Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 - (Page 27)

HE: Do you predict a Democratic sweep of both the House and Senate? NP: There is a real excitement surrounding Democrats this year and people are excited about the new direction that Democrats have taken our country. I predict that we will gain seats in Congress come November. We’ve accomplished a lot in the past 12 months, and we can do a lot more with a Democratic president and larger majorities in both chambers of Congress. Susan Walsh AP and has always provided a platform for minorities to help drive the direction of our nation. This is evident in the 110th Congress, where 25 of the 30 Hispanics serving in Congress are Democrats, and more Hispanics than ever before are serving in key leadership positions. Thanks to their hard work, Democrats are making Congress work for Hispanics, and indeed all Americans, across the nation. In our ﬁrst year in the majority we have increased the minimum wage, giving 2.3 million hardworking Hispanic Americans a raise. We made the largest investment in education since the GI Bill in 1944, making college more affordable for 1.8 million Hispanic students. We provided the Veterans Administration with the largest increase in funding in its 77year history, expanding beneﬁts for the 1.1 million Hispanic veterans; and we’ve expanded affordable housing for more than 100,000 families. shown that he is out of touch with the values and priorities of this country. He has been unwilling to compromise on critical issues for our country and Republicans in Congress have backed him every step of the way. HE: Can the House reverse the bills and legislation Bush has vetoed? NP: Unfortunately, for the most part we’ve been unable to override the President’s vetoes, the exception being the Water Resources Development Act, which will help our country make critical investments in infrastructure. Whether it was setting a timetable for the responsible redeployment of our troops or providing health care to more than 10 million children—the President has repeatedly HISPANIC ENTERPRISE HE: Where do you stand on immigration? How should we deal with this contentious problem? NP: Last year, efforts were made to ﬁnd a bipartisan consensus on comprehensive immigration reform legislation, which included the following principles: to secure our borders, unite our families, strengthen our economy, protect workers’ rights, and bring everyone out of the shadows. This was one of the issues where we were hoping to work together with President Bush. However, he was unable to get Republicans—who unfortunately wanted to use immigration as a divisive political issue—to support com- prehensive immigration reform. There remains a strong need to ﬁx our broken immigration system. We operate in a challenging environment that makes progress difﬁcult, but Democrats will continue to work to build support for a comprehensive and bipartisan approach to immigration reform. HE: Do you have timetable for Iraq? NP: A majority of Americans and of Congress oppose the war. The House has repeatedly passed legislation to bring the troops home, but it’s been blocked by Republicans in the Senate. I expected that, having heard the voice of the people in the last election, Republicans in Congress would have responded to their wishes. Instead, they have dug in and continue to support the President’s plan for a 10-year, $1 trillion war. But we will never stop ﬁghting to bring an end to the war in Iraq. 27 February/March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 Contents Briefcase: BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Briefcase: Trendsetters Briefcase: BIZTECH: Virtually Meeting BizLife: Travel: Madrid's New Attraction Q & A: Mi Case es su Casa Hispanic Commerce: The Agenda Cover Story: The Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity Technology: Hispanic Web 2.0 Success & Motivation: Sweetening the Deal Politics & Government: The Rescue Generation Managing: The Method Franchising: The Hispanic Face of Franchising Chamber Focus: It's Showtime Movers & Shakers: Open for Business Finance & Investing: Getting Your 401(K) on Target

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

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