>> how do they do that? the first question goes to katherine archuleta. you say there are 8.3%.

i just wonder what levels are you talking about? can you split it up, please? are the administrative? are the management level, mid-level? what are those numbers coming from? >> let's get an answer to that question. >> i broke it out, the 8.3% is governmentwide, and the 4.1% is the management level. >> so what grade and above? >> management, the ses level which would be a just system goes up to 15 and the next levels, include the ses. so the ses is the 4.1. >> 4.1%. >> and a follow-up question, as far as hiring practices, sometimes i have applied so many times going to u.s.a. jobs,

honestly hundreds of times, but sometimes i get an e-mail into the you are qualified and so on, blah, blah, blah, but at the end. comes a veteran and takes over my position. i understand that it's, you know, with all due respect to veterans that i just want to understand the rationale of placing veterans for the finalist. so, therefore, they kicked us out, the ones at the bottom. >> there are points in preferences for various kinds of americans, right? >> veterans preferences is a law. i would be the very first to say that i stand very tall and very supportive for veterans preference. veterans preference does not eliminate the opportunities for other individuals who applied and to be hired. it gives them a preference to be in the group of individuals who

can be considered for a job. you know, we can look back and i can spend a lot of time talking about the 8% for the 4%. i'm not that type of person but i want to look forward. how do we, how do i as the director of opm make a difference. one of the ways to the gentleman's question is really how do i improve u.s.a. jobs.gov. how do i make sure that the process of application is working? and then after that, after the application process, the 2.0 i talked about how improve that? next thing i need to do is take a look at the selection. how do people get on that certification list? we are doing that as well. the next thing i'm looking at or at the same time is looking at how are we hiring managers really look at those certified lists. that's really important.

all of that is important. there's not one single answer for why we are at a .1%. i've got to take a look from the applicant to the application process to the screening to the certification, to the hiring and into the actual higher and engaging. all of that is happening right now. that's my responsibility. i can't speak to what happened in the past but i can speak to what's going on in the future. my roll. what is your role? we need to talk about. to maria's point, we need to be talking about it ourselves. those of you were on federal government, in federal government, you need to be talking about the role that you click of how important it is, and encouraging young people, people of all experience to join them. they are like the corporate community, the jobs are becoming fewer. the skills are becoming more targeted. stem skills are very important to the federal government as it is in the corporate community.

those are things that we have to deal with. we don't have to be stopped by. so as we take a look at going forward about what we are changing the looking at everything that is implicated in how we have better talent, stronger talent, more talent to the federal workforce and making sure that latinos are part of that. >> let's go next to the back. >> buenos dias. i'm a kindergarten teacher enemy with the california teachers association, and my question is prefaced with a little story about going to purchase a car with my dad, and my dancing to me just don't, just be very respectful. they hope they finances but i thought wait a minute, aren't they supposed to earn our business? is this supposed be the other way around and my dad not having eroded concept of that? so that's kind of the tone of the question. are we hoping that the their

financing us instead of demanding their business? how much more do we have to do as latinos and being a little bit more vocal? i wouldn't go so far as militant but more vocal in demanding that we are recognize, really demanding that these companies are acknowledging our participation in this economy. even whether undocumented immigrants, our spy on americans i call them, they have not acknowledged with the marketing and just with the potential they have for the contribution to this economy. we are not acknowledging that so much of it is a demand? we have to stand up and say, hey -- [speaking spanish] >> i couldn't agree more. we need more voices. because clearly the under representation cuts across all sectors. and until we start to talk about

the need for hispanic representation from all these sectors, it's not going to happen. i want to share with you data points that underscore the under representation. in 2013 hispanics only held 3% of all fortune 500 company board seats. 70% of the fortune 500 companies did not have a single hispanic on their board. and latinas held less than 1% of those seats. and over all, hispanics held only 171 seats out of 5511. we have to become more vocal, because nobody's going to do this for us. >> who is next?

