Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this opportunity regarding the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act.

This bill improves the treatment and service provided by the Department of

Veterans Affairs to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorders and substance abuse disorders, and many other provisions.

This is a great opportunity for us to deal with the issue of post- traumatic stress and be able to get the research that is needed, and also provide the services that are needed for our veterans coming in from Afghanistan and Iraq.

We know that our Vietnam veterans suffered tremendously from this, and we were negligent in not providing the services at that time. But I know that they worked hard and lobbied us, making sure that we are there for the soldier that is coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, and also providing the services for those Vietnam veterans and those veterans from previous wars that are suffering tremendous heartaches and problems from this particular illness.

We know that this illness has created difficulties in terms of substance abuse. We know that a lot of them try to self-medicate in dealing with issues, and this will give us a better opportunity to do the necessary clinical work that will give us the insight that will help us to deal with those situations and help these soldiers as well as these veterans and their families.

Let me also take this opportunity, this bill also is a bill that incorporates H.R. 5664, a bill that I introduced to correct a bureaucratic oversight in the way that the Veterans Administration advises contractors constructing or renovating houses for disabled veterans. My bill seeks to ensure that the veterans whose homes were updated under this program benefit from all of the modern technology and construction practices that can be provided.

Today, veterans, particularly those from Iraq and Afghanistan, are sustaining injuries that in the past conflicts would have resulted in their death. The variety of these injuries require a fresh look at the way that the VA provides guidance to vets in using special adaptive housing grants. The primary guidance that the VA provides contractors who modify homes under this grant program is VA Pamphlet 26-13 titled ``Handbook For Design: Specially Adaptive Housing.'' This guide was last updated in 1978. This bill requires an update to that guide at least every 6 years.

I would like to thank once again Chairman Hall and Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer for their leadership and their work.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I stand here today in support of H.R. 6176, legislation to authorize the expansion of Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas. I would like to thank my good friends Chairman Grijalva and Chairman Rahall for their support of this legislation.

Fort Davis Historic Site is considered by many to be one of the most well preserved forts in the Southwest. This fort has historical and cultural importance to the communities of West Texas and it is our job to protect and preserve this piece of our Nation's history. In the 1800s the District I represent today was scattered with U.S. Army forts designed to protect travelers and settlers along the western trade routes from San Antonio to El Paso. The oldest and most preserved of these forts is Fort Davis, now a National Historic Site.

This legislation authorizes the National Park Service to acquire a prominent bluff on the western view shed of the site. It is the desire of the community of Fort Davis and the surrounding region that the Fort Davis Historic Site acquire the prominent bluff so that landscape of the Fort Davis Historic Site can remain the same as it was in the 19th century.

Fortunately a strong community movement led to the purchase of the land by a conservationist, who, in conjunction with the Conservation Fund, hopes to sell or donate the land to the National Park Service.

The bluff that the legislation aims to protect is vital to the experience of the visitors to the Fort Davis National Historic Site as well as the surrounding community of Fort Davis. It is my hope that this legislation will provide protection for this important historic site and will allow the park to continue to serve as an example of a typical western military fort from the 1800s.

Thank you for bringing this piece of legislation to the House floor for the communities of West Texas. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 6176, legislation to protect Fort Davis and this important piece of West Texas history.

It is with great pleasure that I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1527, the Rural Veterans Access to Care Act. This bipartisan legislation, which I have cosponsored, is something that the veterans of my district have been seeking for some time.

This bill is in no way an indictment of the services of the VA facilities. Rather, it acknowledges that even health care networks as far-reaching as the VA can meet the needs of our veterans. This bill will provide the rural veterans from the western rural portions of my district the ability to seek health care in their communities rather than having to travel hundreds of miles to El Paso and sometimes even Albuquerque, although, as a pilot program, I am confident that the merits of bringing care closer to the veterans will prove to be revolutionary in the way that this Nation cares for its servicemembers and will be adopted nationwide.

