Hispanic Heritage Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize two Hispanic trailblazers in Omaha--Robert, known as Bob, Campos and Dr. James, known as Jim, Ramirez--for their generous contributions to our community.

After growing up together in the same working-class South Omaha neighborhood, Bob and Jim each went on to lead extraordinary, successful lives, and they have made a huge difference in our community.

Bob Campos was born in 1938 to Mexican immigrant parents in South Omaha, a neighborhood long regarded as a melting pot of multicultural immigrant families. Growing up, his large family shared only a one- bedroom home. So when Bob was only 8 years old, he went to work at the neighborhood grocery store to earn some extra income for his family.

At 16 years old, Campos dropped out of high school and attempted to enlist in the United States Marines but was unsuccessful after falsifying his age in his application. Shortly after that, he fulfilled his desire to serve his country by joining the U.S. Coast Guard.

After his military service, Bob moved back to Omaha and worked at the Kiewit Construction Company. After 15 years at Kiewit, he started his own business, Campos Construction, on January 1, 1977. Starting his business with only $500 and a pickup truck, Campos grew his company to become the largest minority-owned construction company in Nebraska.

Bob's reputation for excellence led him to take on high-profile projects, to include painting the home of President Abraham Lincoln in Illinois and building the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha.

In 2003, Bob leased the land to build community soccer fields in South Omaha, personally mowing and tending to the property now known as the Bob Campos Soccer Complex.

Bob also fosters educational leadership opportunities for Hispanic high school students through the Grassroots Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Jim Ramirez was born in 1934 to Mexican immigrant parents who worked in the meatpacking plants of South Omaha.

During high school, Dr. Ramirez faced repeated discrimination and was told by guidance counselors and peers that Latinos such as himself did not belong in college. So after graduation, Jim joined his father at the Nebraska Beef packing plant, where arduous work motivated him to pursue higher education and a better life.

For 18 years, Ramirez worked the slaughterhouse in the day and took classes at night; graduating in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Nebraska Omaha. He went on to earn his master's degree in guidance and counseling from UNO in 1974 and, ultimately, a Ph.D. in adult continuing education in 1984.

Having witnessed discrimination throughout his years as a student, Dr. Ramirez made it his life's mission to promote pathways to higher education for Omaha's Hispanic community.

In 1972 Dr. Ramirez was selected to chair UNO's Committee on Mexican- American Affairs, upon whose recommendation the University hired more Hispanic faculty, administrators, and staff.

After earning his doctorate, Dr. Ramirez was hired by UNO as a professor and counselor, where he spent decades mentoring countless Hispanic and minority students.

Dr. Ramirez went on to work as a human relations specialist at Omaha Public Schools, where he recruited Hispanic teachers from across the country to teach and mentor Omaha's Latino students.

Additionally, today I would like to recognize the Latino Center of the Midlands for celebrating 50 years of serving Omaha's Hispanic community.

The Latino Center is an education and social service nonprofit located in South Omaha, the heart of Omaha's Latino community.

Founded officially in 1971 as the Chicano Awareness Center, their work is rooted in advocacy for and service to Omaha's Latino community. Their three major programs, Family and Community Well-Being, Pathways to Success, and Workforce Education and Innovation impact over 2,500 individuals and families a year. Currently it is led by Albert Varas.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, no other two individuals and organization are deserving for our recognition than Bob Campos, Dr. Jim Ramirez, and the Latino Center. Together they demonstrate for all Americans, especially Latino Americans, that through hard work, perseverance, and faith, anything is possible.

I am pleased to announce that Bob Campos, Dr. Jim Ramirez, and the Latino Center of the Midlands have been selected as the inaugural inductees to the Nebraska Hispanic Hall of Fame, established this year by the Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with my office, where their stories and many others will be shared for centuries to come.

Thank you, Bob and Jim, and the Latino Center, for making a difference in our great community.

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