PRESS RELEASE
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October 10, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, leaders of member organizations of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) called on Congress to end the government shutdown and pass a federal budget that invests in our future and creates jobs. The government is in its tenth day of shutdown and lawmakers have made little progress toward a deal to reopen it before the nation reaches its borrowing limit on October 17.

As part of NHLA’s “Latinos United for a Fair Economy” campaign, Latino leaders at today’s press conference warned that the shutdown and the looming fight over the debt ceiling will only hurt the economy and worsen the harm that sequestration and previous budget cuts have already inflicted on Hispanics.

“After suffering some of the worst effects of the Great Recession, such as higher rates of unemployment and foreclosure than most of the population, Latinos were hit again as budget cuts and sequestration took effect, eroding the programs that provide Latinos opportunity and important basic services. Now the shutdown is making a difficult situation even worse,” said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. “The votes are there in Congress to end this shutdown. Speaker Boehner and other congressional leaders need to simply allow a vote to reopen the government with no strings attached.”

“Over the last two elections Latino voters have sent a clear message to our lawmakers that we need to focus on jobs and fixing our economy,” said Eric Rodriguez, Vice President of the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at NCLR (National Council of La Raza). “Yet over the past two years, Congress has dithered on the budget, deepening already painful cuts that hurt families and stifle economic growth. To continue aggressively pursuing an agenda that is at direct odds with the interests of the Latino community has political and economic ramifications. Lawmakers must change course soon to avert an economic crisis, stop the cuts and restore investments in children and working families.”

The government shutdown comes on top of the irrational and arbitrary budget cuts known as sequestration, which took effect earlier this year and have gutted critical health, education and housing programs for struggling communities. As many as 21,000 Latino children may be kicked out of Head Start, 1.2 million low-income public school children could be cut off from reading and math help due to cuts in Title I funding and almost 300,000 adults and youth could lose out on job training and employment services.

“October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which makes it all the more tragic that we find ourselves in the midst of a government shutdown where many domestic violence service programs will need to lay off staff and reduce services to those in critical need,” said Rosie Hidalgo, Director of Public Policy for Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network. “Congress needs to pass legislation that restores access to funding for these lifesaving services as well as funding for many other important services for vulnerable populations.”

“The government shutdown means a decrease in the U.S. Department of Labor’s investigations of the minimum wage violations suffered by many migrant farmworkers; the decreased enforcement of the minimum wage harms workers as well as the law-abiding employers who face unfair competition from businesses that violate labor laws,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “Families are feeling the brunt of the Republicans’ poor judgment that has taken away critically needed health and mental health services and meal, transportation and other programs,” said Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association. “The government shutdown is continuing to have sweeping effects on all aspects of our government,” said Miguel Alexander Pozo, National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). “Indeed, the implications for our legal system are manifest. As lawyers, the HNBA is particularly concerned about the impact the shutdown is having on the ability of our federal courts to dispense justice to our citizens,” said Mr. Pozo. “Not only have cases dragged on for years due to case backlogs created by judicial vacancies, but now our citizens face a complete denial of their day in court. The framers of our constitution never envisioned that a political dispute between the other two branches, would bring the administration of justice to a screeching halt. This is a sad testament to the degradation of our political process where politicians continue to put self-interest above the interests of the citizens they have sworn to protect." The Latino leaders insisted that there is a way out of the current predicament—pass a federal budget that invests in our future and creates jobs. “First, House Republican leadership should allow members of Congress to vote on a clean funding bill to reopen the federal government. Second, both parties should work together to replace the sequester with investments in education, job training and other programs that provide opportunity and put our economy on a solid path toward growth well into the future,” said Brent Wilkes, NHLA Vice Chair and National Executive Director of the League for United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Earlier this year, NHLA launched the Latinos United for a Fair Economy campaign. For more information, please visit www.latinosunited.org/faireconomy or www.nationalhispanicleadership.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 | | Joseph Rendeiro | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 776-1566 |

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American GI Forum | ASPIRA Association, Inc. | Avance | Casa de Esperanza | Cuban American National Council | Farmworker Justice | Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities | Hispanic Federation | Hispanic National Bar Association | Labor Council for Latin American Advancement | Latino Justice PRLDEF | League of United Latin American Citizens | MANA, A National Latina Organization | Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund | National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities | NALEO Educational Fund | National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives | National Association of Hispanic Publications | National Association of Latino Independent Producers | National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, Inc. | National Council of La Raza | National Hispana Leadership Institute | National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators | National Hispanic Council on Aging | National Hispanic Environmental Council | National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts | National Hispanic Media Coalition | National Hispanic Medical Association | National Institute for Latino Policy | National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health | National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc. | SER – Jobs for Progress National, Inc. | Southwest Voter Registration Education Project | United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce | United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce | U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute