Dems block bid to defund Cesar Chavez monument despite child sexual abuse allegations

Cesar Chavez, head of the United Farm Workers, makes a point in a press conference in Sacramento.(Getty Images)

“Due to Senator Heinrich’s shameful actions, the Cesar E.Chavez National Monument — a known crime scene where much of Chavez’s abhorrent abuse of women and girls occurred — will continue to operate on the American people’s dime, and it is sickening,� 

But the effort was blocked by Sen.Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., who acknowledged the alleged abuse on the Senate floor Tuesday and said it “necessarily and profoundly changes Cesar Chavez’s legacy and how he should be remembered.”

While he agreed there should not be amonument named after Chavez,Heinrich warned that removing it would erase the stories of farm laborers and sweep his “violence under the rug.”

“When we learn shocking or terrible things about our history, the right answer is to tell the truth — never to hide it,” Heinrich said.“I’m concerned that what my colleague from Texas is proposing could do just that: Hide the truth about Cesar Chavez and, unfortunately, the incredible farmworker movement with it.”

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Sen.John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas.(Jack Myer/AP)

Heinrich’s move to block the legislation came the same day two members of the House — former Reps.Eric Swalwell,D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas — resigned from Congress over allegations of sexual misconduct.

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Cornyn’s No Funding to Honor Crime Scenes Act, which made its way through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee — where Heinrich is the top Democrat — is part of a broader push to erase Chavez’s name from several physical manifestations of his legacy.

“It is mind-boggling that anyone would want to keep Cesar Chavez’s name on a national monument honoring the very spot where he is accused of assaulting women and children,�“Democrats should be ashamed.”

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Sen.Martin Heinrich arrives for a hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The bill would have abolished the Cesar E.Chavez National Monument, which was created by former PresidentBarack Obamain 2012 to honor the late labor activist, by requiring Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to sell off the federal land on which it sits.

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That would include selling Chavez’s home and the contents of his personal office, where some of the alleged abuse occurred.

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The legislation would also require that any federal funds allocated to the monument be redirected to provide law enforcement resources for forensic analysis of crime scenes and untested rape kits — a measure Cornyn worked on with Sen.Amy Klobuchar,D-Minn., to reauthorize in 2024.

S.Senate.