I am pleased with the definition in the bill of ``highly rural veterans'' as one who resides in a location that is more than 60 miles driving distance from the nearest Department health care facilities providing primary care services, more than 120 miles for acute hospital care, and more than 240 miles for tertiary care.

Many of the veterans who reside in the 20 counties that I represent fall into this category. The Audie Murphy Hospital in San Antonio and the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio serve a large portion of my district's veteran community. About 600 miles to the northwest to the opposite end of my district is the El Paso VA Clinic and the William Beaumont Army Medical Center that serves a portion of the western part of Texas.

They provide quality health care for our veterans. However, neither the

Audie Murphy VA, nor the El Paso VA Clinic, are within my district. As a matter of fact, my district has no VA facilities at all, and it's one of the largest in the Nation. It spans 785 miles to the Mexican border, 650 miles straight from San Antonio to El Paso. Needless to say, extending current services into these areas are essential. This bill will allow that opportunity to make it happen.

I want to thank Chairman Bob Filner, and I seriously mean this sincerely. I spent 8 years on this committee and we have been trying to get these types of pieces of legislation out. I want to thank him for his leadership and allowing us to be able to make this happen.

So I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 1527, to allow rural American veterans to be able to have access to health care in this country. Thank you very much.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this opportunity to speak regarding S. 2617. Thank you, Chairman Filner, for your leadership, and also Chairman Hall, the ranking minority member, Mr. Buyer, and Mr. Moran. Thank you very much.

As a sponsor of H.R. 5826, the House version of this important piece of legislation, I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to be here today. The House unanimously passed this bill on the 21st of May earlier this year.

We are all keenly aware of the burden our current economy places upon American families and the situation that we find ourselves in now with the economy. These same difficulties are magnified with our veterans and their families who rely on disability compensation provided through the Senate bill, S. 2617, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008. It seeks to address these challenges by increasing the compensation rates in line with the Consumer Price Index for the Social Security COLA.

We now have an opportunity to send a bill to the President that will have a direct impact on countless veterans, over 3 million, and also their survivors and families.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today during consideration of S. 2617, the companion bill to H.R. 5826. I ask for its support by the House.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this specific legislation.

Let me just indicate that the language that is on there regarding Project 112 efforts, those are studies that were supposedly conducted during the 1960s and 1970s on our own soldiers. There was a variety of studies that were conducted where, basically, we used nerve gas and other things with our own soldiers to see how they would react, and we have prioritized in terms of trying to provide the services and health care needs of these soldiers and to ID them. This allows extension of that language that is needed for us to continue to do the right thing when it comes to our veterans now that suffered under those studies.

Let me also say that this is a comprehensive piece of legislation that begins to fund a variety of different programs throughout the country, and including, Mr. Speaker, in your beloved area of Puerto Rico, which you know a large number of soldiers that served our country reside in and will have an opportunity to get extended health care needs there through the clinics.

In addition, I am proud to announce that we have four major polytrauma centers in this country, and the fifth one is located in San Antonio. This allows the opportunity for funding of that particular polytrauma center that will allow services to be extended to those soldiers coming both from Afghanistan and Iraq that are seriously injured.

So, once again, I want to take this opportunity to thank the leadership for their efforts, and I thank Mr. Filner for the dedicated work he has providing these resources to our veterans throughout the country.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and ranking member.

Let me take this opportunity, first of all, to congratulate the GI Forum on their extraordinary work. These are veterans that came after World War II and continue to give in their communities.

I speak today on behalf of a bill that I introduced, House Resolution 1291, expressing the gratitude for the contributions of the American GI Forum on its 60th anniversary. Some 60 years ago, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a U.S. Army major and veteran of World War II, established the American GI Forum in Corpus Christi, Texas, to address the concerns of the Mexican American veterans who were segregated from other veteran groups.

Dr. Garcia initially formed the group to request services for the World War II veterans of Mexican descent who were denied medical services by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The forum soon spread into nonveteran issues, such as voting rights issues, jury selection issues, and educational desegregation issues, advocating for civil rights of all Mexican Americans.

