another context, ``In each of us, there is a private hope and dream which, when fulfilled, can be translated into benefits for everyone.'' Dr. Garcia understood this uplifting concept as he fought discrimination against the voiceless, for which we should all be proud of.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Dr. Garcia as alternate ambassador to the United Nations, where he gave the first speech by an American before the United Nations in a language other than English. Dr. Garcia spoke Spanish to a captivated audience.

President Reagan presented Dr. Garcia the Nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1994 for his tremendous service to this country, the first Mexican American to receive that distinction.

Americans should do all they can to learn about Dr. Garcia. He dedicated his life to the less fortunate, and will always be remembered for giving so much of himself for this country and for all of us.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 222) recognizing the leadership and historical contributions of Dr. Hector Garcia to the Hispanic community and his remarkable efforts to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States of America.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on the resolution under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this resolution was brought to the Judiciary Committee's attention by our friend Solomon Ortiz of Texas, which recognizes the leadership and historical contributions of Dr. Hector Garcia to the Hispanic community and to the Nation in his remarkable efforts to combat racial and ethnic discrimination. Dr. Garcia was born in Mexico, and his family settled in Mercedes, Texas. So this concurrent resolution recognizes the leadership and historical contributions of this great American.

It is singularly important to me that he graduated from a segregated high school in Texas. Segregated how? Well, it was segregated because Hispanics could not go to the schools that everybody else went to. Of course, African Americans couldn't either, so I guess they had two levels of segregation. Eventually, he got through the University of Texas, and then became a doctor. During World War II, he was a combat engineer, which is a field of the military that I, too, served in. The rest, as they say, is history.

It is my intention to yield to our colleague Mr. Ortiz, who has more detail that we can add to this, though, Madam Speaker, at this moment, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas, Solomon Ortiz, whom we recognize as the dean of the Hispanic Caucus and whom I thank for bringing to our attention this great Texan and American.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to Mr. Chet Edwards of Texas, a real leader on improving relations not just in Texas but across the country.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to proudly support H. Con. Res. 222 introduced in the House of Representatives by Mr. Ortiz. H. Con. Res. 222 recognizes the leadership and lifelong contributions of Dr. Hector Garcia to the Hispanic community and his remarkable work on important issues such as civil rights, health care, veteran benefits, the struggle for racial equality, and ethnic discrimination in the United States of America.

Dr. Hector Garcia was born in the city of Llera in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on January 17, 1914. He is the son of two schoolteachers who legally immigrated to Mercedes, Texas, to escape from the violence of the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s. He graduated in 1940 from the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and in 1942 volunteered for combat in the Army during World War II. In 1946, after the war, he and his family returned to Texas and settled in Corpus Christi, where he became the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). While in Corpus Christi, Dr. Garcia opened a private practice to treat ill people regardless of their ability to afford health care and he founded the American GI Forum to address VA's discrimination and the right to equality of Hispanic American veterans. Dr. Garcia's strong advocacy and extraordinary work made him the recipient of national and international recognition, including the Nation's highest civilian award in 1984, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Equestrian Order of Pope Gregory the Great from Pope John Paul II in 1990.

Dr. Garcia's leadership, advocacy, work and commitment to Hispanic American civil rights equality, access to health care, and the fair treatment of the government's institutions to its citizens regardless of race and ethnicity constitute his legacy, and his invaluable contribution to the proud history of our great nation.

I commend the life and legacy of Dr. Hector Garcia and his contribution to the Hispanic community in the United States of America, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this important resolution.

Madam Speaker, let me begin by thanking the chairman for his kind comments and for his leadership for our country.

Madam Speaker, America is a better country today because of the life and service of Dr. Hector P. Garcia. And we will be a better country tomorrow if every school child hears his story. It is the story of an immigrant child who worked hard, became a physician, and dedicated his entire life to his family and service to country. It is a story that one person can make a difference. It is a story of the timeless values of hard work and service to others. It is the quintessential American story of love of country, expressed through a lifetime of service to others.

One of the greatest privileges of my lifetime was to know Dr. Hector Garcia. He left the world a better place, and his life story continues to inspire everyone who hears it. And it is my hope that every school child in America will hear his story, a true champion of our Nation's never-ending quest for equal opportunity for all.

As a child growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, Dr. Garcia's hometown, I lived on the same block. At the time, I did not know he was a World War II hero who earned a Bronze Star and the rank of major. I did not know this champion in the cause of American's Hispanic veterans. Yet as I grew older and learned of Dr. Garcia's heroic lifetime of service on the battlefields of war, in the halls of Congress, and in the offices of his medical practice, his life's story became an inspiration that led me to public service.

Had it not been for Dr. Hector, as we called him, I probably would not be in Congress today. For that I am personally grateful. But I am even more grateful for how he made a difference in our Nation's history. May God bless and forever keep in his loving arms Dr. Hector P. Garcia.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to thank my Texas colleague Mr. Ortiz for introducing this resolution. It reflects well on him and on a wonderful individual who has contributed so much.

I support House Concurrent Resolution 222, which recognizes the leadership and the historical contributions of Dr. Hector Garcia. My colleague in the other body, Senator Cornyn of Texas, sponsored a similar resolution during the last Congress, and I am glad to see that it is being considered in the House this year.

In 1914, Hector Garcia was born in Llera, which is a small town in Mexico. As a child, he was brought to Mercedes, Texas, after his parents fled the Mexican Revolution in 1917. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School in 1940 and used that education to serve his country in the United States Army.

In the Army, Dr. Garcia served during World War II as an infantryman, as a combat engineer, and as a medical doctor. He earned the Bronze Star medal with six battle stars for his distinguished service; but his public service did not end there. Dr. Garcia founded the American GI Forum in 1948, which fights for equal treatment of Mexican American veterans in medical care and educational benefits.

President Lyndon Johnson made Dr. Garcia the first Mexican American to serve as an ambassador to the United Nations. He also became the first Hispanic to serve on the United States Commission on Civil Rights; and in 1984, President Ronald Reagan bestowed upon Dr. Garcia the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.