Hispanic Voices Speak at DNC
The Honorable Charles Gonzalez
Member of the US House of Representatives, TX, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
I’m proud to speak to you tonight as the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Under President Barack Obama, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has been invited into the White House and given a seat at the table. Hispanics are serving in unprecedented numbers at the highest levels of this administration, including in the Cabinet.
We made history when President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor, a proud Latina, the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. And as the President likes to say, “Every single one of them wasn’t just the best Latino for the job, but the best person for the job.” President Obama understands that for the more than 50 million Hispanic Americans, their dream is the American dream, that we derive inspiration from our country’s most enduring motto—E pluribus unum—out of many, one. And that we are an indispensable and indivisible part of this great country. President Obama has led with principles, with vision and with values.
And one of the most important values of Barack Obama is that he will always level with the American people. And then there’s Mitt Romney. As Adlai Stevenson famously said to Richard Nixon, “If you stop telling lies about me, I’ll stop telling the truth about you.” When it comes to Medicare, the truth is that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to break the fundamental guarantee of Medicare, turn it into a voucher program and shift costs to our seniors.
When it comes to our country’s immigration policies, the truth is that Mitt Romney has embraced the racial profiling policies of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The truth is he would separate families that have been here for generations. The truth is he has embraced distrust and division at the expense of American values. When it comes to America’s economy, the truth is that Mitt Romney believes that the key to our country’s economic future lies in the failed policies of the past, the same ones that put banks before people, Wall Street before Main Street, plunging us into recession and devastating the middle class.
The truth is that Republicans in Congress were prepared to throw into question the full faith and credit of the United States to forward their narrow political agenda. That’s because perhaps the biggest lie the Republicans have told us is that they want to work with President Obama. The truth is what they want to do is undermine the President at the cost of our American values, like justice, fairness and opportunity.
Whether you are Hispanic American, African-American, Asian-American, we understand that we are all members of the American community. And America prospers when our neighbors are empowered and equipped to make their optimum contribution to this country. And that’s not measured by the size of one’s bank account, but by dedication and hard work. Justice, fairness, and opportunity don’t go to the highest bidder.
They belong to the American who is willing to invest his or her energy to better themselves, provide for their families and build a brighter future.
President Obama believes in an America where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded; where everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share and plays by the same rules. President Obama knows that it is the middle class that makes America great, and that’s why we have to grow our economy and create jobs.
Over the past four years, President Obama’s commitment to this vision led him to: rescue and re-energize the American auto industry and the more than one million jobs that depend upon it; pass health care reform to make health care a right, not just a privilege, and to strengthen and protect Medicare; help young people to afford college and jumpstart an American economy run on American energy sources.
The work that President Obama has undertaken has often been undermined by congressional Republicans.
But he has kept moving America forward. President Obama holds true to the values and vision on which this country was founded, but his work is not yet done.
As part of this great country, Hispanics have and will continue to work for the best this country has to offer, ready to do our part. We will work for policies that empower all Americans to be responsible and contributing members of the greatest country in the history of the world: the United States of America. We’ve worked for the American dream; now we have to vote for the American dream. And when we do, we will re-elect President Barack Obama.
The Honorable Xavier Becerra
Democratic Caucus Vice Chair and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, CA
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The American dream—it’s built not with words or speeches but from sweat and tears. Its heart and soul reside not in the boardrooms on Wall Street, but in the shops and factories on Main Street. Its promise is simple: work hard, play by the rules and you can make it in America. That’s Barack and Michelle Obama’s story.
Like so many of you, that’s my parents’ story, too. My father was a construction worker who dug the ditches and laid the pipe and concrete to build our highways. My mother arrived in this country as a newlywed with no money, no English and no family of her own. Together, they realized their dream of sending their four children where no man or woman in our family in America had ever gone before: college. El sueño Americano! The American dream! In any language, that’s what this election is about!
We need President Obama for four more years to keep that dream alive! When President Obama was elected, the American dream was on life support. The middle class was being hollowed out. We cannot afford to go back to the failed policies of the past.