The GI Forum's first campaign was on behalf of Felix Longoria, a Mexican American private who had been killed in the Philippines in the line of duty. Upon the return of his body to Texas, he was denied burial services in Texas, and Dr. Garcia and the GI Forum were organized around this issue, requesting the involvement of then-Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, who secured Longoria's burial at the Arlington National Cemetery. This was a soldier whose body had been returned to Texas and was denied burial in a particular cemetery in south Texas.

The case brought the American GI Forum to the national attention and the charters were obtained throughout the country. A large number of GI Forum organizations were organized during that period, and continue to this day.

Ten years later, in 1998, Congress officially recognized the GI Forum with a charter. Its motto is ``Education is our Freedom and Freedom Should be Everybody's Business.'' The forum currently operates chapters throughout the United States, with a focus on veterans' issues, education, and civil rights. Its two largest national programs are the San Antonio-based Veterans Outreach Programs and the Dallas-based Service, Employment, Redevelopment-Jobs for progress.

I want to urge Members of Congress to join me in voting for the resolution and expressing the gratitude for the contributions of the GI Forum.

Let me just also indicate that the resolution that we drafted, at the end says, ``Whereas, the GI Forum continues to be a beacon of hope.'' These individuals continue to work with our veterans. They have a beautiful homeless project that reaches out to our veterans out there, and it's veterans working with veterans.

So it says, ``Now, therefore be it resolved that the House of Representatives recognizes the need for equal access to veterans benefits for all who have honored their service to, support the goals and ideals and deeds of the American GI Forum and its members, and commends the work of the American GI Forum on its 60th anniversary, and encourages others to join with the American GI Forum to ensure that veterans are never again denied the benefits that they rightfully deserve.''

So I will ask for your support.

Thank you. The intent, if you look at the final, ``Be it resolved that the House of Representatives recognizes the needs of equal access to veterans benefits for all who have honorably served and continues to support the goals and ideals.''

Now the whereases that are there, those are the founding principles as to why that group got together right after the war. We all know that there was discrimination. We know that people were denied. There were the Mexican schools and the all-white schools. There were places where you couldn't go eat in Texas either if you were a Mexican. So that existed.

So the language is there as a result of the foundation of this group that organized. When that body came back, as a soldier, he was denied burial. We have Mexican burial sites and white burial sites. Unfortunately, we still have them, in some cases. But the reality was that that is the reality of then. So the whereases talk about the time then where the discrimination existed.

Yes, there were other groups that were discriminated and other people that were denied. But this is not about African Americans, this is not about women. It's about the veterans that served at that point in time that came back and experienced that discrimination. That is why the organization was organized.

By the way, the group now does a beautiful job, and if anyone espouses and loves this country more, it is those veterans that are part of the GI Forum, and they are the ones that have a beautiful program for job training, they have some programs that deal with the homeless, and a variety of other types of programs.

Remember, we also had discrimination by the military itself. It was there. We can't deny that. It did discriminate, and in some cases it was pretty blatant. It was there.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the heroic feats and commendable military service of 11 U-2 pilots of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. Based out of Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, these men weathered great danger in flying critical surveillance missions over the Caribbean during the height of the Cold War.

On October 14, 1962, their efforts provided the first convincing evidence that Soviet medium range ballistic missiles were present in Cuba; and thanks to their courage, our country was able to recognize and navigate one of the greatest national security threats of the 20th century, the Cuban Missile Crisis. At great personal risk, the unit exposed some of the deepest and darkest secrets of our country's adversaries.

Named ``Operation Brass Knob'', this distinguished group of pilots ventured over Cuban airspace armed only with cameras. Declassified documents and the pilots' personal accounts reveal that each was engaged by the enemy; indeed, on the 27th U-2 flight over Cuba, and during the pinnacle of the crisis, Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down and killed by a strategic air missile. Nevertheless, the intelligence photographs these pilots compiled gave President Kennedy the information needed to initiate a naval blockade of Cuba and ultimately dissuade the Soviet Union.

