let me remind you to friends and coworkers they can watch this discussion live on the website. you will see it on the screen in a minute. we will be entertaining questions from the audience. pay attention because you will be able to ask questions and encourage you to have them ready. now to our distinguished panel. first of california's 32nd district -- [applause] >> from california california district -- the 30th district.

she is coming. a little late. new mexico's first district. we will have her seat at the end. thank you for being here today. we really appreciate it. i am lucky to be surrounded by intelligent and wonderful women, as i have always been in my life. why don't i start with a brief introduction round. we will go in order. if you would like to start with a brief introduction about our topic today, latino leadership in congress. >> hello, everybody. but are known as grace. and have been in california many years and have inn on city council and now congress. it has been a long battle.

all of you must understand, it is not easy for us to be sitting here. we have earned our way. we have had saddles and have been lucky enough to have men support us but understand we have brains and can use them. unfortunately, we still have a battle and there is still a glass ceiling. there is still the ability for us to not have the support we should have on issues that are really critical to us. not only immigration but mental health. because we have women veterans and all those women, but we need to impress upon the women who are here, if you get into politics, make sure you know what you are getting into if you it is important truly believe it from here. that is what we believe from all of us ensuring we are representatives not only for our district, families and other

women so they can have a handout and deal with us to fight the good fight. >> think you so much. -- thank you. >> not only what latinos do in congress that what we do for the younger generation. this is for everyone. >> absolutely. graceo piggyback on what has already said is that it is not just what are traditionally considered latino issues, the fact that the reality is something we have to let others know, just as we do as members of congress is that all issues are latino issues. we are concerned about job creation, the economy. we are concerned about a better education for our children, environment. every issue important to our country is important to the latino community.

just to be a call -- just to remind you i am from a district , a huge 87% latinos immigrant population. it supports minority districts without -- with pockets throughout the city that traditionally have been by the white anglo communities. this has been a transition time and a very difficult transition sometimes to be able to relate to the power spaces in the various parts of the district. have ishe challenges we to help those that are not latino, that we are not a threat to them but can be equal

partners with them and helping to improve quality of life or not just latinos but all people within the country. >> thank you so much. i think it is important to mention that i was joking at the beginning. the high school students next door were asking me about worldly affairs -- world affairs, gender equality come in the environment. that is what keeps our interest now, latino or otherwise. >> right. i am linda sanchez. -- representhe at the 38th congressional district of los angeles. interesting because i think the success of the latino community in terms of isresenting the community very generational. i think the next generation

coming up does not necessarily see them selves as latino youth theyture latino leader, look at issues through a lens in which all of their friends are concerned about a particular issue or interested in particular issues, so they do not necessarily see that they are limited by a label. one thing i want to talk about is often times as women and latinos we get labeled as we are latinos in congress and therefore, only care about certain issues, immigration being the top one. immigration is a very important issue. gray serves on the transportation committee. the seal is on the appropriations committee. the economy,ut jobs creation, infrastructure investment.

and homelands community. issues of national security and our armed forces and their readiness. i serve on the ways and means committee, which deals with tax policy. on one or twoused issues. we happened to be latina and very underrepresented in the congress. you look at the elected representatives, and women in general are just over 50% of the population. we have a historic number serving in the house or senate. almost 19%. that is still a growth underrepresentation. for women especially i think they need permission or a champion to tell them they can do it. every single one of them here is

to tell us we can do it. you cannot be appointed to serve in a house seat. we need to encourage folks to think about, and particularly forn to think about running public office at all levels, but certainly at the national level. we really need that perspective right now. >> thank you so much. district. 35th opening remarks. >> first of all, thank you for having us and for being here and washington. washington, the power capital of the world, need to see our faces here.

