ther one by the department of audit and controls. These are both -xcellent and comprehensive. In addition, we have an association of town which keeps the townhips of New York pretty current on programs of aid to them. We have the New York State Conference of Mayors, which provides the same service for villages and cities in the State. And, of course, the county officers association has been quite active also. Mr. RESNICK. Mr. Crangle, I do not think you have answered my question. Again, I do not want to interrupt. Mr. CRANGLE. I answered it in the first part, Mr. Resnick. Mr. RESNICK. I am not asking if all these associations. I am asking if you have one single person so that the mayor of a small townMr. CRANGLE. Yes, the office of local government. Mr. RESNICK. No, my question concerned all of rural New York State, because I think all of us are aware of the problems rural New York State has as opposed to suburban New York State or urban New York State. The office of local government's function is-when they are asked, for example, about means to obtain a water grant-tells them what page to turn to. That is all; nothing more, nothing less. What I am asking is, is there a single person who runs an area of government that is concerned strictly with rural New York State and the problems of rural New York State and whose function it is to see that rural New York State gets its fair share of the State funds that are available and also the Federal funds that are available? Mr. CRANGLE. Well, my point is that all communities, whether rural or urban, have the problem of getting funds and there are Federal programs, and that the advice and assistance on those is given by the office of local government. Mr. RESNICK. But that is not the question that I asked. You know, nobody is going to bite you if you say no, once, honestly. The point is that there is no one. The point is that I have to go up there as a U.S. Congressman and I should not have to. But I run conferences to which I invite people to let them know what funds are available and what programs are available, because there is no one else to do it. Now, please, Mr. Crangle, will you admit that there is a need for an office like this, that rural New York State is not getting the same amount of dollars and attention that the rest of New York State is getting? Mr. CRANGLE. I have not observed it, Mr. Resnick. Mr. RESNICK. You do not think so? Mr. CRANGLE. No, sir. Mr. RESNICK. In other words, you go to Schoharie County and you look at that beautiful scenery and say everything is great in Schoharie County. They have no problems there? Mr. CRANGLE. Nothing is great everywhere, Mr. Resnick. There are problems everywhere. Mr. RESNICK. Let's put it on a relative basis. Do you not see the disparity between conditions in Schoharie County and conditions in Ulster County or Dutchess County and they are just a few miles apart? Do you not see the difference between conditions in Greene County and Ulster County and they are adjoining counties? And Greene County, if my memory serves me correctly, is second from the bottom in per capita income and next to the highest in unemployment? They are a depressed area. Do you not think that counties like that, counties in central New York, counties in upstate New York, do you not think that these people are entitled to some special help? Or do you think that the member of the board of supervisors in Schoharie County, which is a rural county, with 25,000 people is in a position to compete for Federal and State funds? Would you put them on a par with a member of the board of supervisors from Nassau County or Westchester County? Are you saying to me that they are equal and they should compete equally? Mr. CRANGLE. They are different kinds of counties, Mr. Resnick. Mr. RESNICK. Right. Mr. CRANGLE. They have different problems, different kinds of programs. Mr. RESNICK. Right. But I will ask you again, do you not think. considering the problems that they have, that there ought to be some special person to look after them considering the complexities of modern government? Mr. CRANGLE. I am not so sure that this would solve the problem, Mr. Resnick. There is also the question, of course, as you well recognize. of availability of staffing within the county, of funds to take advantage of programs Mr. RESNICK. That is the whole point I am trying to make, Mr. Crangle. Mr. CRANGLE (continuing). Of many other things. Mr. RESNICK. Mr. Crangle, that is the whole point I am trying to make, that they do not have these things that the state ought to help them to get these things. I will give you another example. I do not expect that you understand, but in Schoharie County, they have a terrible unemployment situation. And I would like the record also to state, just in order that there be no misunderstanding, there are virtually no Negroes or Puerto Ricans or other minority groups in that county. This is 100-percent, apple-pie America. There are even very few immigrants. There are very few first generation