PRESS RELEASE
October 29, 2013

Washington, D.C. -- Today, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda -- a coalition of 36 preeminent national Latino organizations in the United States -- sent the letter below urging the United States Senate to vote in support of Katherine Archuleta, President Barack Obama's nominee to serve as Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The agency oversees hiring practices across all federal departments and is especially critical for the Latino community considering that, for the past several years, Latinos have been just 8 percent of the federal career workforce.

Candidates nominated to this post are usually confirmed by unanimous consent and voice vote. Unfortunately, for first time since the agency was created in 1978, the Senate Majority Leader had to call for a cloture vote in order to simply bring Archuleta's vote to the floor for a vote. Previously, Senators had placed holds blocking Archuleta -- not for any reason having to do with her strong qualifications, but due to their political positions on the Affordable Care Act.

Yesterday, to move past that political obstruction, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for a cloture vote so that the Senate can move forward and give Archuleta the vote she deserves. The historic Senate vote is expected to take place as soon as this Wednesday.

Additional background on Archuleta's nomination and an online action center can be viewed at http://nationalhispanicleadership.org/confirmarchuleta.

[LETTER TEXT]

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515

October 29, 2013

Dear Senators:

On behalf of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) – the coalition of 36 preeminent national Latino organizations in the country – we urge you to vote YES to invoke cloture and YES to confirm Katherine Archuleta, President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve as Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

From Alan Campbell, our nation’s first OPM Director under President Jimmy Carter, to Kay Coles James and Linda Springer who served as OPM Directors under President George W. Bush, cloture has never been filed on a nomination to be OPM Director. All nine prior OPM directors have been confirmed without a recorded vote.

It is quite disturbing to us that, for the first time since its creation in 1978, a few anonymous holds placed on Ms. Archuleta’s nomination are forcing a vote to invoke cloture just to move her nomination forward to the Senate floor and offer her the vote she deserves. This is a historic nomination for the Latino community. Ms. Archuleta would be the first Latina to ever head OPM and the highest-ranking Latina appointee to head a federal department.

Cloture must be invoked and Ms. Archuleta must be confirmed quickly to begin the important work of leading the nation’s agency tasked with building an effective world-class Federal civilian work force helping serve the American people. As an NHLA-endorsed nominee, Ms. Archuleta has gained our respect and confidence. We know she will bring to OPM a deep passion for public good and a highly commendable history of over 30 years in public service to our nation through various positions in local and federal government, as well as in non-profit leadership roles.

Her qualifications include:

• Prior Administration experience as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (2009 to 2011), Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation with Secretary Federico Peña (1993 to 1997), and Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy (1997).
• Local, community-oriented management experience in Colorado as Deputy Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor Federico Peña (1983 to 1991) and as Senior Advisor on Policy and Initiatives for the City and County of Denver with then-Mayor John Hickenlooper (2005 to 2009). She also served as Co-Founder and Principal of Denver’s Center for Regional and Neighborhood Action (1997 to 2000) and Director of Professional Services for Davis, Graham and Stubbs, LLP (2000 to 2002).
• High-profile leadership roles establishing her stature as a national Latina role-model – serving as Executive Director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation based in New Mexico (2002 to 2005) and as the first Latina to ever serve as a National Political Director on a major presidential campaign (2011 to 2012).
• An important dedication to developing the next generation of leaders – as can be seen from the start of her career, which began with her teaching 5-year-olds at Denver’s Del Pueblo Elementary School, on through to her service as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver (1992 to 1993).

As the next OPM Director, Ms. Archuleta can immediately begin efforts to continue advancing the work of OPM’s Hispanic Council on Federal Employment. This Federal Advisory Committee Act Council is designed to advise the OPM Director on the leading employment practices to help recruit, hire, retain and advance Hispanics in the Federal workplace.

While Latinos are nearly 17% of the population of the United States, we represent just 8.2% of the federal workforce according to OPM’s Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Performance Report. For nearly two decades, our NHLA coalition has raised concerns about the stark underrepresentation of Latinos in the federal workforce and the point that Latinos have been the most underrepresented group in the Federal government. This is a critical issue that we must all continue to prioritize if the statistics are to improve. NHLA looks forward to working with Ms. Archuleta, once confirmed, to advance an Executive Order on Hispanic Inclusion as a measure to help bring parity to the federal workforce.

As you consider the merits of Ms. Archuleta’s background please note that NHLA will score the vote to invoke cloture, and any subsequent confirmation votes, in our NHLA Congressional Scorecard on the 113th Congress. The NHLA Congressional Scorecard rates members of Congress on votes taken in the House and Senate that our membership deems important to the social, economic, and political advancement and quality of life of Hispanic Americans.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Melody Gonzales at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (202) 508-6917.

Sincerely,

Hector Sanchez
Chair, NHLA
Executive Director, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement

Brent Wilkes
Vice-Chair, NHLA
National Executive Director, League of United Latin American Citizens

Jessica González-Rojas
Co-Chair, NHLA Latina Task Force
Exectuive Director, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health 

Vilma Colom
Co-Chair, NHLA Latina Task Force
National President, National Conference of Puerto Rican Women 

Rosie Hidalgo
Co-Chair, NHLA Latina Task Force
Director of Public Policy, Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities

Al Gallegos
Co-Chair, NHLA Government Accountability Committee President, National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives

Roger Rivera
Co-Chair, NHLA Government Accountability Committee President, National Hispanic Environmental Council

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Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole.

In January, the coalition launched its new Latino Appointments Program to identify and support junior to Cabinet-level Latino candidates pursuing presidential and state-level appointments. For more information, please visit www.latinoappointments.org and follow @NHLAgenda.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Melody Gonzales | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 508-6917 |

| Brenda Arredondo | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (915) 373-1483 |

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