yes. >> i am from university of texas at austin, and i represent the disability community. i'm wondering if there are specific strategies that we can use to really organize ourselves because there are so many arenas where we are underrepresented. and i'm deeply concerned with non-english speaking show with the dispose have such poor access to education, and for the disability committee at large that has such a high dropout rate, and such high rates of unemployment. so i think we're talking about so many sectors of our community that requires services that are looking for the strategies that allow us to organize so that we can in some systematic way address those issues. so how do we bring those voices to the table, but in an organized way to address the problems the? >> organization and access, that sounds like maria teresa. >> i can go first. the best but we found is by

making a conscious effort. i think the role to representation which are both questions come it's a partnership to getting representation. it can't simply be we're going to be here and why aren't they finding as? we have to go in the active and it would have stopped about representation. i think that's were forming coalitions. we found we were starting to go down the path of clinical research trials, health care, we had to always go out there and be the advocate for ourselves, to go and put ourselves in front of the tables where we need to be. if we weren't been able to manage the diabetic population the way we neede need to because didn't have dosing patterns, we're going to go to the best clinic at harvard, and we will sit there and tell the work with us. sure enough they're willing to create a partnership. that happens over and over. if you're determined, it may not happen the first time, but if you consistently organize yourselves in a way that you able to quit those partnerships, those collaborations, to be able

to start getting those barriers out of our way i think that's how you get there. it has to be conscious effort will you bring together resources locally, if you have challenges with disabilities or non-english-speaking individuals, or any kind of challenge, bring together a large faction of individuals represent that coalition and then together go in partnership with the organizations. they will listen to you. i think our biggest thing has been that our power in numbers. if you can put an issue together the represents which are trying to address and that challenge, then go to the source as a barrier. i think eventually they will do you. i think the real path to getting representation is that it's not, when will defined as? we have to speak ourselves and we have to do it over and over and over. i think that's something that we learned from our experiences and from the people we worked with. >> i think that the coalition building is incredibly important, but we have to wake

up the light of political environment in our community because if you are the person representing families and mothers and fathers, and all of a sudden they are empowered to represent their children at the school as well, it's an incredible effect. i am tired of people saying that doing let you know politics is not a political thing to do in washington. i'm sick and tired of that. because that basically telling us where to sit in the back of the line. we have to figure out what the pro-choice -- by the lgbt movement gets a will also hearing it was a political thing to do. they change the politics. the only way we change the politics is that we have to get every single person involved. [applause] as much as hard as you're working to try to represent coalitions, we are 54 million people strong. everybody is working day in and day out. they have their heads down. they're trying to make ends

meet. if we don't care about the minimum wage, education, health care, the ability to make sure that we are achieving that american dream, our powers in numbers only reflects them. i'm going to plug one more time, latinos2014.com because it's not about one organization. it's about making sure that we are sharing information, and leapfrogging what people have done in the past so that we are ready not only for the present but for the future. it's time we change the politics. so thank you. >> is there one quick one? you going to promise to be quick? >> good morning. my question is for his archuleta. i am a high school teacher on long island. i teach high school students esl any school district of 70% latino population.

how do i bring those opportunities into the classroom and sure with my students about federal government jobs? >> is lots of things that we can do. one of the things that we're working on is how do we reach young people in a way that they want to be reached. that's social media. we know we are the highest users of social media and one of the largest groups of social media users in the country. we need to be able to bring that message through social media and we're focused in on that. how do we tell those stories? how do we portray the face of government? how many of you are federal employees? a lot of you are federal government employees. you are the face of government. it can't be katherine archuleta who is up there was the face of government. we need to have the face of government be the young people who are coming in, young millennials are coming in and dedicating themselves to this purpose driven mission of federal service. reaching young people today in the ways that we can reach them. and working with high schools,

community colleges, colleges and universities, so that we can talk about the path that there is. you don't have to have a baccalaureate to join the federal service. indeed, in fact that there are jobs that are available for high school graduates and community college graduates. we need to talk more about what those opportunities are. and really present the vast array of where government can be. i spoke with -- this is old different from high school but i will tell the story. we met, i talk with a by -- the bioengineer, and he was on his way to a medical career. never once thought about what bioengineering could mean in the federal government. he talked a long time. he cannot act which. he said i've never really thought about that i am going to look at it now. it's that word of mouth. it's katherine archuleta. it's all of you who are in federal government who are

supporting the purpose of federal government. you need to be talking about it. it's what maria says. it's not one spokesperson. it's all of us together who have to accept the responsibility of how we vote, how we get our medical care come what part of our decisions and medical care are we making, how we are part of corporate decision-making. and certainly had we put ourselves in the arts and culture of this country. it is up to us. not one of us all of us can do it. >> that all the time we have for questions. we have to finish with a lightning round because we are getting close to the end of our time. find comments from the panelists. let me start with pat, move to the end and then come back around. >> for corporate america, adding has been a corporate board members to the board is no longer suffer the right thing to do morally. it's the fiscally responsible

thing for companies and boards to do. after all, we know that in order for companies to be successful today, they need to be able to compete in the u.s. marketplace, which is now significantly latino. >> increasing the role of hispanics in health care is monumentally important for addressing our diseases and conditions that will challenge is not only today but for a lifetime. from a micro spectrum, and individually, enable to ensure that the trials that we have in america that will probably test opportunity starts with those volunteering and as working together but also starts with our own health and in the future from a micro perspective want what the hispanics will hold together. we can always make sure that we address health care but it starts with ensuring that we have cures for tomorrow's conditions. and by making sure the clinical trials are representative of the american population, we can ensure that we have cures for the latino people.