immigrants. Now, they want to help themselves. The only way we could get somebody from the State employment agency, and again I would like the record to show that it is only 45 minutes away from Albany-was to prevail on the Federal Government to lean on the State employment agency just to get them down to Schoharie County to do some manpower counseling. Now, on the basis of that, do you not think that somebody in Albany ought to be taking care of the Schoharie County, or would you not say that the office of local government is doing its job? Mr. CRANGLE. I am not in a position to make such an observation, Mr. Resnick. I think it is an unfair question to ask of me. Mr. RESNICK. In other words, all you are in a position to do is read your statement. Thank you. I yield to Mr. Goodling. Mr. GOODLING. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make one observation. Mr. Crangle, I think you made a very good statement and I am happy to hear you say that the State of New York is trying to do some hing on its own. And this is not political, because I have a constant unning fight with members of my own government in Harrisburg who are members of my own party, and who ask me to vote for everyhing they can get out of the Federal Government. I think it is time we quit doing this sort of thing and have the States do some of the things hat are a State responsibility rather than the Federal responsibility. commend you in attempting to do something in the State of New York on your own. Mr. CRANGLE. Thank you, Mr. Goodling. Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Chairman, I feel the same way Mr. Goodling loes. I want to commend the gentleman for his statement. The State s trying to do something and not depending so much on the Federal Government. The chairman mentioned yesterday, and I think it is a good point, that maybe some States should work toward an office of rural affairs. Does the State of New York have something similar to the wording, office of rural affairs Mr. CRANGLE. No sir; it does not. Mr. MONTGOMERY (continuing). That would look after rural people more? Mr. CRANGLE. No, it does not. As I tried to explain, we have always considered, you see, that the office for local government would provide the types of services required and requested from all types of local government, urban and rural. Mr. MONTGOMERY. Well, the reason for my asking the question is I believe that your planning coordination groups— Mr. CRANGLE. Yes. Mr. MONTGOMERY. So I was wondering if you had something similar to what was mentioned yesterday in this hearing. Mr. CRANGLE. No sir; we do not in New York State. Mr. MONTGOMERY. I thank the gentleman as a member of the committee for testifying here. Mr. CRANGLE. Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Mr. RESNICK. Thank you. Mr. CRANGLE. Thank you, Mr. Resnick. Mr. RESNICK. We will now hear from Mr. Dennis Chavez, Jr., of New Mexico, accompanied by Mr. Dick Connally, attorney at law, Washington, D.C. STATEMENT OF DENNIS CHAVEZ, JR., NEW MEXICO; ACCOMPANIED BY DICK CONNALLY, ATTORNEY AT LAW, WASHINGTON, D.C. Mr. CHAVEZ. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the committee, first, I wish to thank the chairman for the opportunity of being heard. Secondly, I wish to inform the committee, since I mention other States than New Mexico-I mention California and Texas specifically—that in no way do I wish to indict the people of those great States nor their representatives in this Congress nor the Administration now in power in our country. On the way here, I passed the statue of my father in the rotunda of our Capitol. I am sick, because on that statue were engraved words in Spanish, Navajo, and in English, the language of our country. The English version says, in addition to giving the place of his birth and the date, that he was a friend to all, but he championed the poor. The Spanish version says that he left an illustrious path in the hope that others would follow. The Navajo version, for they, too, are indigenous to our country and they have the same problems, is the translation into Navajo which was given to me by Jim Counnsellor, an old trader, one of the few Democratic traders on the Navajo Reservation, because, as you know, for many years, the administrations were Republican and at that time, they appointed every trader on the reservation doing business with the In dians, and they had to be Republicans. Now, I want this statement understood as nonpartisan, because we have supported Republican Governors in New Mexico, to our sorrow. In this respect, I would compliment the chairman of this subcommittee for what he said about the administration from the State level of Federal programs. It was the neglect of the use of Federal programs by the Governors, Democrats or Republicans, which my father did not like, and for that reason, he tried to change it. It was for that reason that I supported a Republican in the last election, David Cargo, who appeared before this committee. My father fought all of his