as my sister was singing, they need to see our faces in the congress, but they also need to in business -- faces business, in appointed positions in cs and the state department. they need to see us in the military. county,, formange you. the 46th congressional district. if you have been to disneyland, you have been to my hometown. the almighty angels right now. great ways to represent, but as lucille was singing, about downtown los angeles, one of the portions where she represents and has for , the power structures are still the old power structures, meaning the anglo-saxon ones have the appointed decisions, elected positions, 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] 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. -- when nancy pelosi became the

first woman speaker of the house. 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 is 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? 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,

male, 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. .. we are not factored in. -- >> i just want to say that the biggest mistake the latino

community can make is to stay home in protest of whatever it is you are protesting. whether it is the administration or something that is happening or not happening in congress. through our vote, we send a message to leadership here in washington as to whether or not we are going to be a community and a horse to be reckoned with. if we stay home, then we become invisible, and we are not factored in. [applause] through our vote, we are sending a message to washington, to our state legislators that we are going to hold elected officials accountable. come the next election we will fire them again just like we hired them through our votes. one of the ways we can do this

is by helping our community to understand the connection between elections and what happens in the everyday price. washington d.c. los angeles, almost 3,000 miles away there is sometimes a disconnect and when i am talking to committee members and talking about the vote, the impulse. they don't have time to vote. wants the community starts to understand the connection between what they are trying to do with their family whether it is a decent paying job, quality and affordable education for their children, child care, how all these things are directly decided by who is in atlanta office so if they want to have a better quality of life they cannot afford not to elect individuals who are going to

support both policies. then will light seems to go on because they understand the connection between elections and the impact of elections, what they're trying to do in everyday life and that is the message we have to get across to our community. for them to understand the significance of the significance of the vote and the power of the vote, one of the first things we looked at, to make some kind of policy decision or a vote. our constituents are saying, because we know we are held accountable and explain what ever vote or policy decisions we make.

that is from message. we have to give meaning to to the vote of our community and once we do, believe me, the latino community will no longer be ignored. [applause] >> a few more minutes to open questions from both of you. >> five 46 years ago. a member came to me and said we had a seat that was a very close seat in the election, the 3% hispanic community, how do you get the democratic senate in that seat. this was about three weeks before election day. that is not a question you ask two weeks before the election but two years before the election because our population, the afterthought, to get together.

when i ran for congress the first time, i was young at that time, it was 18 to 25. it was a plan for how many mail pieces we are going to do. there was no mail to the 18-25. those people never vote and i said maybe they don't vote because nobody ever talks to them or give some reason they need to vote. [applause] >> a big problem is a vicious cycle and therefore they are unreliable. time, energy and money are going to stay home whereas if we were to try to engage them help from understand, if you could get

enthusiasm to the midterm elections there would be a voting bloc and no one could ignore because there would be a revolving trust. and their votes would matter. we have still considered a swing vote even though we are the fastest-growing population in this country and we have to move out of that category and regular voter category who you are going to answer for with a vote for policy decisions and that is gone all of us. what you have in the audience as well, at 80% of my time in the

district talking to constituents about what is going on in washington d.c. because it is 3,000 mile away. when we talk about what we are doing in washington or why it matters, and they are engaged. >> i would like to go back to what we started with and basile, regardless of the issues that didn't get done away we wanted them to, this community does not stand up and exercise its vote. this is the reason. i believe these two young ladies were not in the hispanic caucus at the time that we took one of the most important votes we have ever taken and we now see the aftermath of what the policy decision has done to our country and our people, will we go, will we allow the president to cross

the line and go into iraq in a pre-emptive move. i believe that one of the most important days and one of my proudest days in congress was when the entire hispanic caucus voted no to go into iraq. [applause] >> we lost that vote, wind in and have all the problems and our returning men and women, i see it everyday. what i am saying is it takes hispanics and in particular when i look at the women in the congress whose stand up and who fight every day and take the vote the people who are on the forefront of pushing the hard vote, when we had the health

care vote it was the democratic women to all stood up and voted for it and that third of those women did not return to the congress because of that vote. for our community, think about it, for our community this health care issue is going to be the best thing that ever happened to us and when we get it right and all works out, we are healthier community because of those courageous women who stood up and vote. time after time after time i have seen this. ac area of the vote, i stood up in congress and looked all the reasons why we don't have a good plan going and dining in syriac against the president and our own party, we got to get this right.

