Hispanic Heritage Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Hispanic Caucus, I rise today to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, the rich history, the culture, and the traditions of the Latino communities throughout our Nation and the world.

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants past and present, and the stories of the Latino communities who live in California's San Joaquin Valley are similar to the millions of stories of other immigrant families who have come to our country striving for the American Dream. They have come to our country from around the world.

Working together, we can ensure that policies that benefit our economy and keep families together, like the expanded DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and DAPA, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, as well as comprehensive immigration reform, are enacted. This is important to fix a broken immigration system in America today.

These policies would move our country forward and provide a path to earned citizenship--not amnesty, but earned citizenship--so that individuals who only know the United States as their home can achieve the American Dream, the American Dream which is still a shining light around the world for people that are oppressed. Let us never forget what the American Dream embodies not just in our country, but for people around the world.

Please join me in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and the values, the dedications, and the rich diversity of immigrant families, of which my family was one and the majority of families in our country at some time or another were the proud immigrants from some other part of the world, that make this United States the greatest country in the world today. 25th Anniversary of Armenian Independence

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to join in celebrating the 25th anniversary of Armenia. Twenty-five years ago today, Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union and, once again, the Republic of Armenia was established.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit Armenia for the first time, and it truly felt like coming home. Why? Well, because it felt so much like the San Joaquin Valley that I proudly represent, where so many Armenians have settled for generations since their diaspora and as a result of the Armenian genocide.

Like so many other ethnic groups throughout the world, the people of Armenia are friendly. They are warm and proud of their traditions, culture, and religion.

I had the opportunity as a young person to grow up with so many of our good friends and neighbors--the Kezerians, the Abrahamians, the Koligians--whose Armenian heritage I learned as a young person and has added so much not only to the community of the San Joaquin Valley, but to our Nation as a whole.

It is an honor to recognize Armenia's 25th anniversary and the Armenian people in the San Joaquin Valley and the communities throughout the Nation and the world.

But, Mr. Speaker, I think I would be remiss in this recognition if I did not take this opportunity to urge Congress and the President of the United States to go on record as recognizing the Armenian genocide and the devastating violence committed against the Armenian people over 100 years ago, the first genocide recorded and recognized by historians in the 20th century.

Of course, we know from that genocide came the later followed by the Holocaust, and sadly generations have suffered. I want to thank my colleagues for joining in recognizing Armenia's 25th anniversary.

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