On November 26, 1962, President Kennedy awarded the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing with the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Kennedy nobly remarked, ``The work of this unit has contributed as much to the security of the United States as any unit in our history, and any group of men in our history!''

While President Kennedy's decisionmaking during the Cuban Missile crisis is properly designated as lore, the 11 U-2 pilots have spent the past 45 years in relatively humble obscurity. Because of the sensitivity of their mission, most of these men were denied the public praise and recognition warranted by their mission.

And so today I applaud the Val Verde Historical Commission for its decision to honor these men by placing a commemorative historical marker in Del Rio, TX, on behalf of the 11 pilots of Operation Brass Knob: Majors Rudolf Anderson Jr., Buddy L. Brown, Edwin G. Emerling, Richard S. Heyser, James A. Qualls, and Captains George M. Bull, Roger H. Herman, Charles W. Kern, Gerald E. Mcllmoyle, Robert L. Primrose, and Daniel W. Schmarr. A ceremony will take place May 23, 2008, and five of the six surviving pilots will be in attendance.

As we approach Memorial Day, let us pause, reflect, and give thanks for the efforts of our men in uniform, both those whose efforts will be infamous and those whose service will be unheralded by the public at large. I am proud to represent the district from which the men of Operation Brass Knob staged their valiant flights, and I wish to congratulate them on their upcoming recognition.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to personally thank you for this piece of legislation.

I had the pleasure and the opportunity to serve 7 years in the area of mental health and work with heroin addicts, substance abusers and community mental health.

One of the things that I've realized is that a lot of people that do substance abuse as the result of having mental health problems as well as post-traumatic stress. During the Vietnam War, we left our soldiers and we abandoned them. A large number of them now find themselves as part of those statistics of being homeless. Part of the statistics are a large number of veterans that are committing suicide. This program that will allow the continuum of care is going to allow an opportunity for them to be able to get access to service. I want to thank both sides and the chairman for their leadership in this area.

In addition, let me just say that this area is one of the areas where we really need to make an emphasis. I am really pleased to see that, because when you do abuse drugs, when people do abuse alcohol, one of the difficulties is the fact that the family gets impacted. This allows an opportunity for that intervention to occur.

Thank you very much, and congratulations on this legislation.

Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer, thank you very much for this opportunity regarding H.R. 5664, a bill that I introduced to correct a bureaucratic oversight in the way that the Veterans Administration advises contractors as they deal with renovating housing for disabled veterans.

Madam Speaker, our veterans have made difficult sacrifices and secured our freedom and the way of life. This Memorial Day we honor veterans with our words and our actions, and this bill is a reflection of that.

My bill seeks to ensure that veterans whose homes are updated under the program benefit from all that modern technology and construction practice can provide. Today's veterans, particularly those from Iraq and Afghanistan, are sustaining injuries that in past conflicts would have resulted in their death. The variety of these injuries requires a fresh look at the ways the VA provides guidance to veterans in using special adaptive housing grants. The primary guidance that the VA provides contractors who modify homes under this grant program is VA pamphlet 26-13, titled ``Handbook for Design: Specially Adaptive Housing.'' The guide was last updated in 1978. This bill requires an update of this guide at least every 6 years.

I would like to thank also Congressman Hall for his assistance in getting the bill in the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee and being able to make it happen as quickly as possible, getting the cost of it assessed, and I believe that the bill will go a long way in

assisting our veterans and making sure that we have good housing.

Let me just give you one of the examples that we had. For example, the particular bill required that arm bars be built in these homes, that arm bars be installed in a restroom for a veteran who had his arms amputated, and there are other types of options that can be utilized, keyless entries and other forms. So this is definitely a bill that is helpful, and the purpose is to allow construction contractors who are updating disabled veterans' homes to be more flexible in employing state-of-the-art technology.