>> i don't know how many folks saw there is an old novella -- [speaking spanish] the vote is one of the great equalizer is of our democracy. there's a reason why people trying to challenge and prevent us from the booth. the only way we do that is we have to show. i also want to commend ray suarez. ray, you've been such a voice of our committee. oftentimes people don't understand military community. they don't see us and they don't share our stories, and you've done it. you are breaking through to the general audience so they can get a glimpse not only of who we are but the possibility we can contribute. so thank you for the work you do. [applause] >> thank you. >> by 2050 we're going to b-24% of the civilian work force. we have to start right now to make sure that we are at every decision table that impacts the

families, our communities, our neighbors, ourselves as latinos. we can do this together. >> rita, take us home. >> for years my biggest ability, liability was listening to the voice in my head that said, you're not good enough, you're not blessed with the right ethnicity, wide enough, popular enough, like enough. and i finally came to sell internalizing those awful names like spinach and garlic mouth that times that greeted me as a five year old really affected me. at some point i had to face a choice, which is seek the truth to that a choose your over be defined by her. it was a long war with many skirmishes but i chose to fight. as a result for a large part of my life i have lived the american dream, for which i am profoundly grateful. you know, one can adopt a victim

mentality and fall prey to mean stereotypes, or grow beyond them and stereotypes can be a copout. for me, integrity trumps playing the race card. i choose to define myself, not be defined by others. which is why i believe we are do. i mean, i know it's what i agree to be here, and i want the world to know me, to know us. we are doctors and patients, natural born and immigrants, investors, factory workers. we are gay and straight. we are politicians and lobbyists. we are poor, hungry, homeless, and we are philanthropists. we are well fed and homeowners. we are an incarcerated and we sit on the supreme court. we are americans. [applause] and we have an allegiance to the very same flag and pursuit of liberty and justice for all.

thank you. [applause] >> thank you. katherine archuleta, rita moreno, patricia pineda, israel rocha, maria teresa kumar, hannah, thank you very much. now, one thing -- [applause] one thing i want you to take away from all this is that in patients and gratitude and just demands do not contradict each other. impatience and gratitude and just demands live very comfortably in us, or should. take it with you. watch al-jazeera america. check out my show. thanks a lot. [applause] >> now more for the congressional hispanic caucus conference with a panel of hispanic female members of congress. they discuss issues affecting women and the latino committee. this is one hour 20 minutes.

>> we are back and i hope you're finished with the lunch it otherwise i have to interrupt you and stop the conversation and make sure you're paying attention. i hope that's not the case. everyone can hear me in the back, great. thank you so much for your attention. i hope you enjoyed lunch but i'm sure you're looking forward to our panel discussion today's topic is latino leadership in congress. we have an amazing thing. we have six latina women have demonstrated to the country and fellow members of congress that let you know women of course have what it takes to reach consensus and to follow through on the deliver of the constituents and the country. before introduce our guests let me remind you to overture friends and coworkers that i can watch this discussion let that the chci's website. you're going to see in a minute. will be entertaining questions

from the audience. so in case get attention because you're going to build ask questions. and i encourage you to have them ready so we'll have representatives go to your table so you can give your questions to them. now to our distinguished panel. first from california's 32nd district, representative grace napolitano your representative? [applause] >> welcome. we have from california's fourth district, lucille roybal-allard. [applause] >> california's 38th district, representative linda sanchez. and, of course, we have from california's 46th district, representative loretta sanchez. thank you so much. [applause] i know michelle lujan grisham is coming. she's a little weight so we'll have her at the end. thank you so much for being here today. we really appreciate it.