life for these people mentioned in the act, a lawless act, in Tierra Amarilla, N. Mex. and I was sick because a cause for which he fought all of his life had to get attention of the Nation only because of that act. My father would writhe in his grave if he knew that helicopters and tanks and heavily armed National Guardsmen-300-the State police, led, I might say, by a good manhis name is Chavez, but he was under orders-and under a Democratic sheriff, also heavily armed-all this mite and power to run down and capture men who were old, including a girl 16 years old, and locked up in a cattle pen. They call this man Tijerina, who leads these people. They call him a tiger. Well, there is a tiger in this land, but his name is not Reyes Lopez Tijerina. Oh, no, the tiger is hunger. A tiger stalks this land. But it is lack of education, lack of jobs, and lack of hope. These people are not looters, they are not arsonists, killers. They yearn for land of their ancestors on which their ancestors for generations cut wood for their homes, on which their ancestors grazed their sheep for years and generations. And I might add at this point, I mention where the so-called revolt took place. I am an heir of that grant. My mother sits in back of me. She is a direct descendant of Antonio Manuel Martinez, the grantee of the King of Spain. She is a Martinez on her mother's side. So that makes me an heir. I am also, in passing, an heir to the Fernando Durandoz Chavez grant. Fernando Chavez was my direct ancestor. That is located in the middle of the State, what we call the Rio Abajo, on the middle Rio Grande. These people have witnessed a great social revolution since the Supreme Court integrated the schools. They have watched this and observed it. Mr. RESNICK. Excuse me, Mr. Chavez, if I may interrupt you at this point. Are you saying that New Mexico had segregated schools? Mr. CHAVEZ. Our schools were segregated. Mr. RESNICK. They were segregated before the school decision? Mr. CHAVEZ. They were not segregated, but I am approaching this ›roblem, Mr. Chairman, from the standpoint of in Mexico and the inident at Tierra Amarilla, the so-called revolt Mr. RESNICK. But you mentioned something about the Supreme Court integration decision. Mr. CHAVEZ. In our land, integrated schools, that is true. Mr. CHAVEZ. It was that applied to a minority, sir; another minority. Mr. RESNICK. I see. Thank you. Mr. CHAVEZ. They have seen other minorities attain positions of power and honor with the Federal Government. Now, since statehood in 1912, the year I was born, we have yet to witness a Gonzales, a Chavez, or a Montoya appointed to a cabinet post or solicitor general or assistant secretary of a cabinet in all this time since statehood. Now, since 1912, we have had three Federal judges appointed and two ambassadors-in all of this time. Now, I am speaking now of a Spanish-speaking minority, because this is not only the Mexican American. This will include the Puerto Rican, who is a citizen. This will include the Mexican American in California. This will include the Cuban American who has, since Castro, became an American citizen. And I assume that you know that Florida is now bilingual. And these people have become citizens. They, too, will vote. So when you are talking about the problem of Tierra Amarilla, you are talking about the whole State. Now, in Texas-we had this so-called revolt in New Mexico. In Texas, they have used Rangers led by a killer this year, Texas Rangers led by the notorious Captain Allee, to go into Taos County and force Mexican Americans to work for 40 cents an hour to pick melons, because otherwise they would lose their melon crop. Well, the AFL-CIO tried to organize these people and they were maimed and beaten and pistol-whipped by Texas Rangers led by Captain Allee, who is a known killer, a fast gun, as they call him, and whose saying goes, shoot first and talk afterwards. That this condition should exist in our country is a crying shame and a disgrace. Now, later on, I mention the present-day Texas. Now, when President Johnson was running for Senator, knowing that these areas were heavily and preponderantly Mexican American, that in the primary they would vote for him, Gov. Coke Stevenson sent the same man to Wells County, Tex., with the Rangers to grab ballot boxes, burn them, in order to destroy the real vote of the people. Now, that is history. That is known and I say it unqualifiedly. In California this year, when the same farm labor union of the AFL-CIO tried to organize the growers when the cherry crop was ready to be picked, they went in there and the growers used goons to do the same thing, to beat and maim these people. Now, Tierra Amarilla has the attention of the Nation. The Nation's press has focused upon it. You watch TV-if you do; I seldom do-by Tijerina is on that quite often, because the attention is focused on him and Tierra Amarilla. But the condition is symptomatic. It affects all of these people. Human dignity and human rights are the subject also |