Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Foundation of the Caucus

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus was founded in December 1976 as a legislative service organization of the House of Representatives. The five founding members were Hispanic congressmen Herman Badillo (New York), Baltasar Corrada del Río (Puerto Rico), Kika de la Garza (Texas), Henry B. Gonzalez (Texas), and Edward Roybal (California). The founders’ idea was to work in conjunction with other groups, both inside and outside Congress, to strengthen federal commitment to Hispanics and heighten community's awareness of the operation and function of the American political system.

A few years after its formation, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus became organized as a congressional member organization, governed under House rules. The CHC aims to address national and international issues and their impact on the Hispanic community. The function of the caucus is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic congressional members to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda.

Representative Nydia Velázquez of New York with three other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in 2009, the year she became chair of the caucus. Representative Velázquez was also the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.

To best address their diverse concerns, members work in smaller task forces that draw on their expertise to develop legislation within each area of concern. The executive activity of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is organized into eight task forces: agriculture and rural community, civil [Page 567]rights; diversity, economy and workforce, education; health care, housing and financial services, and immigration and international relations. Each task force is composed of two or three members. The only exception is the immigration task force, which includes all members because of its importance.

Legislative Priorities

CHC legislative priorities cover all areas that have a direct impact on the Hispanic or Latino community. According to an October 2010 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanics rank education, jobs, and health care as their top concerns. Immigration ranks as the fourth most important issue. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus actively supported President Barack Obama's health care reform and celebrated it as a victory for all Americans, including the 16 million uninsured Hispanics. Access to health care has been a long-standing concern to the Hispanic community, as Latinos are far less likely to get preventive services but have a greater chance than whites of being diagnosed with diseases like diabetes. The benefits of the health care reform will have a huge impact on the Latino community. Nearly 750,000 young Latinos have been able to get coverage through their parents’ plans and by 2014, when the reforms are fully implemented, 9 million more uninsured Latinos will be eligible for coverage.

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