>> our pleasure. >> i'm lucky to be surrounded by intelligent and wonderful women, as i've always been, thankfully, in my life. why don't we start with a brief introduction round, and we will go in order. if you would like to start, representative napolitano, with a brief introduction about a topic today. >> muay buenos dias. hello, everybody. come on. [applause] [speaking spanish] better known as grace. i have been in california many years and in politics on city council and state assembly and now in congress. it has been a long battle put all of you must understand it is not easy for us to be sitting here. we earn our way. really had battles. we've been lucky enough to have many supporters but more than that, understand we have brains and we can use them.

[laughter] [applause] and, unfortunately, we still of a battle. they're still a classy thing to dtheir still be billed for us nt to be able to have the support that we should have on issues that are really critical to us, not only immigration but mental health, transportation. because we have women veterans and we have all those women. we need to impress upon the women who are here, if you get into politics be sure you know what you get into because it's important to help you achieve a dream, if you truly believe it from here. because that's what we deliver them all of us ensuring that we are representative not only for our districts, for our families for other women so they can have a hand up and be with us to fight the good fight. >> thank you so much. [applause] congresswoman lucille roybal-allard, the issue is not only what latina to for latinos

in congress what we did for the population, the general population. not only the keynote but for everyone. >> absolutely. just to piggyback on what grace has already said, is that it isn't just what traditionally are considered latino issues. the fact and relatives and something that we have to let others know just as we do as members of congress is that all issues are latino issues. it isn't just immigration. we are concerned about job creation, our economy. we're concerned about better education for our children, our environment. every issue that is important to our country is important to our latino community because we are equally and sometimes even more negatively impact by many of the issues that we address here in congress. and just to piggyback for those that may not know, i am the

congresswoman for the 40th congressional district. it is a district that has like 87% latino, a huge immigrant population. it's a poor minority district with pockets throughout the city that traditionally have been controlled by the white anglo communities, and so it's in transition. it's a very good difficult sometimes to be able to relate to some of the power bases in various parts of the district. so one of the challenges that we have as latinos is to help those who are not latino, that we are not a threat to them, but that we can be equal partners with them in helping to improve the quality of life that's not just latinos, but of all people within the country. [applause] >> thank you so much. representative sanchez from california's 38th district.

i think it's important to mention that i was joking at the beginning when i was introducing the president of the gates foundation here in the u.s., that high schools to next-door were asking about world affairs, gender equality, voter id laws, environmental all kinds of questions. that's what kids are interested in now. latino or otherwise. >> right. i represent the 30th congressional district of los angeles applause by. >> and it's interesting because i think the success of the latino committee in terms of representing our communities is very generational. i think the next generation coming up doesn't so much see themselves in labels or boxes as comply, bettina you or future latino leader. a look at issues through a lens in which all of the friends are concerned about a particular

issue or their interest in particular issues. they don't necessarily see, you know, that they are limited by a label. one of the things i want to talk about on the panel is that oftentimes as women and as latinos we sort of get labeled as we are the team is in congress, therefore, we only care about certain specific issues, immigration in the top one. immigration is a very important issue. all of us are bound different committees. gray serves on the transportation committee. she talks about transportation issues and infrastructure investment. lucille served on the appropriations committee. she talks about the economy, job creation, infrastructure investment, on and on. loretto serves on the armed services and a lengthy to be. she talks with issues of national security and our armed forces and their readiness. and i serve on the ways and means committee which deals with tax policies. so we're not all focused solely

on one or two issues. we happened to be latina. we happen to be very underrepresented in the congress. if you look at the elected representatives at the federal level, women in general, we are just over 50% of the population. we have a historic number of women currently serving in the house and senate. it's almost 19%, but that's still a gross underrepresentation. and if you talk about latina women, it narrows even further. we are here to say to all of you who may not have ever thought that you would run for public office, for women especially i think sometimes they need permission or they need a champion to tell them they can do it. every single one of us up here is here to say you can do it, and we want to help you do it. because the united states congress, which is supposedly the most democratic body at the federal level because you must be elected in order to serve in the congress, you cannot be

appointed to serve in a house seat, it's supposed to look like the america that it represents. and currently a dozen. so we need to encourage hopes to think about and particularly women to think about running for public office at all levels. but certainly, certainly at the national level. we really need that perspective right now in washington. [applause] >> from california's for his successor, representative loretta sanchez. opening remarks. >> first of all, thanks for having us, thanks for being here in washington, d.c. people in washingtwashingt on d.c., the power capital of the world, need to see our faces here. asked my sister, linda, was saying, need to see our faces in the congress. but they also need to see our faces in business. they need to see our faces in lobbying. they need to see our faces in appointed positions. immediacy is in the state