Once again thank you very much for allowing me this opportunity, Chairman Filner.

Let me also once again thank Chairman Bob Filner and Ranking Member Buyer. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak regarding H.R. 5826, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to sponsor this piece of legislation.

I want to also just take this opportunity on this bill to thank the chairman because I have had the opportunity to serve on the VA Committee for, prior to being gone for 2 years, 8 years, and I know we had a series of things that occurred and we were not able to make things happen during that period of time, and there was a great deal of frustration. But I do want to thank the chairman because this past year and a half has been one of the highlights, at least in my career serving on the VA committee, having the opportunity to not only hear and be able to make something happen for our veterans and be able to do the right thing. We have been able to make some significant pieces of legislation. So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the chairman for his leadership in allowing us to make that happen.

We are all keenly aware of the burden our current economy places upon our American families. The same difficulties are magnified with the veterans and the families who rely on disability compensation provided through the VA. H.R. 5826, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008, seeks to address these challenges by increasing the compensation rates in line with the Consumer Price Index Social Security COLA.

We all know the difficulty that we are hearing back home with the cost of gasoline, the cost of food, and people losing their homes. This is essential, this cost of living. It's minimal, but yet it's extremely critical and important. I want to thank you for allowing me this opportunity once again to speak today, and for the considering of H.R. 5826, and I ask your support and I ask the possibility of a vote on this particular legislation, Mr. Chairman.

General Leave

Mr. Chairman, once again, thank you for this piece of legislation. As indicated earlier, we have four major polytrauma centers throughout the country. The fifth one has been selected by a commission that was established, with the selection of the site in San Antonio. These polytrauma centers look at those veterans that are the most vulnerable in our community, the ones that have multiple problems. So this major polytrauma center in San Antonio is going to be a great addition.

Let me just add also that as we look at providing services to our veterans, one of the realities is that approximately 80 percent of our veterans never get to have any degree of access, so we understand that there is a big void out there. What happened at Walter Reed, in spite of the fact that that is a DOD facility, we also need to look at the facilities in the VA sites. And we know that we have been negligent in not providing the resources to upgrade those.

The reports that are going to be required by this language allow an opportunity for us to get a good grasp of what some of our needs are out there in terms of our VA facilities, and allows an opportunity for us to improve on

those, from nursing homes that are out there to clinics and to others.

As also indicated, in South Texas we have a large number of our veterans that don't have access and have to travel long distance for access to health care. I want to thank the leadership on both sides for going there and listening to the reports, Congressman Ortiz, Congressman Hinojosa, Congressman Cuellar and others, about the lack of services for our veterans in Deep South Texas and the need for some of these facilities and resources.

Once again, I thank the chairman for allowing me this opportunity and for passing this piece of legislation.

Mr. Buyer, I want to thank you also, because I do have a beautiful community, and we have a large number of both Afghan and Iraqi theatre soldiers that have come to the San Antonio area and the community there. We know that we have had our problems and our difficulties, but we are expanding those services, and I am extremely elated.

One thing I tell our veterans now is if they ever have had difficulties in the past, I am urging them to go back, go back and visit the VA. There is a lot of enthusiasm out there, and I am really pleased. Thank you very much for those comments, and you are welcome to come down and share a tequila.

And I want to personally take this opportunity to thank you for your leadership as chairman of the VA Committee. And I can honestly tell you that I spent 8 years on the committee prior to leaving for 2 years and then coming back, and it has been day and night with your leadership there. And I want to personally thank you.

Nothing was more frustrating than to serve on the VA Committee for 8 long years and not be able to make things happen. And, in fact, during that period of time is when we were charging our veterans even co- payments and fees and those kind of things. But in the last 1 year and 4 months we have been able, not only with the 2007 budget, the 2008 budget, and the supplemental, we have been able to put $13 billion to our veterans. And so I want to personally thank you for your leadership on the part of the legislation that we have passed.

