Eligio "Kika" de la Garza II (September 22, 1927March 13, 2017) was an American politician who served as the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997.

Biography

De la Garza was born on September 22, 1927Texas Legislators Past and Present-Eligo de la Garza
/ref> and grew up in Mission in Hidalgo County. At the age of seventeen, he entered the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and served for two years. De la Garza chose to continue his education at Edinburg Junior College and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

Artillery School at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. For two years beginning in 1952, he was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the Army serving in the

37th Field Artillery Regiment The 37th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army, and parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System. The regiment was first constituted 5 July 1918 in the National Army. The regiment served with ...

and deployed in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. After returning home, he completed his law degree at St. Mary's University School of Law in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

. After having practiced law for several years in the

Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. ...

, he was elected to the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

, where he served from 1953 to 1965. While in the state House, de la Garza was famous for sponsoring a large amount of legislation in the fields of education and the environment. He authored bills to protect wetlands, create state-sponsored preschools, and more international bridges to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. From 1955 to 1957, he was the only Hispanic member of the Texas House. He was joined in 1957 by a second

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

member, Oscar M. Laurel of Laredo, the seat of Webb County. In 1964, de la Garza, a strong supporter of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, ran for United States House of Representatives and won a seat representing South Texas. From 1981 to 1994, he was the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, leading the way in passing bills that reorganized the agricultural lending system, the farm insurance system, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, and

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and ...

laws. De la Garza voted in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and called for smoother relations between the U.S. and Mexico. He worked to improve trade between the two nations and was critical in passing the legislation that enacted the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

(NAFTA).

Death and legacy

De la Garza retired from public service in 1997. Upon his return home to Texas, he donated his entire Congressional archive to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley legacy institution UT Pan American. Currently, the collection is housed at the UTRGV Edinburg Campus library. The archive was unveiled publicly in 2012. He resided in McAllen, Texas, with his wife Lucille until his death on March 13, 2017, of kidney failure. He is buried at the Valley Memorial Gardens in McAllen, Texas.

References

External links

Congressman de la Garza's Congressional Papers
at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley *
Digitized files
from Congressman de la Garza's Congressional Papers
Eligio de la Garza
- Legislative Reference Library of Texas * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Garza, Kika 1927 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American politicians American politicians of Mexican descent United States Army personnel of the Korean War Deaths from kidney failure Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Military personnel from Texas People from McAllen, Texas People from Mission, Texas St. Mary's University School of Law alumni United States Army officers United States Navy sailors People from Mercedes, Texas

Biography

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links