Alex Padilla: “I rise to reintroduce the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park Act. This Friday, March…”

“I rise to reintroduce the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park Act. This Friday, March 31, we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day to honor and celebrate the life and legacy of the civil rights and labor leader whose impact reverberated throughout California and across the world. For Cesar Chavez, it did not matter where you came from or what your job was, he believed in your fundamental right to dignity and respect. Ahead of Cesar Chavez Day, I introduce this legislation, which would establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park in California and Arizona to preserve the nationally significant sites associated with Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement. In 2008, with strong bipartisan support, Congress enacted legislation directing the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of sites that are significant to the life of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in the Western United States. The National Park Service evaluated over 100 sites and found that five sites were ``nationally significant.'' Importantly, the Park Service wrote that these nationally significant sites depict a distinct and important aspect of American history associated with civil rights and labor movements that are not adequately represented or protected elsewhere.…”