On the recordApril 21, 2010
I rise today to pay tribute to a man who served New Mexico and the entire country with distinction for more than three decades in Washington, a man who dedicated his life to being a champion for the least of us. That man is Senator Dennis Chavez, the Nation's longest serving Hispanic U.S. Senator. This month we mark the 122nd anniversary of his birth. In everything he did, Senator Chavez showed his concern for the underdog. He fought for public education because he knew what it could do to help the children of struggling families become successful adults. He supported farmers because he knew how difficult life can be in the small communities where the trains don't stop and the roads don't go. And he fought for civil rights because Senator Chavez believed equality of opportunity is the core of the American creed. Dennis Chavez fought for the underdog because he was an underdog. Born into poverty in Valencia County, NM, Chavez walked along a difficult road to the pinnacle of political power. A child of an isolated small town, he would see the world and help to shape it. A high school dropout, he earned a law degree and became a lawmaker. A victim of ethnic discrimination, he wrote legislation that would eventually make employment discrimination illegal and, then, unthinkable. Dennis Chavez was a man of conviction. He also was a man of courage.
