Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate White Memorial Medical Center on its centennial celebration marking one hundred years of healing and caring for the people of Boyle Heights and the surrounding communities.

White Memorial Medical Center was founded in 1913 to improve the quality of life of the residents of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles by giving care to the whole person--body, mind and spirit. As a non- profit, faith-based, teaching hospital which provides our community with inpatient, outpatient, emergency and diagnostic services, White Memorial Medical Center embodies a unique sense of family, loyalty, trust and commitment.

White Memorial Medical Center plays an important role in training the next generation of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals. Its physicians are some of the finest in Los Angeles. White Memorial Hospital is known for quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. It is one of the top hospitals in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

White Memorial Medical Center employees, physicians and volunteers extend their mission of healing and caring by supporting community projects and organizations such as Dolores Mission, the Homeless Outreach Project and the House of Ruth. They also participate in medical missions around the world including Africa, Mexico, Haiti, Peru and the Philippines.

Through its ongoing operations, capital improvements and physician activities, each year White Memorial Medical Center generates approximately $1 billion in economic activity and supports more than 6,000 jobs in the Southern California region.

White Memorial Medical Center is a strong community anchor which provides quality health services that improve the health and well-being of all Angelenos.

I extend my sincere congratulations to White Memorial Medical Center on its centennial celebration, and I sincerely thank its outstanding staff and volunteers for their quality service to the Los Angeles community and for the significant impact they make in health care, medical education and charitable contributions.

May their outstanding service continue for another hundred years and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this latest version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013.

This deeply flawed and misguided legislation comes before the chamber after a last minute decision by the Republican leadership to separate the nutrition assistance programs, which are a cornerstone of our Nation's food safety net, from the rest of the complete Farm Bill.

Our nation's nutrition programs, which benefit millions of Americans, in every district, and every state, across this great nation, should not be left behind as the rest of the Farm Bill advances. Failure to find a reasonable compromise to ensure that hardworking Americans are not left hungry is not a reason to advance agricultural subsidies.

H.R. 2642 expands unlimited crop insurance subsidies, increases price guarantees for major crops, and locks in these unprecedented giveaways by making the new farm bill permanent law and taking the future of agricultural programs out of the hands of policymakers.

At the same time, the bill guts protections of wetlands, prairies and forests, eviscerates regulation of pesticides under the Clean Water Act, and limits the ability of states to set standards for farm and food production.

This bill is bad procedure and bad policy. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013.

Mr. Speaker, in this, the richest country in the world, it is unconscionable that the farm bill we are debating today cuts nearly $21 billion from SNAP, our Nation's most important anti- hunger program.

Today, one in seven Americans depends on the SNAP program to put food on the table. The draconian cuts in this bill will remove many from this program and increase hunger from millions of Americans already struggling to survive. Hardest hit will be children, who in addition to suffering the agony of hunger will be at risk of having a disability because studies have shown that the SNAP program is a critical buffer for preventing developmental challenges.

Our vulnerable senior population, for which SNAP is a vital safety net, also will be put at risk because it can make the difference between having food or going hungry.

Mr. Speaker, there are better alternatives to reducing our deficit. While it is true that the FARRM Bill is an important bill that regulates and protects our food industry, it is also true that it is tragic that in the United States of America this bill, as introduced, will increase the pain and suffering of hunger which already shamefully exists in our country.

Mr. Speaker, Sal Castro (October 25, 1933-April 15, 2013) was a Mexican-American educator and activist. He was most well-known for his role in the student walkouts at East Los Angeles high schools in 1968. With Sal's assistance and guidance, the students protested against unequal conditions in the Los Angeles Unified School District schools.

Long after he retired from teaching, Sal continued his lectures that shared his experiences and the importance of education, particularly in Mexican American communities. After a seven month battle with cancer, Sal Castro passed away in his sleep on April 15, 2013.

A funeral mass was celebrated for Sal at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on April 25, 2013. In tribute to Mr. Castro's life efforts, I would like to submit into the Congressional Record the eulogy honoring him which was delivered by Mario T. Garcia, Professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Eulogy for: Sal Castro

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Los Angeles, CA, April 25, 2013

About fifteen years ago, I invited Sal Castro to speak to

my Chicano History class at UC Santa Barbara. My students and

I were enthralled with the power of his voice, the humanity

that he projected, and that wonderful humor. I knew then that

I had to write his story. That story testifies to Sal's place

in history and it is an honored place.

