http://www.nclr.org/files/47822_file_20 ... EMARKS.doc

Remarks of Senator Bob Menendez at the
2007 NCLR Annual Conference
Buenas trades.

I want to thank the National Council of La Raza for hosting this tremendous gathering.

In the midst of our daily lives we often lose sight of those who made it possible for our community to succeed.

Raul Yzaguirre is one of those icons of our community, who has made it possible for our progress. And we thank him. Now he is followed by a new generation of leadership embodied by Janet Murguia, who is blazing her own mark on our progress and our future.
Let me tell you four stories of some of our fellow Latinos:
Let me tell you about Juan.
Juan is from Miami.
He is married, has 3 kids.
He and his wife both work at jobs that barely sustain their family, but have no health care coverage.
One of his children has asthma, which is getting worse by the day without treatment. And he fears for her well being.
Now let me tell you about Maria.
She is a student who just graduated as valedictorian from a New Jersey high school.
She wants to go to college and has been accepted at some great universities.

But she can’t go because she is undocumented and can't get financial assistance.
Now I’m going to tell you about Joaquin from California.
He owns his own business – a grocery store.
He has great ideas about how to grow his business by diversifying the products he sells, by offering products from Latin America, from countries where people in the neighborhood have ties.

Despite a good credit record, Joaquin can’t get access to capital to make his dream come true.
Then there’s Rosalinda.
She’s an 18 year old cash register clerk I met in Texas.

Rosalinda dropped out of high school because she needed to help make ends meet for her family.
These are the stories that are replicated in the lives of millions of our fellow Latinos.

So, the timing for us to get together in a forum like this is perfect: we are approaching an election year in which our community will make history. And this history can change the course of events for Juan, Maria, Joaquin, Rosalinda and millions of others like them.
We are approaching an election year in which we will hold the keys to the White House.

We are approaching an election year in which the road to the presidency runs right through the Latino community.
Recently, I’ve been coming back to an article that marvels at the increasing power Latinos hold in our society.
It’s an article that quotes the governor of California speaking to a convention of Mexican-Americans, saying, “It’s your turn in the sun, and I want to be a part of it.â€