Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month. I would like to recognize the great achievement of Latinos within their communities. America has been home to countless numbers of outstanding Latinos over time who reflect the best of our community: activists like Cesar Chavez and Joan Baez. artists like Selena and Carlos Santana. the brave women and men who have served in our armed services. and. of course. todays ambitious young DREAMers. Latinos. like all Americans. are committed to building a better and stronger future for our country and within our communities. We strive to instill a culture of hard work. of healthy living. and of academic success. Latino families recognize the importance of attaining an education in todays society. In the past decade. Latinos have worked to cut their dropout rate in half. while tripling enrollment in 2- and 4year colleges. The top degrees that we earn speak to our involvement in community: our liberal arts degrees. to help the less fortunate. to heal the sick with our healthcare degrees. to create employment with our business diplomas. In regards to health care. with the landmark Affordable Care Act. a record 2.6 million new Latinos are signed up for health care. and they are on track to leading healthier lives. But. Mr. Speaker. even with these great advances in our communities. there is still so much work to be done. Although our dropout rate is lower. we still have the highest dropout rate among all ethnic groups. Latinos have increased their scores in math and science. but we are still below the national average. And while our communities have made massive strides in putting our children in college. still only 15 percent of college degrees are in the hands of Latinos. again. the smallest percentage of any ethnic group. And even while 212 million new Latinos signed up for health care. 25 percent of Latinos have no healthcare plan. and we battle high obesity and diabetes. So I have seen these issues firsthand in my district and in California and. as a whole. have seen and have worked to improve our condition. This Congress. I introduced the AllYear ACCESS Act. which would restore Pell grants for both fulltime and parttime students. giving access to postsecondary education all yearround. Back in my home district. I relaunched Enroll OC. adding an additional 2.000 people this year. Latinos in my district. to health care. So while we make these incredible strides in wellness and education. the Latino community still has so many issues to address. I will tell you this: the problems are not just Latino problems. they are problems for the United States because. you see. America is a family. It is a familia. and we have to address these issues together because. for the first time in my beautiful home State of California. the largest majority ethic group is now Latino. And you know what? This should not frighten people. Mr. Speaker. I think it is actually pretty exciting because the Latino community is so embedded in the success of the American Dream. and the American Dream is so embedded in us. We are not aliens. Mr. Speaker. We are doctors. lawyers. community leaders. social workers. laborers. and DREAMers. But more importantly. we are sons. daughters. parents. siblings. and we are neighbors. It is time for the United States as a whole to embrace the power and the potential of the Latino community and to realize that we share the common goal of furthering the greatness of this Nation. I believe as soon as we realize Latinos yearn to share the same American values and aspirations as so many descendants of other immigrant groupsof Italian Americans and Irish Americans and German Americans and Asian Americans and all Americanscertainly America will thrive. Latinos are finding their voice. and America needs to listen.