Very few of us have the opportunity to make history that

affects others' lives. Sal Castro did that. He did that by

first of all dedicating his career to being a teacher. There

is nothing Sal would not do for his students. He did this for

four decades and touched the lives of countless young people.

Sal made history by the inspirational and courageous

leadership that he provided his kids as he called them in the

1968 Blowouts or walkouts in the East Los Angeles schools the

largest high school student strike in American history. I do

not believe that the Blowouts would have occurred without

Sal's leadership. He put his career and perhaps even his life

on the line for the students in this movement. He didn't do

it because he personally wanted publicity or rewards. He did

it because of the injustices of an educational system that

for decades had denied Mexican American students a quality

education and an opportunity to go to college. Sal Castro

took on the entire educational establishment because they did

not care about his kids.

He knew that real change does not come from on top from the

elite but from the bottom, from the people. In 1968 it was

senior and junior high school students who through Sal came

to recognize that they were not the problem nor were their

parents the problem for their lack of educational

achievement. Sal helped open their eyes that it was the

schools, too many teachers, too many principals, and too many

members of the board of education who were the problem. Sal

taught them that there was no ``Mexican problem'' but instead

a racist problem as it affected the schools and the Mexican

American community. Because of Sal, the students--the Blowout

generation as Sal called them--empowered themselves. They

were not going to accept anything now but a good education so

that they could advance as far as their personal talents

would take them. Sal knew he had achieved this change in

consciousness as he saw hundreds of students walk out of

Lincoln High School and Roosevelt High School and Garfield

High School and Wilson High School, and Belmont High School

and other high schools in other parts of Los Angeles. He knew

that it would never be the same and he was right. With tears

in his eyes and pride in his very being many years later he

said of that day in 1968:

``As the bell rang, out they went, out into the streets.

With their heads held high, with dignity. It was beautiful to

be a Chicano that day.''

In that first week of March, 1968 with thousands of high

school students on strike, the students, the college students

who helped, the brown berets who provided defense, and Sal

made history. They brought the educational establishment to

its knees. They showed what Chicano power meant.

Various reforms followed but they were never enough and

still not enough even today. But Sal and the students showed

that week that major social change can only happen when the

people themselves realize that only they can make the changes

that will improve their lives. This was the lesson of the

Blowouts and the lessons of the Chicano movement. It was the

lesson that Sal as a teacher taught that generation and

continues to teach us today and in the future.

Sal Castro was first and foremost a teacher but as a

teacher he made history not only through the Blowouts but by

year after year producing students who would dedicate their

lives in whatever profession they pursued to go out and

fulfill the legacy of his blowout kids--to change the world.

Sal never rested on his laurels. There were still too many

kids that he needed to reach and which he did not only in his

classes but through his unselfish work in inspiring new

generations of future Chicano/Latino leaders by his Chicano

Youth Leadership Conference.

Sal Castro is a giant in Chicano history and also needs to

be recognized as a giant in American history. He showed us

that real education is different from schooling. Schooling

produces students who accept the status quo and never ask

``why?'' Education produces students who not only ask ``why''

but act on their question.

I personally will miss a colleague, a fellow teacher, and a

dear friend. I will miss him coming to my classes as he did

for many years never asking for compensation but always with

the same passion wanting to share his story with students. I

often joked that if Sal couldn't show up I could give Sal's

talk because I had heard it so often. And now I will give

that talk by myself but I also re-dedicate myself today to

his mission in life and will teach others about Sal Castro

and his place in history.

The last question I asked Sal is how do you wish to be

remembered. He simply said: ``I want my tombstone to read--

Sal Castro a teacher'' and he added in concluding his story

and he is saying this to us today:

``Que Dios les Bendiga y que La Virgen Morena les proteja''

Mr. Speaker, today is International Day Against Child Labor, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on the plight of hundreds of millions of children throughout the world who perform work that endangers their health, deprives them of an adequate education, and denies them basic freedoms and protections.

Unfortunately, the United States is not immune to the scourge of child labor. Long hours and dangerous working conditions are, sadly, a reality for hundreds of thousands of children working in our country's fields and farms.

