Recognizing the Life of Congressman Ed Roybal

RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF CONGRESSMAN ED ROYBAL -- (House of Representatives - November 15, 2005)

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I will be brief, because all that I can say has been said and will be said more eloquently by others on this floor. I wanted to be here for this sad and happy occasion as we celebrate the life and mourn the death of a great American and a great Los Angelino.

Ed Roybal was a pioneer. He started the community service organization and formed a partnership of Mexican Americans, the Jewish community, the Asian community and then was the first in the century, in over a century, member of the Los Angeles City Council, then the first Hispanic in over a century to represent our State here in the House of Representatives, where he served for three decades fighting for the rights of minorities, the elderly, and the physically challenged.

He was a founding member, as has been said before, and the first chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and was a pioneer in fighting for funding for HIV and AIDS. Edward Roybal leaves a legacy, not just all the awards named after him, not just the program at Cal State Los Angeles that he helped found, not just all of the legislation that he influenced in this House.

He leaves a legacy of his children and grandchildren, and our own Lucille Roybal-Allard, I know you far better than I know your brother and sister; but if you are any indication, he left quite a legacy. He was an inspiration to your family and an inspiration to all of us.

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