Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s bid to quickly abolish a national monument in California honoring the late César Chávez hit a roadblock on Monday, amid debate about whether the site should be preserved to honor the farmworkers movement.
Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) blocked an effort to fast-track Cornyn’s bill, S. 4205, the “No Funding to Honor Crime Scenes Act,” saying the measure fails to consider the entirety of the farmworkers movement.
Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) introduced the legislation last month in the wake of revelations by The New York Times that the late labor leader sexually abused women and girls.
“You can’t separate the name of Cesar Chavez from this monument, because it is his house. It is his grave site and a memorial garden,” Cornyn said, referring to the 2-acre site in Keene, California, owned by the federal government. “This is literally a crime scene.”
