Very glad to be with you all.  Muy buenas noches a todos.  It’s wonderful to see so many friends tonight.

The last time so many of us …in the great family of LULAC…were together like this was at the National Convention last summer in San Juan.  It was a great success. 

So much so, that after this winter in Washington, I’ve heard there may be a motion for LULAC’s next winter National Legislative Conference to be held in San Juan.

Now let me say this about that.  No matter how much colder it may be, we know that at this time each year, we gather in this majestic Nation’s Capital of ours for a reason.  It’s a reason that goes to the core of what LULAC is all about. 

We’re here because we share common bonds and common concerns for tens of millions of others throughout the Nation who are not with us tonight.  And we know their well being and their future depends a great deal on what we can do on their behalf here in Washington.

It’s the privilege of a lifetime to stand here with you, and with all those that are being honored tonight, as part of that common cause.

LULAC has brought us together, and has combined the Grassroots with the Grasstops.  We have learned that despite the distances and differences that separate us…either geographically or in our origins…when it comes to the issues of greatest concern to our communities, there is much more that unites us. 

As a result, the possibilities for the entire Latino community to move forward are greater than ever before.   Because Mexican-American issues are not just Mexican-American issues, Central-American and Dominican-American and Puerto Rican issues are not just Central American and Dominican American and Puerto Rican community issues, they are our issues. 

I also want to say a word tonight about the importance of engaging both parties on our issues.  When a cause is just and right, there should be no place for partisanship.  As a matter of fact, partisan agendas should have no place in the work we do together.

That’s why, despite the fact that immigration status is not an issue per se in the Puerto Rican community, in Congress I stood with colleagues from both sides of the aisle in favor of passing comprehensive immigration reform.  I did so because overhauling the immigration system is needed, it’s long overdue and it’s the right thing to do.

There’s a lot of talk about bipartisanship.  But what we need – both in Washington, D.C. and in San Juan, Puerto Rico – is less talk and more action.  That’s why as Governor, when President Obama and the leadership in Congress launched the drive for national healthcare reform, I reached out to my political opponents back home. 

My view was that we should stand together, for Puerto Rico’s full inclusion and equal treatment in healthcare reform, and in the existing federal health programs that are part of it.  And we did.  A year ago this April, I stood in San Juan with all the major stakeholders and the leaders of both parties to establish our common goal of parity for Puerto Rico in federal health care.

Our efforts did not stop at the island’s shores.   We also asked our fellow citizens and major civic organizations throughout the Nation to join us.  And tonight, on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico, I thank LULAC for doing just that…and for continuing to stand with us on the home stretch that we’re on together.

I have to be frank with family, with my brothers and sisters here tonight.  The new health care reform proposal that came out of the White House the other day doesn’t do justice to Puerto Rico. It doesn’t reflect previous commitments by the President.  In fact, it represents a step backwards, in comparison to the step forward the House took when it passed its version of health care reform legislation.

Let’s all be clear.  We as Americans, and as Republicans and Democrats, have disagreements about the nature of Federal healthcare reform, and what should and should not be included as part of it. But what we should be able to agree upon is that all our Nation’s citizens, no matter where they live, should have equal access.   That includes existing Federal health care programs, as well as whatever new health care mechanisms that the Federal Government finally puts into place.

If the national goal of health care reform is equal access to quality care for all Americans, it cannot be achieved unless and until the 4 million U.S citizens of Puerto Rico are fully, equally included.

There’s another long overdue matter for the Nation that I would be remiss if I didn’t mention tonight.   And that’s the issue of Puerto Rico’s place at the table in the family that is America.  It’s a fundamental issue of disenfranchisement…of civil rights and a deficit of democracy…and one that has been painfully obvious during the debate over health care reform in Congress, and in the White House.

My own preference for the best and rightful political status for Puerto Rico is well known.  I believe in equality.  Our people are capable…they are ready and they are able…to assume the full rights, and the full obligations, of the citizenship we share.

As I see it, to seek other solutions or to forego equality…is to forego the very nature of American citizenship.

But the issue that is before us now is for the Nation to take this issue directly to the people of Puerto Rico.  To ask the people of Puerto Rico, in the first place, whether or not they want to continue in the current status.

It’s something that’s never been done, in all of 111 years as a territory of the United States. It’s the right thing to do. And that’s why today 181 members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, are co-sponsors of the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, which was authored by our Resident Commissioner in Congress, Pedro Pierluisi.

The Puerto Rico Democracy Act is the right thing to do because for the first time Congress will directly consult the people of Puerto Rico on their preferences, beginning with an up or down vote on the status quo.  The bill does not mandate any outcome, nor does it favor or exclude any status option.

But it does take seriously the right of the people to express themselves on this basic issue of democracy.  And if in such a vote the current status no longer enjoys the support of the majority, then the time will have come for the people to choose among options recognized as valid, permanent and non-territorial: and those are statehood, independence or sovereign association.  Whatever choice the people make in such a vote, it will not be self-executing, but will be subject to further consideration…both by Congress and the people of Puerto Rico…as to the next step to take.

Last fall, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee.  It’s now ready to go to the floor of the House.  I ask for your support as it moves forward.

And I look forward to continuing to work with you and all our partners here in Washington…and throughout the country…in the causes we share, for participation, for civil rights and for empowerment for all our people.

Thank you very much, and God bless you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 9:59 am and is filed under Speeches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.