department. they need to see us in the military. i represent orange county, california, the 46th congressional district. if you've been to disneyland, you have into my home town. also i have my angels right now. so really great, you know, really great place to represent. but as lucille was saying about downtown los angeles, which is one of the portions where she represents and has for a while, the power structures are still the old power structure. meaning that the anglo-saxons have the appointed positions. they had the elected positions. they are the business leaders, and our community is not to be found. in many ways orange county is the epitome of that. orange county test out a third latino of its population, and yet really all that our positions, except for mine, or

less, are held in traditional hands. and so how we move data, how we change that becomes a very important. not just in politics but in business, in agencies, in government agencies. that's what we're looking for when we see young latinas and also when we see the team has who have been working in communities -- latinas decide to bring, decided further had in the ring come decide to come and help us to get this done. that is incredibly important. i want to say that as hard as it is to be latina some days, it's even harder to be a woman in politics. okay? so my congressional friends that are black and women say, it's the double whammy. first we get it because we are women, and then we get it

because we are a minority. and i have seen that play out over and over, even within the congress, as we try to get our work done. >> thank you. [applause] spent now we can talk about the proverbial glass ceiling, why do we start at that in. let's have that as a first question. equal pay, equal status in the workplace. i know we just touched upon the subject but let's get into that with a little bit more substance. representative sanchez, did you want to start? let's talk about the class seating in the workplace and politics. >> there's very much a glass ceiling in place. i love to tell this story. when nicholas became the first woman speaker of the house, we saw a movement. we saw things changing. we saw one of those barriers being broken down. don't get me wrong, we've made a lot of progress, still a long way to go. i was rushing to votes, and i jumped into an elevator as doors were closing, and they were too

southern gentleman there who are trying to be polite and make conversation with me. and one turned to me and he said, so, whose office do you work in? [laughter] and i'm wearing a suit, i'm wearing my member pin. and i was angry, and i just about to blast the sky and then i remember my mom always telling me, you catch more flies with honey than vigor -- vinegar, right? idle worker summit in this building. i have my own office in this building. and he turned and looked at his friend. a look at each other like deer in headlights and the elevator doors open and they scurried out. because even though we had a female speaker of the house, the assumption is if i'm in the elevators in the capital i must be the secretary or the staffer or the in turn. i think they are huge perceptions that women have to overcome. i think were judged by far harsher standards. i tell people i would see some

of our male colleagues, to the floor in crippled suits and they look like they combed their hair with a fork. if a woman got to the floor to give a floor speech and should look like that, they would rip her apart in the press based on what she looked like. we still have many, many double standards or harder standards and hurdles that we have to overcome in order to be taken seriously. and i think i deficit as part of my charge as a member of congress to challenge people when they have assumptions about who or what i am or who or what i can accomplish. you don't always have to do it in a mean way. you can do it very sweetly and make your point just as strong as you can't if you just turn to somebody and yell at them about why would you think you know, x, y or z? but it's very tough and i think there are good male colleagues that understand, but i counted,

the biggest strength that i get being a member is sharing experiences and getting help for my sisters that are up here on the stage with the. >> you already trailblazers that you're actually a position to do something about, to basically legally do something about this glass ceiling and equal pay and equal work status. >> you would think so. [laughter] >> oh, representative -- >> hi. >> did you want to give her an opportunity to speak to speak with why don't we finish with your remarks and in we will give her some time. >> again, the glass ceiling still very much exists even though we think, we are female representatives who can make a difference, who do make a difference but it's still my colleagues on the other side who don't want to pass a equity, who don't want to do things that help the family and especially the women who is normally the

head of the house in latino families in terms of raising children, educating them, et cetera, and going to work. may be working two jobs to maybe help the family. it's unfortunate but it's all political. it is not what needs to be done to help the country. to help i in other words, to help latinos, african-americans. it is what is good for business or it's good for business, it isn't always good for the economy nor for our families. the glass ceiling has always been something we must address and we need your help to be able to say to my colleagues on the other side, get with it. either that or get out of congress. [applause] i mean, let's face it. here we go again. we talk a lot, immigration, mental health and all of that. what about the votes? where are your families in getting out to vote to ensure that somebody's going to be out there voting to ensure that you get equal pay? look what happened in los angeles. he just raised the wage of the

