For 43 Years, Roybal Has ‘Fought for His People’

As a newly elected Los Angeles city councilman in 1949 and the first Latino to serve in that post this century, Edward R. Roybal had prepared a self-introductory speech for his first council meeting. He recalls being introduced as “our new Mexican councilman who also speaks Mexican.”

“I discarded my prepared speech,” he said in a recent interview. “My mission was immediately obvious.”

Instead of his speech, he felt compelled to clear up misconceptions about his heritage and language. “I’m not Mexican,” he pointed out to fellow councilmen and assembled supporters. “I am a Mexican-American. And I don’t speak a word of Mexican. I speak Spanish.”

That also became a signal to him: If the city’s political leaders did not understand fundamental traits of its Latino residents, then they could not possibly understand the community’s specific needs. It became his role, Roybal recalled, to educate his fellow public officials and pay special attention to what he felt were the long-neglected needs of his largely Latino constituencies.

This signal guided him through his pioneering 43-year career as a public servant, a career that ended this month with his retirement. He served 13 years on the Los Angeles City Council and 30 years in the House of Representatives.

During his long congressional career, he concentrated his efforts on legislation and funding for health, education and related matters. “As the ranking member of the labor, health and human services and education subcommittee (of the House Appropriations Committee), I had the opportunity to steer research funds into health and aging and to fund educational programs, like bilingual education for Hispanics and schools for the American Indian community,” he said.

Health issues are especially important to Latinos because many have no health insurance and cannot afford the high cost of health care. Another focal point has been education-related issues because Latinos in public high schools have an alarmingly high dropout rate at a time when education plays an increasingly large role in the work force, the 77-year-old former legislator said.

In recognition of the legacy he leaves in public office, three major facilities in Los Angeles bear his name: the new Edward R. Roybal Institute of Applied Gerontology on the Cal State L.A. campus, the Edward R. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center in East Los Angeles, and the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building downtown at Temple Boulevard and Alameda Avenue.

His interest in health issues stems in part from his early career in health care, where he worked in communicable diseases. He began as a member of a mobile X-ray unit that gave tuberculosis tests and became director of health education for the Los Angeles County Tuberculosis and Health Assn.

He studied accounting at UCLA and Southwestern University, which gave him a good background for his legislative work in appropriations, he said.

When he was on the City Council he ran for the County Board of Supervisors in 1958 and appeared to have won the election. However, Ernest Debs was given the victory in a disputed recount after more ballots surfaced.

Roybal served on the City Council until 1962, when he was elected to Congress. It took another 23 years for the next Latino, Richard Alatorre, to be elected to the City Council in 1985. Roybal’s 30-year congressional career is the second-longest for a Latino, after Texas Democrat Henry B. Gonzalez’s 32 years.

During his tenure, Roybal became a member of Congress’ “college of cardinals,” a prestigious group whose members include chairmen of the House subcommittees. Roybal was chair of the treasury, postal service and general government subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee.

This month’s convening of the 103rd Congress brings together more Latino legislators than ever. Nationally, 17 Latinos, including four from California, hold congressional seats, an increase of more than 50% from the 11 of the previous Congress.

But, despite the greater numbers, freshman Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard believes that her father’s retirement “leaves a tremendous void in Congress that will be difficult to fill. He not only served as the eyes and ears of the Latino community, but also its heart,” she said.

Juana Gutierrez, longtime community activist and president of the Mothers of East Los Angeles-Santa Isabel chapter, said Roybal “set a good example of a legislator who fought for his people.”

Bert Corona, executive director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, an organization that helps Latino immigrants integrate into American society through education, said Roybal helped pave the way to the adoption of health and education programs that help many disadvantaged Latinos.

Corona said that through Roybal’s role in appropriations subcommittees, several national programs were funded that help Latinos weave more easily into the national fabric.

As examples of Roybal’s contributions, Corona cited bilingual education measures, the inclusion of farm workers in Social Security Administration programs, health care for the disadvantaged and elderly, and his family unification plan, which allows immigrants in the United States to be quickly joined by their immediate family members.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), the successor in Roybal’s district (now geographically modified and known as the 30th District because of reapportionment), says that some of this session’s priorities, such as reauthorization of education bills, follow directly from the foundations laid by Roybal. Becerra’s priorities also include the need to promote small business as a means of stimulating job growth.

After nearly a half-century of public life, Roybal’s presence will continue to be felt after his retirement. He will serve as adviser-in-residence, on a volunteer basis, for the gerontology research center at Cal State L.A. The Roybal Institute of Applied Gerontology, which is operating in temporary quarters on campus, will be moved to its permanent location in April.

The center serves the elderly through three major components: faculty members’ research into problems of the elderly; educational programs, including scholarships for advanced study and a certificate program for nurses and other health care professionals, and community services, such as off-site, care-giving workshops on many aspects of advanced age. Most funding for this center comes from corporate contributions.

Aside from his special interest in care for the elderly, Roybal feels there is much legislative work to be done with regard to funding the battle against communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and AIDS. He feels that there should be more funding for immunization programs and research into diabetes, which affects Latinos to a significantly greater degree than the general population.

Roybal’s congressional tenure was not without its low points. In 1978 he was reprimanded by his colleagues in Congress for allegedly lying about a $1,000 gift he received from a Korean lobbyist. Roybal says this issue had complex overtones, including discrimination against him. But he rallied strong support from leaders outside Congress and continued to be reelected for a dozen years until he decided last year to step down and return with his wife to Los Angeles.