I rise today to join my colleagues in recognizing the passing of Cesar Chavez. A great friend of labor and civil rights. Chavez dedicated his life to improving the conditions under which migrant farmworkers and other laborers toil the land in California. From the fields of the fertile San Joaquin Valley. he rose to become a leader in the struggle for human and civil rights in our society. Chavez was no stranger to the plight of migrant farmworkers. Because his family lost their farm during the Depression. he began moving at a young age from one migrant camp to another. harvesting crops in the arid valleys of California. In 1965. he burst onto the national scene as the president of the fledgling United Farm Workers Union. Influenced by the teachings of Gandhi. he effectively used strikes and fasts to fight growers and shippers who for decades refused to allow farmworkers to unionize.