Throughout our Nation, there are children like Zulema, who at age 12 works in the fields picking fruits and vegetables, while her classmates spend afternoons doing homework and playing with friends. Despite her young age, Zulema frequently, with bare hands, wields adult-sized harvesting shears. When crop dusters fly overhead, she is often covered in pesticides meant to kill insects in the field. In spite of Zulema's exposure to these serious and dangerous conditions, she takes home to her struggling family a mere $64 a week.

Our farming industry is alarmingly plagued by preventable tragedies like the one in Mount Carroll, Illinois, where a 14-year-old boy cleaning a grain bin suffocated to death when he was sucked into a sinkhole of flowing corn. Tragic accidents like this underscore the fact that agriculture is one of our Nation's most dangerous industries. Yet it is the only industry in which our children are not protected equally by our child labor laws.

While reserved for adults in every other occupation in agriculture, children as young as 16 are allowed to perform hazardous work, like driving tractors and operating chain saws. It is also the only industry in which children as young as 12 are allowed to labor in the fields with virtually no restrictions on the number of hours they work outside of the school day.

To address this shameful reality in our country, I am reintroducing the Children's Act for Responsible Employment, better known as the CARE Act. While retaining current exemptions that protect family farms and agricultural education programs like 4-H and Future Farmers of America, the CARE Act raises labor standards and protections for farmworker children to the same level set for children in all other occupations.

Specifically, the CARE Act ends our country's double standard that allows children employed in agriculture to work at younger ages and for longer hours than those working in all other industries. The bill raises the minimum age for agricultural work to 14 and restricts children under 16 from work that interferes with their education or endangers their health and well-being. The CARE Act also prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in agricultural jobs which the Department of Labor has declared particularly hazardous. This is consistent with current law governing every industry outside of agriculture.

Mr. Speaker, no child should be discriminated against based on the work they do. All of America's children deserve to be protected equally under our laws. It is our moral obligation to do

all in our power to protect the rights, safety, and educational future of our most precious resource--America's children.

The time has come for the United States of America to bring our child labor laws in line with our American values and to give all of our children the fundamental protections they rightfully deserve. I urge my colleagues to support and to help pass the CARE Act.

I thank Chairman Carter and Ranking Member Price for their bipartisan efforts in the drafting of this bill.

Unfortunately, with the refusal of the House leadership to go to conference on the budget, this year's appropriations process will be at the expense of essential funding for critical programs such as education, research, transportation, and infrastructure.

Nonetheless, this bill will help make our Nation stronger and more secure. It robustly funds grants to provide our first responders with the resources they need to protect the public when disaster strikes.

The bill also funds the highly effective Alternatives to Detention program at $24 million above the President's request. While I believe ATD should be significantly expanded, I was pleased to see the increased allocation for this proven program.

In addition, the bill provides a $16.9 million increase in funding for the Science and Technology Directorate, which will enable DHS to develop new tools to detect and deter terrorists before they attack.

However, there are still aspects of the bill that are of concern. For example, the bill continues to mandate that every night ICE maintain 34,000 detention beds, even when they are not needed. This needless quota restricts ICE's flexibility in using the smartest, most cost- effective means of enforcing our immigration laws by limiting ICE's ability to base detention decisions on whether or not an individual poses a threat to our country.

The bill also increases funding for the ineffective and unnecessary 287(g) program, which encourages racial profiling and undermines confidence in law enforcement in our minority and immigrant communities. These scarce resources could be better spent addressing serious threats like cyber warfare and cyber crime. Instead, the bill underfunds this critical national priority by more than $24 million below the President's request.

In spite of these weaknesses and given the limited resources allocated to the subcommittee, I do believe Chairman Carter and Ranking Member Price have done their best to enable DHS to protect the American people in an increasingly dangerous world. For that reason, I support the bill in its current form. However, I understand some Members will try to pass anti-immigrant amendments, which would make it impossible for me to support this bill. These efforts are contrary to the bipartisan spirit in which this bill was written and the bipartisan spirit in which this House has always approached issues of national security. If introduced, I urge my colleagues to reject these irresponsible amendments.