hotel workers in the major hotels. why? he had the guts to do. why don't our colleagues on the other side, they should for the voter coming at them and saying, if you don't do this we were going to take it you turn the election. this is what we need to learn as women, is getting our families involved, our neighbors, coworkers and saying, you make a difference. it's that glass ceiling has to be coming down because we need our women to be at parity with men in pay. i started 25 cents an hour. that was my working day. 25 cents an hour. i have been discriminated more than you can think of. and like linda, i walked in, i was a keno free trade conference under walking. somebody said whose secretary are you? i'm your guest speaker. so, you know, it's just labeling people before the understand that there are women, that are

very, very intelligent -- i'm not one of them but i know many that are. [laughter] understand the other but we need to be able to promote to be able to help them become part of the structure of shattering the glass ceiling so that our children, my great-grandchildren -- i only have four great-grandsons coming up, so unfortunately i don't have many girls in my family. that needs to happen and we need your help to do it. >> from new mexico's first district, thank you for representing us. why do we give an opportunity for opening remarks and if you want to make them about this proverbiaproverbia l issue, the glass ceiling, like i said. >> thank you very much. i'm delighted to be. i'm sorry, everyone, family. i was at the government oversight and reform hearing talking about the security breach at the white house. so important issues, and

actually, in that situation that committee is more bipartisan than it typically does. that's one of the most partisan committees in congress, and i think it works very well to the last set of remarks that my colleague, congresswoman napolitano was thing about the glass ceiling. i can relate to many of the statements that she made. i'm old enough to have been treated in the workforce as a woman as the primary homemaker. so here are the list of rules as a brainy lawyer in a large law firm. we don't want to hear about your kids. we don't want to hear about your family. you will not have any more kids. if you're going to be pregnant again, this is not the place for you to work. of course, i was already pregnant. [laughter] jokes on you. too late for that. [laughter] but those were acceptable, those

were acceptable conversations between an employer and a woman. it's not that long ago. and in thinking about pay equity and breaking the glass ceiling, i think it gets to some of my opening remarks i was going to make that may not quite be relevant. now that we started the panel, i apologize again for being late. iran aging and long-term service in new mexico before it was cabinet level. it was an agency level in our state government structure, and i ran that for 14 years. i think i have the longest tenure ever in new mexico's history, and i worked for democratic and republican governors, at three different governors during that tenure. i was talking a long-term care and caregiving. one of these legislators that i was asking for policy shifts, i was asking for money from, funding, said what happened? families used to take care of each other, and we're getting

more and more requests to address this caregiving issue, particularly from you. and i need you to help me understand why we went from families could take care of each other to an environment where that doesn't happen anymore. and i said to the legislator, sir, with all due respect you are missing a major component. we don't have homemakers anymore, because we've created the environment and most of that, 99.99% great where women are no longer in that role and just raising families in a way that was very narrow, and we are now completely joining the workforce for three reasons. one, we want to. two, workforce needs us. and three, this economy now requires that both spouses are fully represented in the workforce. and so that change, that shift,

this is hasn't kept up, policymakers haven't kept up, and when you know and i know you know the facts, i think i'm part of the largest class of women and the most diverse class ever in congress, only 20 women in the senate. and that's great that we did that in my freshman class, but if you want policies to reflect the realities of the situation we have ourselves, and that they should be fair and not biased and not discriminatory, then the people making those policies, as grace said, after reflect those values. and until more women and more women of color are in these policy positions, i fear we will struggle to find the kind of equality that would really reflect moving forward the families and our committees in a meaningful way. so i appreciate very much being on this very distinguished panel, and i have no doubt that his conversation will lend

itself into more women running, more women participating and more fabulous stories about how we can work together collectively to make a difference in the country. >> thank you so much. [applause] i want to touch, of course i know you want to jump in, trying to, and will have the opportunity to do that but let's make this the last question about gender equality and everything. let's concentrate on an issue that you're working on basically every day. i want to talk about midterm elections. you mentioned them and voter participation. i think it's crucial we hear your opinions on these matters. but first, ma if you want to jump in on the issue at hand. >> well, i said as the number two democrat on the house armed service committee and the number two democrat on the homeland security committee, and the number two democrat on the joint economic committee. so i just need to figure out how to move one guy out of the way

of either one of those committees and take back the congress. so in turn will be important though that i can be chairman. chairwoman. no, okay? [applause] but think about this. id war, terror and deficits all day long when i'm in washington, d.c. a lot of it, most of the time, in fact my military analyst who is a woman and who is korean american can she said to me the other day, have you ever noticed when we walk into these meetings on gaza an issue, the palestinian issue, on putin, what he's doing in ukraine, on the missile defense, on nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation, on the weaponization of space, all of things that i do, these are my, this is what i do all day long in the congress, when we go into those meetings, she said to me, did you ever notice that we are the only two women and we are

