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Congressional Hispanic Caucus members in 1984.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
comprises 23 Democratic members and
one independent member of the United States Congress of Hispanic descent. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing
and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting
Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico. The CHC was founded in
December 1976 as a legislative service organization of the United States House
of Representatives. Today, the CHC is organized as a
Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the
U.S. House of Representatives.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus aims to address national and
international issues and the impact these policies have on the
Hispanic community. The function of the Caucus is to serve as a
forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a
collective legislative agenda. In addition to covering legislative
action, the CHC also monitors Executive and Judicial
issues.
CHC legislative priorities cover all areas that have a direct
impact on the Hispanic community. In order to best address these
diverse issues, members work in a smaller task force that draws on their expertise and
develops priority legislation within each area. The CHC is
currently composed entirely of Democrats, although it had been a
bipartisan organization since its founding. The Hispanic Republican
members left in the late 1990's over policy differences and, in
2003, formed their own group, the Congressional Hispanic
Conference. Senator Bob Menendez, a Cuban-American Democrat
from New Jersey, is
currently the only member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from
the Senate.
History
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) was organized in 1976 by
five Hispanic Congressmen: Herman Badillo (NY), Baltasar Corrada del Río (PR),
Kika de la
Garza (TX), Henry B. Gonzalez (TX) and Edward Roybal (CA), to serve as a
legislative organization through which legislative action, as well
as executive and judicial actions, could be monitored to ensure the
needs of Hispanics were being met. The goal was to work in
conjunction with other groups, both inside and outside Congress, to
strengthen Federal commitment to Hispanics and heighten the
community's awareness of the operation and function of the American
political system.
In October 1981, the House
Committee on House Administration drafted new regulations
stipulating that fundraising activities were to be moved off all
government premises. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
decided to maintain a legislative support organization on Capitol Hill, the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, and moved the non-profit, fundraising organization, today
known as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Inc. to a new
residence.
Past
Chairs
Controversies
On January 31, 2007, a story on the Politico.com website
reported that Rep. Joe
Baca had called Rep. Loretta Sanchez a "whore" in a
conversation with Speaker
of the California Assembly Fabian Núñez, prompting Sanchez to resign
from the CHC. Rep. Baca has denied this charge,[1] but two
other CHC members, Linda Sánchez (Loretta's sister) and Hilda Solis, expressed
support for Loretta Sanchez.[2] In the
case of Solis, Baca called her "'a kiss-up' to Speaker Nancy Pelosi," for
which he has apologized to Solis both privately and publicly.[3
]
A year prior to the "whore" incident, The CHC's Political action committee
gave $3,000 to Joe Baca's children's campaigns for state offices in
California. Although Baca recused himself from the decision to make
the contributions, six members of the caucus criticized the
decision, saying that CHC's PAC should support only federal
candidates. Consequently, on November 15, 2006, when Joe Baca was
elected chair of the CHC, Solis and the Sanchez sisters challenged
his election, saying that the voting should have been done by a
secret ballot.[3
]
On Monday, April 2, 2007, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez
closed her offices in honor of César Estrada Chávez Day, a state holiday
in California (which fell on a Saturday that year). CHC chair Baca
made the following comment on Sánchez's decision to close the
office "I believe the best way to observe César Estrada Chávez Day
is not by taking the day off from work or school."[4] On
April 12, Linda Sánchez announced that she had "suspended her
membership in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, citing a need for
'structural reforms to ensure that the caucus is more equitable and
inclusive of all its members.'" She specifically stated that her
decision "was not based on personal animus directed at Baca."[5]
Membership
Officers
Other
Membership
Current
References
- ^
Sanchez Accuses Democrat of
Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group at Politico.com
- ^
Two More Reps. Complain About
Treatment of Women in Hispanic Caucus at Politico.com
- ^
a
b Women Call for Change in
Caucus at The Washington Post
- ^
Rep. Baca wags finger at
Sanchez for closing office for César Chávez Day at The
Hill
- ^
Linda Sanchez Leaves Hispanic
Caucus at Politico.com
See also
External
links
| Current members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus |
|
| House |
Joe Baca ( CA-43) (D), Xavier Becerra
( CA-31) (D), Dennis Cardoza
( CA-18) (D), Jim Costa ( CA-20) (D), Henry Cuellar ( TX-28) (D), Charles A.
Gonzalez ( TX-20) (D), Raúl Grijalva
( AZ-07) (D), Luis V.
Gutiérrez ( IL-04) (D), Rubén Hinojosa ( TX-15) (D), Ben R. Luján ( NM-03) (D), Grace
Napolitano ( CA-38) (D), Solomon P.
Ortiz ( TX-27) (D), Ed Pastor ( AZ-04) (D), Pedro Pierluisi
( PR-At
large) (D), Silvestre Reyes ( TX-16) (D), Ciro Rodriguez
( TX-23) (D), Lucille
Roybal-Allard ( CA-34) (D), Gregorio Sablan
( MP-At large) (D), John Salazar ( CO-03) (D), Linda Sánchez
( CA-39) (D), José Serrano ( NY-16) (D), Albio Sires ( NJ-13) (D), Nydia
Velázquez ( NY-12) (D)
|
|
| Senate |
|
|
| Chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus |
|
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|
 |
|
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