Again, I thank Chairman Carter, Ranking Member Price, and the subcommittee's hardworking staff for putting together this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Dr. David J. Verdugo on his retirement after forty years as an educator. For the last eight years, Dr. Verdugo has served as the superintendent of the 16,000 student Paramount Unified School District. He will retire in June at the end of the current school year.

Before coming to the Paramount Unified School District, Superintendent Verdugo served at three uniquely different school districts: Spokane Public School District in the state of Washington, El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera, California, and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, also in California. Dr. Verdugo has been a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, working with children grades K-12. He has also served as an assistant superintendent, where his responsibilities included school facility management, extensive involvement with budget development, implementation of technology programs, employer/employee relations, curriculum and instructional strategies and organizational development.

He is highly respected throughout the school district, the community and the education field. Dr. Verdugo is known for his strategic approach to major decisions, his communication with all stakeholders and his efforts to build a culture where individuals care about each other, resulting in a dramatic difference for students. His communications and work at Paramount Unified during the State's budget crisis resulted in everyone coming together so they could continue their efforts to benefit children, families and employees.

Dr. Verdugo has established a reputation as a leader focused on student learning and achievement. He possesses those critical skills essential to understanding and meeting the needs of students, staff, and parents. He is committed to excellence and believes that all students should be provided the highest quality of education in a safe and secure environment.

With experience serving students of diverse populations and socioeconomic levels in urban and suburban settings, Dr. Verdugo is a staunch supporter of strategic planning and believes strongly that it is essential to the success of any progressive school district.

As Superintendent, Dr. Verdugo has been instrumental in leading many of the school district's significant accomplishments, including dramatically increasing college and career pathways for students, fostering a resurgence of the arts, building new and transforming existing school facilities, and most importantly, raising the level of academic achievement of students to an all-time high.

Dr. Verdugo received his B.A. from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington; his M.A. from La Verne University; and his Doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Southern California. He was recognized as the 2008 ACSA Region 14 Superintendent of the Year. He also received the California State University of Long Beach Superintendent Leadership Award for 2012 and was selected as a National Governing Board Member for the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). He currently serves as President of the highly respected Southern California Superintendents' Association.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking and congratulating Dr. David J. Verdugo for his many years of outstanding service to our community and our young people, and wish him many happy years of retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to challenge my colleagues to make optimal maternity outcomes a priority in our country.

Tragically, childbirth in this wealthiest of nations has significantly greater risks for mothers and babies when compared to almost all other developed nations.

In the U.S., more than two women die every day from pregnancy-related causes, and more than one-third of all women who give birth experience some type of complication with an adverse effect on their health. These tragedies are most often found in communities of color.

Regrettably, mothers aren't the only victims of our maternity care system. Sadly, out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States, nearly seven babies die. Particularly disturbing is that since 1991, premature birth--the leading cause of low birth rate and infant mortality--has actually increased in our country by more than 30 percent. Adding to this concern is that the U.S. spends more than double of any country in the world on maternity care and still ranks far behind most developed countries in maternal and infant outcomes. Clearly, something must be done to protect mothers and babies.

While it is important to continue studying the causes, we already know many factors that contribute to poor birth outcomes and to high costs. One well-established factor is that current U.S. medical practice does not follow the vast body of research that exists on the best evidence-based maternity care. This includes the research of credible studies showing that multiple noninvasive maternity practices can produce considerable improvement in birth outcomes without detrimental side effects to mother or baby.

Two examples of these noninvasive and relatively simple practices significantly underused during pregnancy are group models of prenatal care and smoking cessation programs. Unfortunately, the U.S. also has a widespread overuse of Cesarean sections and scheduled inductions. The overuse of these practices, which are beneficial only in limited situations, has been associated with complications that jeopardize the health of mother and baby and with longer hospital stays and multiple costly procedures.

These tragically poor childbirth outcomes and high costs must no longer be tolerated in our country. Therefore, this week I am introducing the Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services for the 21st Century Act, better known as the MOMS Act. This bill will create a coordinating committee to ensure that Federal agencies are on the same page in promoting the best evidence-based maternity practices in their programs. And it will facilitate across maternity professions collaboration in the education of a diverse maternity care workforce. In addition, the MOMS Act authorizes grant programs for professional organizations to recruit and retain minority maternity care providers.