Maybe Governor Romney has forgotten how we got into the mess that President Obama faced, but we haven’t—two wars, tax breaks for the wealthiest, the Wall Street bailout, Katrina! Nearly 9 million Americans lost their jobs because of the Great Recession. Our neighbors lost their homes. Our teachers, firefighters, and police officers were laid off. And small businesses couldn’t get the bailed-out banks to offer them any credit. How many construction workers like my father do you think could dream of reaching the middle class under those conditions?
We’ve all heard the saying, “Put your money where your mouth is.” Well, Governor Romney, ante up! Show us how your economic policies differ from President Bush’s. If you believe in America, you invest in America. That’s why it’s not courageous to cut funding for college loans or vow to veto the dream for immigrant children. It’s not responsible to reward companies that ship American jobs overseas with more tax loopholes. It’s not bold to say our country is broke and then hand out yet another deficit-busting tax break to millionaires and billionaires. And Governor Romney, you should know, it’s not right to pull the rug out from under older Americans after a lifetime of hard work and turn Medicare into a voucher system—“Vouchercare!”
That’s not the America my parents built. If you want to save the middle class, you don’t outsource it—you strengthen it. If you want to get America back to work, you don’t fire cops, teachers, nurses, and firefighters—you invest in them.
President Obama is fighting for the middle class, to put Americans back to work and our country back on track. President Obama believes in the promise of America. President Obama believes in you. That’s the American dream. El sueño Americano. Dr. King marched for it. Cesar Chavez organized for it. And this fall, we have to vote for it. Together, we’re going to re-elect Barack Obama president of the United States!
Adelante!
Student Angie Flores
Thursday, September 6, 2012
My name is Angie Flores, and I’m a student at Miami Dade College. When you grow up in a family where getting by is a struggle, college can seem like a dream for someone else; even if, like me, you love learning. Out of 3.2 million young people ages 16 to 24, 2.2 million do not go to college. More than a million don’t even graduate from high school. The statistics say that I shouldn’t be here, that the most someone like me should hope for is to get by, not get ahead. But I’m not a statistic. I’m a young woman with a bright future.
President Obama and Vice President Biden know this. They don’t want any American student to accept that education is only a luxury or that opportunity is simply for someone else. They ask us to work hard and dream big, and they work alongside us to make sure that those dreams come true. We all aspire to live that ideal middle-class lifestyle with the picket fence and lemonade on the porch. President Obama and Vice President Biden are helping kids like me to build that dream. We all celebrate success. President Obama and Vice President Biden help us achieve it!
We all know that education leads to opportunity, and that education begins with a great teacher in every classroom. Tonight, I have the honor of introducing an extraordinary educator. A lot of people know Dr. Jill Biden as our nation’s second lady. But she has an even more important title: teacher. Even when her husband got a pretty big promotion, she continued to educate. That’s how strong her commitment is to her students: this amazing woman grades papers in the White House.
Last year I had the distinct pleasure to meet Dr. Biden. I am fortunate to have teachers like her at Miami Dade College. She is full of warmth, compassion and dedication, and that’s how she makes a difference for students like me. A teacher like Dr. Biden can make the difference between being a statistic and being a success, the difference between getting by and getting ahead. That’s why I’m studying to work with children. When I look at Jill Biden, I see someone making the kind of impact I want to make. Please join me in welcoming my role model, Dr. Jill Biden.
Actress Eva Longoria
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Hello, Charlotte! I am honored to be here as co-chair of President Obama’s re-election campaign, and so proud of my friend and fellow Texan, Julian Castro. Didn’t he do a great job?
I feel fortunate to be standing on this stage tonight. I never could’ve imagined it growing up. I was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the youngest of four girls, including my oldest sister, Lisa, who has special needs. My mom was a special education teacher, and my dad worked on the Army base. We weren’t wealthy, but we were determined to succeed.
In my family, there was one cardinal priority—education. College was not an option; it was mandatory. So even though we didn’t have a lot of money, we made it work. I signed up for financial aid, Pell Grants, work study, anything I could. Just like our president and first lady, I took out loans to pay for school. Then I changed oil in a mechanic shop, flipped burgers at Wendy’s, taught aerobics and worked on campus to pay them back.
