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President Obama Expected To Designate César E. Chávez National Monument On October 8

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Published Date

October 2, 2012

President Obama is expected to be in California next Monday to announce the establishment of the César E. Chávez National Monument.

The monument, which the president will designate through the authority bestowed by the Antiquities Act, "will be established on the property known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), or La Paz," according to a release from the White House. "The La Paz property is recognized worldwide for its historic link to civil rights icon César Estrada Chávez and the farm worker movement. The site served as the national headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW) as well as the home and workplace of César Chávez and his family from the early 1970s until Chávez’ death in 1993, and includes his grave site which will also be part of the monument."

“César Chávez gave a voice to poor and disenfranchised workers everywhere,” the president said in prepared remarks. “La Paz was at the center of some of the most significant civil rights moments in our nation’s history, and by designating it a national monument, Chávez’ legacy will be preserved and shared to inspire generations to come.”

From this rural headquarters in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, California, Chávez played a central role in achieving basic worker protections for hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the country, from provisions ensuring drinking water was provided to workers in the fields, to steps that helped limit workers’ exposure to dangerous pesticides, to helping to establish basic minimum wages and health care access for farm workers.

The National Chávez Center, in consultation with the United Farm Workers of America, the César Chávez Foundation and members of César Chávez’s family, offered to donate certain properties at La Paz to the federal government for the purpose of establishing a national monument commemorating César E. Chávez and the farmworker movement. This designation will represent the culmination of a process that has been under way for several years.

The César E. Chávez National Monument will encompass property that includes a Visitors’ Center containing César Chávez’s office as well as the UFW legal aid offices, the home of César and Helen Chávez, the Chávez Memorial Garden containing Chavez’s grave site, and additional buildings and structures at the La Paz campus.

The monument, which will be managed by the National Park Service in consultation with the National Chávez Center and the César Chávez Foundation, will be the fourth National Monument designated by President Obama using the Antiquities Act. He previously designated Fort Monroe National Monument in Virginia, a former Army post integral to the history of slavery, the Civil War, and the U.S. military; Fort Ord National Monument in California, a former military base that is a world-class destination for outdoor recreation; and Chimney Rock, which is located in the San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado, and offers a spectacular landscape rich in history and Native American culture.

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Comments

There's nothing new here in monument creation by the executive. An Alinskyite marxist community organizer president honors an Alinskyite marxist union organizer with an NPS site. What more should we expect? All of this while NPS core functions slide deeper into substandard territory. For the record, scores of people have had a greater impact on American history in the last 75 years. Unfortunately, they do not fit the agenda.


I am a strict constitutionalist.

I think strict constructionist is probably what you were reaching for. Then again . . .


For the record, scores of people have had a greater impact on American history in the last 75 years. Unfortunately, they do not fit the agenda.

Well, over the past century, Republican presidents have had the opportunity to invoke the Antiquities Act in order to establish a monument for the deserving you seem to have in mind. What happened?


justin. Wrong again.


He said more deserving..not deserving. As has been noted, the budget is already stretched for the truly deserving. To waste funds on this is disgraceful.


Justin. Was it a republican or democrat that created the Antiquities Act?


Actually, anon, Congress created it, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed it into law. And I might be going out on a limb, but many of today's Republicans are not Roosevelt Republicans.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/us/06oceans.html?_r=0

Wow. Those Rebulicans are out to destroy the environment. This designation is the largest ever and larger than the entire National Park system combined.

Care to spin any more fables?


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