Frank Tejeda served slightly more than two terms as
a Texas Representative in the U.S. House before his
life was cut short by a severe illness. Tejeda was a
decorated U.S. Marine with a long and influential career in
the Texas state legislature when he arrived in Washington.
Tejeda’s military service, in which he specialized in
national security, greatly influenced his career in politics.
His humble beginnings led to his desire to improve
conditions in his majority-Hispanic district. “His story is
very much the American story, about the ingenuity and
creativity of one man’s rise from obscurity to power,” said
Representative Solomon Ortiz of Texas after his colleague
died in 1997.1
Frank Mariano Tejeda was born in San Antonio, Texas,
on October 2, 1945, to Frank Tejeda, Sr., a disabled
veteran of World War II, and Lillie Tejeda, a housekeeper
and an employee of a local beauty shop.2 Tejeda attended
St. Leo’s Catholic School and then Harlandale High
School, a public school in San Antonio’s South Side. In
1963, at age 17, he dropped out of school and joined the
Marine Corps.3 This “was probably the turning point in
my life,” Tejeda reflected later.4 His valiant tour of duty in
Vietnam earned him a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. “I
was a grunt, and proud of it,” Tejeda recalled. “I wouldn’t
have it any other way.”5 He credited his Marine service
and guidance from his parents as the primary factors
that helped him overcome a difficult childhood in an
impoverished neighborhood. “They always instilled in me
that many people can deprive you of many things … but
you can never be deprived of an education,” Tejeda said of
his parents.6 Heeding their advice, Tejeda attained his high
school equivalency degree while serving in the Marines;
upon his return to San Antonio in 1967, he enrolled at St.
Mary’s University, graduating with a B.A. in 1970. Tejeda
went on to law school at the University of California at Berkeley, receiving his J.D. in 1974. He returned to San
Antonio after law school to work as an attorney, remaining
in the Marine Reserves and eventually earning the rank of
major. Tejeda married Cecelia Gaitan; the couple had three
children, Marissa, Sonya, and Frank III, before divorcing.7
In 1976, at age 31, Tejeda won a seat in the Texas state
house of representatives in a district that included the
South Side of San Antonio. “I’d see the streets that never
got repaired, the poor drainage,” Tejeda said, explaining
why he ran for political office. “I’d see other people get
things done because they had influence. I got involved
because it was the only way, I felt, to get things done.”8
Auguring the bipartisan support he enjoyed throughout
his career, his first campaign contribution from outside
his family came from Lamar Smith, who chaired the
Bexar County Republican Party before joining Tejeda
in the U.S. House.9 Tejeda spent a decade in the Texas
house before advancing to the state senate. While serving
in the legislature, Tejeda continued working as a lawyer
and pursued two advanced degrees. In 1980 he obtained
a Master’s of Public Administration degree from Harvard,
and in 1989 he earned an LL.M. degree from Yale.
In the state legislature, Tejeda developed a reputation as
a dedicated and tenacious public servant. Tejeda pledged
to “serve all the people and all groups and to serve the
South Side to the best of my ability,” and his concern for
his constituents contributed to his solid voting base and
popularity.10 He also cultivated alliances with politicians
from San Antonio’s South Side and emerged as a leader of a
formidable political coalition with a strong grass-roots base
aimed at reform and community activism.11 Tejeda rejected
criticism that the association he helped create resembled
a political machine. “It’s just a group of people concerned
about how people live,” he said. “There’s no formal
meetings, no divvying up of political spoils. We talk with each other about problems and keep each other honest to
a commitment to the South Side.”12 During his 16 years in
the Texas house and senate, Tejeda attempted to boost state
aid for women- and minority-owned businesses, sought
to provide housing for veterans, and backed increased
government protection of voting rights for minority
groups. Tejeda also championed worker’s compensation
reform, leading to a direct confrontation with the state’s
trial lawyers, who were unhappy about new arbitration
guidelines that prevented civil law suits.13 In 1990 Texas
attorneys groups helped finance a primary challenger
against Tejeda, but he ultimately prevailed with more than
three-quarters of the vote.14
Texas gained three U.S. congressional seats as a result
of reapportionment after the 1990 Census; a high rate
of population growth ensured that at least one new seat
would come from heavily Hispanic South Texas. The
newly created district, anchored in Bexar County, included
Tejeda’s political base in the Harlandale neighborhood
as well as Republican-leaning northeastern San Antonio,
which was mostly white and middle class. The district
stretched south from San Antonio to a predominantly
Hispanic region of Texas on the Mexican border with a
high unemployment rate and many residents below the
poverty line.15 The seasoned Texas politician faced no
opposition from his own party or from the Republicans
when he declared his intent to run for the House in the
1992 elections, demonstrating his political strength. With
no major-party contenders, Tejeda’s campaign focused less
on specific policy topics than on his style of governing.
