2026年4月16日 美国东部时间7:30 / 福克斯新闻
参议院民主党人否决了一项旨在取消资助并拆除一座纪念知名劳工联盟活动家的纪念碑的提案，该活动家近日曝出连环性侵的重磅指控。
得克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁试图推动一项法案，取消对塞萨尔·查韦斯纪念碑的资助。查韦斯是美国农场工人联合会的联合创始人，该纪念碑位于加利福尼亚州，坐落在他曾经的住宅以及其劳工运动起源的土地上。
查韦斯曾是广受尊敬的人物，尤其在民主党群体中，直到3月《纽约时报》曝出重磅报道，详细披露了他一系列性行为不端的指控，包括虐待和引诱未成年人。据称受害者在他去世后一直保持沉默。
加莱戈参议员称与斯威尔韦尔的长期友谊“影响了我的判断”，华盛顿谣言四起
美国农场工人联合会主席塞萨尔·查韦斯在萨克拉门托的新闻发布会上发表讲话。(盖蒂图片社)
“由于海因里希参议员的可耻行径，塞萨尔·E·查韦斯国家纪念碑——一个已知的犯罪现场，查韦斯对女性和女童的骇人虐待大多发生于此——将继续用美国纳税人的钱运作，这令人作呕，”科宁告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
但该提案遭到新墨西哥州民主党参议员马丁·海因里希的否决。海因里希周二在参议院全体会议上承认了所指控的虐待行为，并表示这“必然且深刻地改变了塞萨尔·查韦斯的遗产，以及人们应该如何纪念他”。
尽管他也同意不应再存在以查韦斯命名的纪念碑，但海因里希警告称，拆除纪念碑将抹去农场劳工的故事，并将他的“暴力行为掩盖起来”。
“当我们了解到关于我们历史上令人震惊或可怕的事情时，正确的做法是讲述真相——绝不是掩盖真相，”海因里希说。“我担心我的德克萨斯州同事提出的提案可能恰恰会做到这一点：掩盖关于塞萨尔·查韦斯的真相，不幸的是，也会掩盖这场了不起的农场工人运动的真相。”
斯威尔韦尔在国会任职13年后因性侵指控辞职
得克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁于2026年3月3日在得克萨斯州奥斯汀向媒体发表讲话。(杰克·迈尔/美联社)
海因里希否决该提案的同一天，众议院两名议员——前加利福尼亚州民主党众议员埃里克·斯威尔韦尔和得克萨斯州共和党众议员托尼·冈萨雷斯——因性行为不端指控辞职。
科宁的《不为犯罪现场纪念场所提供资金法案》已在参议院能源与自然资源委员会获得通过，海因里希是该委员会的资深民主党议员。这项法案是消除查韦斯名字在多项标志性遗产中存在的整体行动的一部分。
“居然有人想要保留塞萨尔·查韦斯的名字在国家纪念碑上，而这座纪念碑正是他被指控性侵女性和儿童的地点，这令人难以置信，”参议院能源与自然资源委员会主席、犹他州共和党参议员迈克·李告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。“民主党人应该感到羞耻。”
冈萨雷斯在丑闻引发重新驱逐威胁后辞职
2022年7月19日，华盛顿特区，马丁·海因里希（D-NM）参议员抵达位于德克森参议院办公楼的参议院能源与自然资源委员会听证会现场。(安娜·蒙尼迈尔/盖蒂图片社)
该法案将废除塞萨尔·E·查韦斯国家纪念碑——该纪念碑由前总统巴拉克·奥巴马于2012年设立，以纪念这位已故劳工活动家——具体措施为要求内政部长道格·伯古姆出售纪念碑所在的联邦土地。
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这包括出售查韦斯的住宅和他个人办公室的物品，部分指控的虐待行为就发生在该办公室内。
该法案还要求将分配给该纪念碑的所有联邦资金重新定向，用于为犯罪现场取证分析和未检测的强奸试剂盒提供执法资源——这是科宁与明尼苏达州民主党参议员艾米·克洛布查尔于2024年合作重新授权的一项举措。
亚历克斯·米勒是福克斯新闻数字频道记者，负责报道美国参议院事务。
Dems block bid to defund Cesar Chavez monument despite child sexual abuse allegations
April 16, 2026 7:30am EDT / Fox News
Senate Democrats blocked an attempt to defund and abolish a monument to a prominent labor union activist who was recently hit with bombshell allegations of being a serial predator.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tried to pass legislation that would have defunded the monument to Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers. The monument sits in California on property that was once his home and where his labor movement was born.
Chavez was once a revered figure, particularly among Democrats, until a bombshell New York Times report in March detailed allegations of a pattern of sexual misconduct, including abusing and grooming minors. The alleged victims had stayed silent even after his death.
SENATOR GALLEGO SAYS LONGTIME FRIENDSHIP WITH SWALWELL ‘CLOUDED MY JUDGMENT’ AS RUMORS SWIRLED IN DC
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,” Cornyn told Fox News Digital.
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 a monument 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.”
SWALWELL OUT AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS AFTER 13 YEARS IN CONGRESS
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media Tuesday, 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.
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,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital. “Democrats should be ashamed.”
GONZALES RESIGNS IN WAKE OF RENEWED EXPULSION THREAT AFTER SCANDAL
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) arrives to a hearing with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 19, 2022 in Washington, DC.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The bill would have abolished the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, which was created by former President Barack Obama in 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.
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.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
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