WASHINGTON, D.C.—Tonight, Rep. Greg Stanton led the U.S. House of Representatives in a moment of silence in memory of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva. He was joined by bipartisan members of the Arizona delegation, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
In his remarks, Stanton highlighted Rep. Grijalva’s legacy of unrelenting activism, mentorship for next generation of leaders, and love for his community.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today—alongside his colleagues in the Arizona delegation, alongside the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus and many others—to mourn the loss of a giant and the dean of our delegation, Raúl Grijalva.
Raúl’s story is the American dream. He was the proud son of a vaquero cowboy from Mexico who went on to become the president of the Tucson Unified School District governing board, chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, an 11 term United States Congressman, and the dean of our Arizona delegation.
Raúl’s story is the American dream. He was the proud son of a vaquero cowboy from Mexico who went on to become the president of the Tucson Unified School District governing board, chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, an 11 term United States Congressman, and the dean of our Arizona delegation.
His accomplishments in this body are too numerous to list . . . we’d be here all night. But it’s his legacy of fighting for environmental causes that stands out. As Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Raúl led the charge to protect America’s public lands including the Grand Canyon, to protect our most precious resources—including our water—and stood up for Tribal sovereignty.
He’d been a mainstay in these Capitol hallways for more than two decades, but Raúl remained an activist at heart. And he never forgot where he came from, or the people who got him where he was.
Raúl brought the lessons he learned as a Chicano activist in Tucson in the 70s to Washington, where he led the Progressive Caucus for more than a decade . . . leading the charge for immigrants and working people.
Raúl spoke truth to power. . . but in his quiet way, and always with good humor.
Perhaps Raúl's greatest legacy is the generation of Latino leaders he mentored—many of whom stand beside me, and many more that fill city halls, county seats and school boards back home. As Raúl would say, ‘It’s all about the love.’
Raúl spent more than half a century working on behalf of Southern Arizona, until the very end. Rest now, my friend.