Like a lot of you, I did whatever it took and, four years later, I got my degree. More importantly, I got a key to American opportunity. That’s who we are—a nation that rewards ambition with opportunity. Where hard work can lead to success, no matter where you start. Traveling the country for the president, I see young Americans of every background fighting to succeed. They’re optimistic, ambitious, hardworking. But they also want to know that their hard work will pay off.
We’re lucky our president understands the value of American opportunity, because he’s lived it! And he’s fighting to help others achieve it. He’s fighting to make college more affordable! He’s cut taxes for every working American. He’s helping small businesses get loans and has cut their taxes eighteen times. Eighteen times!
That’s important—small businesses create two out of every three new jobs in America. It’s the suburban dad who realizes his neighborhood needs a dry cleaner. It’s the Latina nurse whose block needs a health clinic—and she knows she’s the one to open it! It’s the high school sophomore who is building Facebook’s competitor. They are the entrepreneurs driving the American economy, not Mitt Romney’s outsourcing pioneers. He would raise taxes on middle-class families to cut his own—and mine. That’s not who we are as a nation, and here’s why: The Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy’s flipping burgers—she needed a tax break. But the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not.
We face a choice this election. President Obama is fighting for changes that grow the economy from the middle out and help all Americans succeed—jobs, education, health reform, the DREAM Act, equal pay for women. He is moving us forward with opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. Mitt Romney wants to take us back to yesterday.
But America was built by optimists. Optimists like my friend Amanda, who recently started a small business. When she went to buy her website address—her first and last name—she found that someone already owned it, but wasn’t using it. So my friend emailed the owner of the site to ask if she could buy it. The owner wrote back.
She is a 13-year-old girl who shares Amanda’s name, and politely explained that she could not give up the website. Why? Because the younger Amanda plans to be president of the United States, and she’s going to need the website for her campaign.
Here is a girl who at 13 years old firmly believes she can build her American dream. And here’s a president who’s building an America where that dream is possible. Let’s fight for the American dream! Amanda’s, yours, mine, all of ours! We know how to do that. We know what we need to do. Let’s re-elect President Obama!
Alejandra Salinas
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Buenas noches, democratas!
My name is Alejandra Salinas, a native of Laredo, a proud, recent graduate of the University of Texas, and on my way to law school at Boston College.
Four years ago, on campuses all across the country, young people rose up to change the course of American history. In record numbers, we came together and finally elected a president who understands our struggles, shares our dreams, and believes in our future.
Some people say young people aren’t excited about this election; that it isn’t about us. But the decisions made over the next four years will affect us more than anyone. And on November 6th, we’re going to send Barack Obama back to the White House!
Because of the president’s Affordable Care Act, 3.1 million young Americans who were previously uninsured can stay on their parents’ health insurance. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to repeal health reform and take that coverage away.
President Obama doubled funding for Pell Grants. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would cut scholarships that are so critical to creating opportunities for those that need them most.
This president, on so many issues—immigration, LGBT rights, women’s health —has proven that he cares about all of us, and that he’ll keep on expanding opportunity. As a young, LGBT Latina, it seems to me that Mitt Romney only cares about an elite few.
Mitt Romney recently called my generation a “lost generation.” He’s wrong. We know exactly where we’re going: forward, not backward. We’re going to register voters, knock on doors, turn out the vote—and on November 6th, re-elect our true champion, President Barack Obama!
Benita Veliz
DREAM Act Activist
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
My name is Benita Veliz, and I’m from San Antonio, Texas. Like so many Americans of all races and backgrounds, I was brought here as a child. I’ve been here ever since.
I graduated as valedictorian of my class at the age of 16 and earned a double major at the age of 20. I know I have something to contribute to my economy and my country. I feel just as American as any of my friends or neighbors.
But I’ve had to live almost my entire life knowing I could be deported just because of the way I came here.
President Obama fought for the DREAM Act to help people like me. And when Congress refused to pass it, he didn’t give up. Instead, he took action so that people like me can apply to stay in our country and contribute. We will keep fighting for reform, but while we do, we are able to work, study and pursue the American dream.
President Obama has fought for my community. Now it’s my honor to introduce one of the leaders in my community who is fighting for him. From her television show to her magazines to her radio network, she is truly an icon: ladies and gentlemen, Cristina Saralegui.