The MOMS Act also establishes an online database to make available the best evidence-based maternity care information to women and families, and it authorizes a consumer education campaign focused on how to achieve the healthiest maternity outcomes.

The MOMS for the 21st Century Act further expands research on the best maternity practices and on the identification of the geographic areas that lack adequate maternity health care providers.

Mr. Speaker, we can and must do better for our mothers and newborns. As a country, we must reach beyond our self-imposed boundaries and embrace a cost-effective, evidence-based model of maternity care that reflects our values and saves the lives of mothers and babies.

I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort by cosponsoring and helping to pass the MOMS for the 21st Century Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement into the Record opposing the GOP's thoughtless Mother's Day gift--more work and less pay for working moms.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in opposition to H.R. 1406, the Republican More Work, Less Pay Act.

Hardworking American families deserve reasonable working hours and scheduling flexibility, livable wages, fair overtime pay and job security. Unfortunately, H.R. 1406 is a misguided policy which provides none of these. American workers need real choices in the workplace which put the interests of American families first. They don't need stunts like H.R. 1406.

Mr. Speaker, I inadvertently missed one of the three rollcall votes on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Had I been present, I would have voted in this manner:

Rollcall vote No. 122--On agreeing to the Rule Resolution, H. Res. 175, Providing for consideration of H.R. 1549, Helping Sick Americans Now Act--``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Homeboy Industries, a non-profit organization which offers comprehensive reintegration services including job skills training and social services to former Los Angeles gang members, on their 25th anniversary.

In 1988, Jesuit priest Father Greg Boyle began Homeboy Industries to address the need for employment opportunities among local youth. Today, Homeboy Industries is much more than a jobs program. Homeboy Industries gives young people who have lost their childhood to gangs a chance to take back their lives as adults by providing former gang-involved youth with tattoo removal, case management and legal services, as well as mental health and substance abuse counseling.

Thanks to Father Boyle's leadership during the past 25 years, Homeboy Industries has grown from a small job development program in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles into the largest, most comprehensive and most successful gang prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation program in the country.

According to a recent study from the Vera Institute of Justice, the five most common reintegration priorities self-reported by individuals exiting Los Angeles County Jail are: employment, housing, substance abuse, relationships, and staying out of trouble. Through the jobs and support services Homeboy Industries provide, men and women in the LA region are finding these needs met. Homeboy Industries has a 70 percent rate of retaining clients in services, while similar programs across the country have 20-30 percent rates of retention. When weighed against the 70 percent recidivism rate nationally among ex-offenders, Homeboy Industries' ability to engage clients in the process of reintegration and personal transformation is particularly revealing. This organization shows the benefits of investing in impoverished communities that have been impacted by gang violence.

Between 240 and 280 people are hired every year in restaurants and stores owned and operated by Homeboy Industries throughout Los Angeles. When hiring, Homeboy Industries doesn't look for diplomas or job experience. They look for visible gang tattoos and juvenile arrest records. As a business, Homeboy Industries isn't concerned with profits or executive bonuses. Their concern is with their staff and ending the cycle of gang violence one person at a time.

Once again I congratulate Homeboy Industries and their inspirational founder and leader, Father Greg. I had the good fortune and honor of representing Father Greg and Homeboy Industries for nearly 25 years, first in the California State Assembly and then in the U.S. House of Representatives. In closing, I want to express my deepest admiration both for Father Greg's tireless and dedicated efforts and for all former gang members seeking to change their lives and end the culture of gang violence once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Congresswoman Lee and myself, I rise to commemorate April as the 13th annual Minority Health Month.

Before 2001, there was no national conversation about health disparities. Since then, the Congressional Tri-Caucus has been tireless in efforts to educate Congress and the country about the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in our minority communities.

Due to the advocacy of the Tri-Caucus, the ACA contained ground- breaking policies to reduce disparities, such as expanding Medicaid eligibility, increasing resources for community health clinics, and institutionalizing Federal efforts to achieve health equity.

In spite of these important advancements, more must be done. It is critical to adequately fund proven health equity programs and pass the next steps of the Tri-Caucus Health Equity bill, which, on behalf of the Tri-Caucus, I will introduce this fall.