Just today in your committee, Mr. Chairman--and Chairwoman, thank you for this opportunity--we are able to pass a series of bills, one of them that seemed to simple, but picks up the COLA that addresses the needs of the survivor spouse as well as children, survivors of veterans, as well as disability compensation. So I want to thank you for that.

Let me just give you a couple of statistics. More than 700,000 children have had parents deployed at some point during the conflict, 700,000 children; 19,000 children have had their parents wounded in action; some 2,220 children have lost their parents both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not to mention the fact that we have lost more soldiers, some 6,000 per year, to suicides, which is uncalled for. And I am really glad that we have started to move on working on posttraumatic stress with our soldiers and adding some resources, and including legislation that allows an opportunity for the first time to reach out and work with the families of those individuals that suffer from posttraumatic stress disorders.

I know personally, just like those families know, that when somebody suffers from posttraumatic stress, just like when somebody suffers from alcoholism, the whole family gets impacted, the children, the spouses.

I just got a call a couple of weeks ago from a soldier that is getting deployed for the fourth time. And he was basically telling me, ``Mr. Rodriguez, I have already lost my wife, we have gotten a divorce, and they are now taking away the opportunity for me to visit the children.''

It really does. And one of the things that we are now looking back, and we should even go back to the Vietnam era, a large number of those veterans that are homeless out there are suffering from posttraumatic stress from the Vietnam veteran era. So we cannot allow that to occur to this generation of soldiers coming in from Iraq and Afghanistan. So I am real pleased with the resources that we have come forward. Now, we have got to make sure that we have those programs and treatment that reach out not only to that veteran but to the entire family and community as a whole. We allowed for legislation because we don't have the sufficient workers out there to provide that treatment, to contract out with the community health centers, mental health centers, to reach out as quickly as possible to those specific soldiers.

We are anticipating, and we are trying to make it more flexible so that soldiers can go through that treatment, because we also know that part of that is we don't want them to go through the stigma, but it almost has to be required that every soldier in those kind of settings go through some degree of treatment to assure that we can come to grips with it as quickly as possible.

We know that the number of suicides that are occurring right now, some 6,000 annually, that is uncalled for. And it is disproportional on the side of veterans versus the general public in terms of those suicides.

I had a young lady in the military that committed suicide. And, believe me, when they commit suicide while in the military, they get treated very differently. The family does not get any compensation whatsoever. And we are having difficulty right now, as we had difficulty with the DOD, Department of Defense, when they ID'd some 22,000 soldiers with personality disorders. When that occurs, that means that it is a preexisting condition. We have to go back and assess. Maybe they do belong with that diagnosis, but we have got to make sure that they are not wrongly diagnosed and not given what they should be; otherwise, they won't be receiving their compensation.

So I want to personally thank you for allowing us to come here tonight and talk about our soldiers and their families and their children, because they are the ones who are also suffering, and those statistics are just alarming and we should not tolerate that.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to rise here today to recognize Tuesday, April 22, 2008, as Equal Pay Day. National and community organizations alike make this a national day of action to promote equal pay for women and minorities. It is a day to recognize the wage gap that exists between men and women and offer solutions that will address and remedy this economic injustice.

It is no accident that a Tuesday in April is chosen as the day in which we recognize income inequality. April symbolizes the month when women's wages catch up to men's wages from the previous year and Tuesday represents the day on which women's wages equal men's wages from the previous week. According to 2007 statistics by the United States Census Bureau, on average women are paid 77 cents for every dollar that their male counterparts earn. For a country where 46 percent of its workforce is female, this is unacceptable.

It is clear that we are not moving fast enough in promoting pay equality. Some reports estimate that if we continue at the current pace, the wage gap will not be closed until 2057. That is far too long for this discrimination to continue. We must promote all efforts to encourage employers to pay women fairly, educate women on negotiating appropriate salaries, and enforce current equal pay legislation.

