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December 7, 2006
Contact: Tatiana Guerra, 202-434-8070
National Hispanic
Caucus of State Legislators Adopt Resolutions
To Ensure Equal Access and Opportunity
for Hispanics
Washington, DC - The President of the
National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators,
New York Assemblyman Felix W. Ortiz, announced
that the NHCSL Executive Committee has adopted
and approved a series of resolutions that will
ensure access and opportunity for the Hispanic
community, as well as other disadvantaged and
underserved communities. In addition, there is a
resolution addressing the inhumane treatment of
those in Darfur. The Resolutions were adopted at
the NHCSL Annual Executive Committee Meeting
which was held during its Fourth National Summit
this past November in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“NHCSL remains committed to ensuring that all
Hispanic families have access to education,
healthcare and economic opportunities,” said
Ortiz.
NHCSL adopted the following resolutions to:
· Resolution: To End Cervical Cancer in Our
Lifetime states that NHCSL agrees that
following breast cancer, cervical cancer is the
second most common cancer in women worldwide and
cervical cancer is the third most common
gynecological cancer among American women. With
approximately 10,000 American women expected to
develop cervical cancer in 2006 and an estimated
3,700 deaths (or over 10 American women per day)
due to cervical cancer, according to the
National Women’s Health Resource Center and the
American Cancer Society.
· Resolution: End racial extermination against
the ethnically distinct Black African population
of Darfur urges a commitment to justice and
the protection of innocent civilians everywhere;
and; Past reports have indicated that the armed
forces of the government of Sudan, along with
government-supported militias, committed
numerous systematic attacks against the civilian
populations of the African Fur, Masaalit and
Zaghawa ethnic groups in the Darfur region.
· Resolution: Provide free tax filing for low-income,
disadvantaged, underserved and working poor
states that a program that is important to the
citizens of the United States may be in jeopardy
as the result of decisions being made in the
United States Congress. Furthermore, over 40% of
our states have banded together to find an
innovative solution to meet the needs of the low
income, disadvantaged, underserved and working
poor taxpayers. This innovative solution, called
the State Free File Alliance, has been developed
over the last decade where public need and
private corporate citizenship have worked
together in an era of fiscal limits and new
challenges.
· Resolution: The National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children (NCMEC) states that
the National Hispanic Caucus of State
Legislators agrees that the problems of missing
and exploited children are grave concerns of our
nation. NHCSL will join in partnership with
NCMEC to support national and local efforts
aimed at educating families and communities
about the perils of missing and exploited
children. There are nearly 800,000 children
reported missing each year, and on average 2,100
children are reported missing to law-enforcement
agencies each day.
· Resolution: The Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the other U.S.
territories in all the surveys performed in the
50 States by the U.S. Census Bureau states
that the residents of Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the other U.S. territories
are not counted as part of those 300 million
residents of the United States. Puerto Rico's
exclusion from national population totals leads
the Census Bureau to erroneously miscalculate
the national Hispanic population total by close
to 4 million, thereby minimizing the importance
of Hispanics nationwide.
· Resolution: To call on the U.S Congress and
FCC to draft legislation and regulation to
encourage the rapid deployment of Broadband
Networks without net neutrality amendments.
The FCC has crafted sufficient Internet
protection principles, released with the 2005
Policy Statement deregulating broadband; the
exponential growth of the Internet has
flourished as a result of both the government’s
‘hand’s off’ approach, ever increasing
competition, and driving consumer interest.
Furthermore, regulation of the Internet may
interfere with future investment and innovations
benefiting the health and well-being of its end
user customers, including the Hispanic community.
· Resolution: Support the call for a new
bottom line in reducing the harms of drugs abuse
because the war on drugs has failed. Despite
spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer
dollars and incarcerating millions of people,
illegal drugs remain cheap, potent, and widely
available in every community in the United
States. Meanwhile, the harms associated with
drug abuse – addiction; overdose; the spread of
AIDS/HIV, Hepatitis and other diseases--continue
to mount.
· Resolution: Condemn the Border Protection,
Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control
Act (HR4437) and affirming commitment to
providing a safe, healthy and dignified place to
live for all residents, regardless of
immigration status states that the “Border
Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal
Immigration Control Act” (HR 4437) is one of the
most deplorable, anti-immigrant bills in this
country’s history; and would devastatingly
impact immigrant communities and by creating
fear, discrimination and abuse of immigrant
communities.
· Resolution: Urge Congress to Appropriate
$14 million to Strengthen Support of the Sickle
Cell Treatment Act and the Community Outreach
Demonstration Project because Sickle Cell
Disease (SCD) is an inherited condition and a
major health problem in the United States; and
affects various ethnic groups greatly impacting
American families. Furthermore, SCD affects the
lives of thousands who are hampered by physical
and mental limitations, as well as their
psychological and emotional well-being.
The Resolutions can be found at www.nhcsl.org.
# # #
The NHCSL is a nonpartisan
organization representing the interests of
Hispanic state legislators from all states,
commonwealths, and territories of the United
States. They are a catalyst for joint action on
issues of common concern to all segments of the
Hispanic community. NHCSL serves as a forum for
information exchange and member networking; an
institute for leadership training; a liaison
with sister U.S. Hispanic organizations; a
promoter of public/private partnerships with
business and labor; and a partner with Hispanic
state and provincial legislators and their
associations representing Central and South
America. For more information visit
www.nhcsl.com.
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