“My message is that I’m a hard worker, I’m a caring and
compassionate individual,” Tejeda noted. “And I will
listen. I’m here to serve the people, not to dictate.”16 In the
November election, Tejeda squared off against Libertarian
Party candidate David Slatter, a field service engineer.17
Tejeda easily defeated Slatter, earning 87 percent of the
vote. Although the national and state political environments
diverged from the Democratic Party in the 1994 midterm
elections, Tejeda sailed to victory. The Republicans
nominated Slatter. The incumbent prevailed by more than
45,000 votes, capturing 71 percent of the final tally.18
Reflecting his personal background and his interest in
national security policy, Tejeda received assignments to the
Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. During
his short tenure in the House, Tejeda focused much of
his attention on the military and veterans. In 1993 he
enthusiastically backed increased disability compensation
for veterans, their dependents, and surviving family
members. “We owe a tremendous debt to those disabled
veterans who stood the long watches and sacrificed for our
Nation’s defense,” Tejeda reminded his House colleagues.19
During the 103rd Congress (1993–1995) and again in the
104th Congress (1995–1997), the Texas Representative
introduced legislation to increase educational assistance
and opportunities for veterans.
A lifelong Democrat, Tejeda earned a reputation as
an independent thinker. Though a strong supporter of
increased federal funding for education and initiatives
to combat poverty, he also opposed gun control and
military budget cuts.20 Asked if he thought his positions
aligned better with those of the Republican Party, Tejeda
responded, “I didn’t go to Washington to march in
lockstep with the president or the party.”21 While in the
House, Tejeda did break from the Democratic majority
and Democratic President William J. (Bill) Clinton on
certain issues. He voted against President Clinton’s highly
publicized crime bill and against the Brady Bill, which
restricted the purchase of handguns. In 1993 he came out
against “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” the President’s proposal to
allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military provided
they did not reveal their sexual orientation. “I don’t know
if anything would be changed,” Tejeda commented. “My
bottom line is looking at military effectiveness.”22
Preferring to work behind the scenes and out of the
limelight, Tejeda had a reserved personality and a strong
work ethic that complemented his focus on constituent
service, the hallmark of his tenure in Congress. As a
Representative, he often worked on routine affairs for his
constituents, such as sorting out their problems with Social
Security or Veterans Administration benefits. “You know
that you’ve helped someone,” he explained. “And you know
that in the long run it will be politically helpful, too.”23 Tejeda rarely made speeches on the House Floor, adopting
a more vocal role in the House only when he believed
it would benefit his district. During his first term, for
example, he made an impassioned plea to his colleagues to
vote in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). “If we do not take advantage of this tremendous
opportunity, Japan and the European Economic
Community certainly will,” Tejeda said. “Let us not slam
the window shut on our children’s economic futures.”24
Tejeda’s vote in favor of NAFTA reflected his belief that the
agreement would open up economic opportunities for his
district, which hugged the Mexican border.25
During his second term in the House, Tejeda focused
on a matter that was of great importance to his district
and to the state of Texas. By the 1990s, San Antonio’s
Kelly Air Force Base, which dated from World War I,
was the Air Force’s oldest continuously active air field.26
It also had developed into a crucial component of San
Antonio’s economy. The largest single-site employer in
Tejeda’s job-starved district, it helped build San Antonio’s
Hispanic middle class.27 When Tejeda first entered the
House, Kelly employed half the Hispanics in the air
force.28 As the Cold War wound down, hopes for a “peace
dividend” led Congress to create the Base Realignment
and Closure Commission (BRAC). The purpose of the
commission was to provide an “objective, non-partisan,