It is imperative that we protect every American's right to earn a fair wage based solely on qualifications and performance. There is no room in the American workforce for perpetuating gender and race stereotypes. By eliminating pay discrimination we will be ensuring that we will have the best and most productive workforce.

I applaud all Americans who participate in and support Equal Pay Day. The first step in correcting this inequity is by alerting others it exists. It is my hope that together we can do this and ultimately be the catalyst for change.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to rise today to recognize the 40th anniversary of Natalia, Texas and the 20th Annual Bluebonnet Festival, to be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008. The Bluebonnet Festival has grown into a homecoming for former residents and others who wish to celebrate the incorporation of Natalia, Texas.

Natalia was founded in 1912 by Dr. Frederick Stark Pearson who named the town in honor of his daughter, Natalia Pearson Nicholson. Dr. Pearson was the engineer, designer and builder of the Medina Dam, and Natalia was established as the headquarters for the irrigation district. Destined to be the ``Queen City of the Southwest,'' Natalia was quickly built with macadamized streets, electric power and water works. Today Natalia continues to be home to the seat of the irrigation district, now known as the Bexar, Medina, Atascosa Water District (BMA). BMA owns and operates Medina Dam, Medina Lake and the entire canal system, furnishing water for 35,000 acres of land year-round for vegetable crops, grain and hay.

Though established by Dr. Pearson, Natalia was not incorporated as a city until March 2, 1968. In January of that year, a group of 50 citizens petitioned Medina County to incorporate as a municipality using a City Council form of government. A vote was held on the 2nd of March and by a tally of 116 to 50, Natalia, Texas was incorporated. Just a few weeks later the first elections for Mayor, Alderman and City Marshall were held. During the 40 years of the City of Natalia's existence, the goal of its elected officials has always been to offer a better quality of life for its citizens. Natalia continues to retain its small-town charm while also constantly preparing for the future.

There is perhaps no better way to celebrate Natalia's anniversary than with the Texas Bluebonnets. The flower blooms in early spring across fields and roadsides in central and south Texas. Aptly named for its vibrant color and shape, the Bluebonnet's petal is often said to resemble a woman's sunbonnet. Though especially prevalent in towns like Natalia, the Bluebonnet has come to symbolize the entire State of Texas and it was chosen as its state flower in 1901. The annual Bluebonnet Festival celebrates not only the anniversary of Natalia, but also the wild beauty that we have come to associate with the Bluebonnet and the untamed landscape of West Texas.

As they celebrate 40 years of city incorporation, I congratulate all current and past residents of Natalia, Texas for working to achieve the dream of Dr. Pearson of being the ``Queen City of the Southwest.''

Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today to recognize and to celebrate what would have been the 81st birthday of Cesar Chavez by urging Congress and the President to make this day a national holiday.

Cesar Chavez grew up in migrant labor camps, into the poverty of a migrant worker's life. He became an historical figure who embodied humility and extraordinary strength in his peaceful struggle toward social justice. By dedicating his life to tirelessly championing the rights of farm laborers, along with Dolores Huerta, he helped found the United Farm Workers Union, fighting for better wages, conditions, and respect for farmworkers.

As our country faces the continuing bad news on the economy and more Americans are searching for jobs, we are reminded on the birthday of Cesar Chavez that the types of working families to whom Chavez dedicated his life will suffer the most if gas prices continue to rise, people continue to lose their homes, and job losses continue to grow.

Cesar Chavez has been an icon in my home State of Texas, where he is honored statewide on his birthday. In San Antonio, there is an annual Cesar Chavez march, which took place this past Saturday and had about 4,000 people in attendance. In San Antonio, we also have Cesar Chavez Boulevard, and in the county of Hidalgo there is a town named after Cesar Chavez, where 1,469 people live.

I hope that his legacy and memory will someday become a fundamental piece of American history so that all Americans will understand the fight that Cesar Chavez began in the fields--a fight for social justice, civil rights, and human rights that continues today.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues in urging the President and Congress to establish a national holiday by passing H. Res. 76.