the only two minorities? and it's true, right? so i want to finish with this. a couple years ago we had an opening for the number one place for the democrats on the most macho committee and the congress, the armed service committee. and iran for it against two guys. and nobody ever talked about me, you know, and the papers were saying these two guys are going at it, these two guys going at it. we're doing our campaign, were doing our thing. so we go in front of the steering committee which is, you know, 40 democrats who give the decision on who could really do this job, and i go in there and i gave my spiel, and the vote comes back and i got the top vote and the people go, what? how can that be? how can already be the one that impressed the most people in the room? if that's okay because it has to go to go to everybody, right?

we go to a vote to everybody, and on the first node three people, first though, i get the top vote. the two guys get work on drop off the third vote. on the second vote, the guy beats me, okay? i know who didn't vote for me on the second vote. remember the double whammy i told you about? noabout? come talk to me. so anyway, so i didn't get it. what was the interesting thing is, back to something that my sister said, that we and the women who work in the congress, the women who are staffers, had been so used to seeing nancy pelosi as the speaker, that somehow they didn't realize that this discrimination, this sexism, exist in the congress. they just anticipated. the women who are watching this race, the young staffers on the military committee and on the committees of the people who were on that committee who see us doing our work day in and day

out, they assumed i would get this position. and when i didn't, i had so many of them walked up to me in tears and say, because with a nancy pelosi, we thought this was a given, that women would be chosen as leaders here. and it wasn't until we saw the way they defeated you, by six votes, that we realized that the barricades still exists for women to have top positions. so i think there's a lot more work that we have to do. [applause] >> i'd like to add to what loretta said, because that's one of the issues i think that we as women, particularly and our mail allies have to understand, that the perception in many ways is

that, well, women are, you know, achieving, and we have made progress. but as we'll read his example showed, we still are in many, many instances not considered to be up to the job. and when i came in in 1993, it was considered the year of the woman. and the story but linda just told, and 2003 when she came in is very similar to what we experienced in 1993. when we were literally stopped from entering the house floor and questioned and told, you know, you need to wait outside because only members are allowed on the floor. and we had to explain that, excuse me, we are members as

well. when we were completely ignored by leadership, when task force were being formed, including task force dealing with what many consider traditional women issues, welfare reform and others, no woman was being put on any of these task forces. and so the women that were there literally, we marched to the leadership office to demand that we gain the same respect as our male counterparts. had to remind leadership that our vote counted the same as our male counterparts. so it, and it continues to be a struggle. so we can't fall into the trap, as loretta said, that well, gee, we had a speaker, a woman speaker and we have women who are in key positions and so forth, so we can sit back and relax, because we can't.

i want to end with this. not only do we have to continue the fight, whether it's here in congress or whether it's in businesses, to push them to support women to obtain higher positions, but it has to start with us as women. we have to be -- we have to believe in ourselves, in our own ability and stop apologizing because were asking for a raise or but because we have, you know, certain obligations and we would like some time off. we have to consider ourselves as equals. [applause] >> and i just want you to know that when i came in, there were three latinos. i was the first mexican-american will be elected to congress. and neither was the first puerto rican woman elected to congress,

and ileana ros-lehtinen was the first cuban-american elected to congress. there's only, there was only three of us. and after 22 years there's only nine us. but let me just tell you that the women who are in this room are dynamic leaders. and they are truly helping to move us forward. [applause] >> and i think, and they just want to say as a senior member here, that we need the support not only of women but also of our mail allies. because it's going to take a partnership between both the men and the women to move the agenda forward, and so that someday we as women will not be an afterthought, will not be considered second class, and we

have to remember that when we're talking about advancing women, it's not just that we want women in there, but we have qualified, talented women that have the ability to lead and in many cases, let me tell you, and this is a reflection on my male counterparts, can excel and even do better than many of our male counterparts who are now in those positions. [applause] >> thank you so much. to be fair, i think we have to cover the most important issue at hand, of course, and i think we have. and if i had the chance to talk to five representatives, mail, i wouldn't be asking the of course about this issue, but i would be asking them about midterm elections, about other things that are important. so why do we move to those