and independent review and analysis” of Department of
Defense recommendations of military bases that could be
consolidated or closed without compromising national
security. Congress could reject the BRAC list by passing
a resolution of disapproval but could not modify the
recommendations.29 Kelly Air Force Base had survived
three BRAC cuts, but the 1995 list recommended its
closure, since San Antonio had five military bases. Joined
by colleagues from California, which also had several
bases on the 1995 BRAC list, Tejeda launched a longshot
effort to persuade Congress to reject the BRAC
recommendations. He received little support, however,
and on July 26, 1995, by a 43 to 10 tally, the National
Security Committee (later named the Armed Services
Committee) rejected Tejeda’s motion to disapprove of the BRAC recommendations.30 Despite the defeat, Tejeda
carried his fight to the House Floor, where he contended
that the commission had overlooked significant security
and economic concerns. “I have no illusions about the final
outcome of this matter,” Tejeda admitted. “It is the bottom
of the ninth and we are behind by a lot of runs. But this
does not mean we give up and walk off the field.”31 On
September 8, 1995, the House rebuffed Tejeda’s resolution
to set aside the BRAC recommendations by a vote of 343
to 75. “It’s over,” Tejeda conceded after the vote. “We’ll
take the lemons that have been handed to us and make
some outstanding lemonade.”32 The Congressman moved
on to explore ways of privatizing the base’s operations,
hoping to preserve as many local jobs as possible.33
Tejeda’s attempt to save Kelly Air Force Base was his
last significant political venture. After experiencing severe
headaches in the fall of 1995, Tejeda went for a medical
checkup; doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor. In
October 1995, surgeons removed 90 percent of the tumor
but could not reach the remainder, which was lodged in
Tejeda’s left temporal lobe. Doctors told the 50-year-old
Tejeda that he would need at least six weeks to recuperate,
but he returned to the House Floor only two weeks after
surgery, just before a roll call vote on a Republican proposal
to reduce Medicare funding. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas interrupted the proceedings to acknowledge
Tejeda’s presence, and his colleagues cheered.34
Though Tejeda resumed a normal schedule for most of
1996, during the fall campaign for his third term in the
House his health deteriorated. Speaking and completing
his thoughts became increasingly difficult. “If you’ve heard
me speak recently, you may have noticed a few changes,”
he said. “I know exactly what I want to say, but the words
just don’t come out like I want.”35 Despite the setback,
Tejeda easily defeated his opponents, Republican Mark
Cude, a local businessman, and third-party candidate
Clifford Finley—with 75 percent of the vote—for a seat in
the 105th Congress (1997–1999).36
In December 1996, Tejeda’s doctors discovered that
his brain tumor had metastasized; surgery was impossible.
Since Tejeda’s poor health prevented him from traveling to Washington for the beginning of the 105th Congress,
the House allowed a judge in San Antonio to swear him
in for a third term.37 “I’ll do my best to recuperate quickly
and join my colleagues in the House chamber,” Tejeda
promised in a statement. “The Marine in me intends to
attack this thing with full vigor.”38 But the cancer had
spread, and 17 months after his initial diagnosis, Tejeda
passed away in San Antonio on January 30, 1997, at age
51. The next day, Navy Secretary John Dalton announced
that Tejeda would be posthumously awarded the Silver
Star for his efforts to save a wounded Marine in Vietnam.
“What made Frank special was his quiet and unpretentious
manner despite his distinguished accomplishments,” New
Mexico Congressman Bill Richardson said upon hearing of
his colleague’s death.39 President Clinton also reflected on
the Texas Representative’s passing: “He endeared himself
to all who knew him, always looking out for the best
interests of his constituents, members of the military, and
the Hispanic and veterans’ communities in particular.”40
Tejeda was buried with full military honors at the Fort Sam
Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.41
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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