Health justice will be achieved when every man, woman, and child in America has an equal opportunity to live a healthy life, regardless of who they are or where they live.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the TELACU Education Foundation, a non-profit organization based in my 40th Congressional District, on the celebration of their 30th anniversary.

TELACU, which stands for The East Los Angeles Community Union, is a pioneer in empowering and revitalizing communities in our great state of California and throughout our nation. In response to crisis-level dropout rates for Latino students in college, TELACU created the TELACU Education Foundation 25 years ago. Working in partnership with a vast network of colleges, universities, corporations and individuals, the TELACU Education Foundation has awarded millions of dollars in scholarships to thousands of deserving students.

As the centerpiece of the foundation, the TELACU Scholarship Program annually provides scholarships to 500 college and graduate students who are the first in their families to access higher education. Realizing that financial resources alone cannot fully meet these students' needs, the program provides the scholars with comprehensive academic and career guidance to ensure that all of them graduate.

The foundation also serves an additional 1,600 middle and high school students, nursing school students, and veterans. Through comprehensive educational programs, these scholars are not only inspired to pursue higher education, but are also equipped to meet the rigorous expectations of college. As a result, 100 percent of TELACU's high school students earn their high school diploma and continue on to pursue post-secondary education and 100 percent of the TELACU college students graduate.

TELACU scholars are recruited from the poorest neighborhoods of Southern California, Chicago, Texas, and New York. In many of these neighborhoods, young African Americans and Latinos are more likely to have been arrested by their 18th birthday than to graduate high school. Yet TELACU scholars have proven year after year--no matter where you were born, the color of your skin, or what language you speak at home-- if you study and work hard, you can become anything you want to be in our great United States of America.

And hard work and study are exactly what TELACU scholars do. Scholars like Irma Gorrocino have utilized the benefits of the TELACU Education Foundation scholarship and the resources provided. She has served on the dean's list for two consecutive semesters while managing to work full-time and tending to the needs of her father, who was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She is also an outstanding intern in my district office in California.

Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of the TELACU Education Foundation's 30th Anniversary, I ask my colleagues to please join me in recognizing David and Priscilla Lizarraga for their exemplary leadership and commendable efforts to empower our young people and our communities, and wish them and the TELACU Education Foundation many years of continued success ahead. I also thank Irma and all of the TELACU scholars for their hard work and contributions to our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation on celebrating their 50th anniversary. For 50 years MAOF has worked to improve the quality of life for millions of Latinos in the Los Angeles area. From education and daycare services for children, to job training and English-language classes for adults, to medical and social services to seniors, MAOF has provided poor or disenfranchised Latinos with opportunities for social and economic advancement.

In 1963, a little known community and labor leader named Dionicio Morales had the idea to create a foundation dedicated to Mexican- American community development. He started at the top, with a call to President John F. Kennedy. Morales did not get to speak to the President, but through his perseverance, he was able to speak with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Together they secured the funding for what would become the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation.

Today MAOF is the largest Latino human services provider in the nation and the Los Angeles Times has credited Morales with being one of the original leaders of the East Los Angeles Latino civil rights movement, along with United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, journalist Ruben Salazar, and my father, Congressman Edward R. Roybal.

Although Dionicio Morales passed away in 2008, his legacy lives on within the work of MAOF which provides essential services to over 100,000 people, 8,000 of whom are children.

Once again I congratulate MAOF President and CEO Martin Castro, members of the board of directors, and all MAOF employees. I thank them for 50 years of dedicated service to the Latino community, and I wish them well as they continue their great work in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, today, the 9th of April, is called Equal Pay Day because it marks the number of days into 2013 women had to work to equal the salary made by their male counterparts in 2012. It is a sad reality that women systemically continue to be paid less than men for doing the same work.

As families increasingly rely on women's wages to make ends meet, equal pay is not simply a women's issue; it is a family issue that impacts our national economy. On average, women receive only 77 cents for every dollar paid to male workers. This disparity results in the loss of nearly $11,000 a year, or the equivalent of 4 months of groceries, 5 months of child care, and over 6 months of rent and utilities.

In my home State of California, the wage gap is even more pronounced for black and Latina women, who receive just 64 cents and 42 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white men.

Mr. Speaker, we have the power to correct this injustice that hurts families and the economy. I urge the Republican leadership to allow a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act.