subjects? because we covered the most important thing. that's done with. but now let's talk about other things, i do want to talk about midterm elections. especially the participation of latinos because there's this notion now, even political calculations from the white house, that voting for the midterm elections is not worth it because by doing so, by doing so you might mobilize a bigger boat, the conservative vote or midterm elections, and latinos really don't have a history of participating in midterm elections are making a difference. i really want from your perspective and opinion about that. and also how can we get more latinos to come out and vote for midterm elections? we have to continue in the configuration of congress. every time there's a general election in which is a president or even a governor, i think we have to purchase the and how we configure our congress and our representatives, our representation. i will start to my left. >> one of the things we have a lot of immigrants who come from

countries where they are afraid to speak up, afraid to be seen or vote. it got to understand their vote counts, those that are documented, not document, but that are citizens. but many of the things we hear is that over half a million latinos who are eligible to vote who did not vote. that could turn the tide in many states. but understand that we need to ensure that everybody looks at what the voters -- the candidates are, they are. because they can promise anything to those ads, forget those ugly as. anybody goes into negative ads, i just write them off. because unfortunately we focus too much on things that somebody else says about you. what have they done? what are they doing in your community? how are they going to help your business or be able to help immigrant population or your health care delivery? these are the things that we should be looking at and voting for those who are going to be a

position of being able to make a difference for us, to helping us in congress the able to get a majority and be able to go back and institute of services that we need for the people. forget wars, i'm sorry. i vote antiwar because we need charity to start at home. this is where we need the money to help our communities. and, unfortunately, it's the youngsters may not understand it and yes, you have some that are very enthused, but there's very few. we need others who are turning 18 who are u.s. citizens to understand this will affect their vote to get loans, to buy a car, to purchase a home, to start a business. these are things that are going to affect them in the years to come. if they are not involved in that they don't care to vote and talk to their colleagues and get to the ballot box and vote, giving the families out to go out and knock on doors, their neighbors to get them out to vote on election day, and understand that you're powerful. one of you can reach a thousand

people just by the multiplication of how you reach out. somehow we are missing the boat and they're calling us the sleeping giant. we have somehow woken but not enough to the point where we made a mark and said to america, we exist, we are valuable to you, and we are part of your economy. so we must the people that look like us to represent us at every level, whether it's local, the senate, all the different elected officials that you can think of. we need more women there because women think and speak and act with heart. so please carry the message out to get people involved. midterm election, well, in california we are due in november. it's already general. we need to be able to position ourselves to be able to get more people, more women to run the actual help us be able to run an agenda forward that helps all of our country, let tenet and everybody else along with it.

[applause] >> in mexico is one of those states where the latino vote can really make a difference, and that has made a difference in the past. >> it has. majority-minority state, largest percentage in the country, but to your point we suffer from a midterm election apathy. not just by hispanic voters but voters in general but given that dynamic in our state, if you can do something about that, engagement and that apathy, then in fact you're exactly right. we set that policy agenda. i think there are several factors in the midterm election cycle. i think the media plays actually a huge role in minimizing, and what i would call vote suppression, by highlighting the negative which is, a congress. this isn't getting done, this isn't getting done, this isn't getting done. and by focusing on policy extremes on either end, i think

it discourages folks from feeling like there's anything they can do to change it. i think we've got to start really being clear about, with voters about how we can get them to engage in state policy that allows their voter options to be enhanced, particularly sense we have in congress do something about protecting voter rights. i'm very disappointed that prior to the midterm elections that we didn't get that done. that's got to be something we got to get to the community of voters but the states can really drive it. this is how we know we reach everyone, and we provide easy opportunity. and to that i think it's equally important when you look at a state like new mexico, double dip recession, we had a spike in our poverty rates. i mean, it's a disaster. those issues are also related to voter suppression.

so people don't have transportation don't have any way to access information, aren't getting any educational outreach support. and then it minimizes policy. i think what we are to do start thinking about pacs and super pacs. engage in voter education and voter awareness and address voter apathy so we can do something across the country and we shouldn't rest until every single state in this country. in we will not be having this conversation about this shift between midterm and general or presidential years. we will see i think a much higher engagement by all communities, midterms. and a certain support that and am disappointed that i think new mexico will be one of those states this election cycle that will have significant gaps in terms of the number of voters stuck two years ago. and i guarantee you it will

reflect unfortunately in my opinion negatively on the kinds of policymakers that would make a difference in those economic opportunity issues, and and equality and civil rights issues inside the mexico, and and in the country. >> i think we've seen, such a good example of what happened in the last two decades. but that, of course, -- only governor schwarzenegger been the only republican elected to public office since then. >> correct, right. ..