we cannot continue to spend money in places where we are doing the same thing, chasing our tail and not getting it right. i have got to tell you when i go back to my hispanic community in my district they played this of brand over on television, they said to me thank you for not being afraid to stand up and voting and telling people why you are voting that way. when i look at my colleagues that way, i see strong women who are willing to stand up. with a we like what is going on in some each is or not, have to continue to focus especially in this election. [applause] >> ask the audience questions,

and i know we have mic on both sides, the question of is there. if you can say your name. the question? >> i am from miami and worked in miami dade public schools, the american federation of teachers. i met a lobbyist ones who said don't give me complaints, give me a solution. i wrote it down. people doing research and finding how to reach the group during the season of football and soccer how come it is when it comes to politics we do not have people doing research and how to reach the committees and those demographic areas. i do know that it costs money to do that but there the universities and there are

students looking for dissertation papers. and in regards to women, i love men but behind every successful and strong man there is an even stronger one. >> happy life, happy wife. i will tell you is that. >> i don't sit in education but i can tell you it is for most that you are approaching universities and find out how you can get from the state of the fed to do dissertations research, my colleague who sits in education will be able to answer because he has been instrumental in raising funds for the hispanic institutions in higher education. we need to convince the education at the state level that they need to be able to

allow more research and funding of the -- what would i say? could deserving decision, latinos had in the united states for about this country that is not recognized, some of that research in health services or education or business. i don't know how else we can help but pick up at the end. >> the optimism in this group is fantastic. i know nothing i say diminishes that. i wouldn't be here without that optimism and enthusiasm and i was walking in and heard my colleague linda say it takes a woman to ask another one. i would not be as a freshman in a leadership position in the hispanic caucus, if a woman hadn't asked me if i was willing to do that.

we can show you how that works internally and externally. you are exactly right. there are bodies of evidence and out range, what would get to these voters. don't minimize what it costs to do that. we are minimizing, looking at this strategically. if all you see on national news is a polarization of issues nationally and locally, it really hits apathy at its core and grows apathy and grows disappointment and those of the two reasons because they don't see any tangible evidence of a quality of life opportunity. we have to figure out a way to counteract those efforts. it is something we ought to talk about how we shape, how we engage and maybe there is an opportunity for the growth of a

private public partnership here to do that. and to your point about doing it now. we don't wheat four years for now and say we are back at this very conference, we have to invest in a new strategy and see tangible results in 2018 and moving forward but we have that evidence. we just don't execute it. >> a brief reaction. i would say every night, and what to work with. >> come and talk to us. the integration -- >> i am going to reach challenge you because the media is

focusing on just the polarization and we can't give you lots of examples where we moved on that. as a freshman i need to say as a freshman there's not a single member of this panel who would say this is the promised time for them by any stretch of the imagination. we never talk about when we are getting along, what women did to shaped the 113th congress, major pieces of legislation finally did get through. stopping an ideological government shut down was monumental by both parties. that doesn't get delivered in a message that promotes participation. we deliver this message is, and minimize, the press -- >> let me add to your ears because i have yet to have press call me on issues that are

important like mental health. have to call me on transportation. we are there, we are available. and reached hot to tell us what we do in this committee. there is all locked out there. and this is something i thought of in my city is. and in the west coast, how many of you knows that. and negative things. >> and -- >> focused on national pieces of

legislation. and schedule bills for the congress. and immigration reform? and that's scheduled vote on a core and everyone of us, for the -- but every single one of us up here has accomplished something for our local community that we are able to do, not in a national peace of legislation because little is coming to the 4 for a vote but through sheer effort and determination to make our community better. we had little success in helping cities achieve certain goals whether it is through helping grant funding and putting together pieces of public/private partnership to make it happen. we all have success stories. but nobody asks us about it. >> i agree with that.

>> i get calls all the time because i do war on terror. that is the reality. that's where i am. when we opened up the senior center there's a drive in california, not in my district because we have a natural aquifer, we put in over the last the teen years a factory that cleans our water three different ways, inject it back in and drinking the same water as three years ago. it is the total recycled program. does somebody come out and sam oh my god, why did you do this? how did you do this? is they want to know are we going to go after vladimir putin? we want to know about the war on terror. that is the reality. >> the national agenda too. another question over here.

>> i am a kindergarten teacher with the california teachers association. >> i love kindergarten. my question is in regards to education, in regards to a family dominated by women and one thing that is happening in the next five to 10 years is we have a huge shortage of teachers, the state is doing what they can but at the national level what can we do to -- he will be a crisis not just in california but all of is the nation. what can we do to really get ahead of this? we are already behind it. secondly, in regards to the latinas and representation, one thing i found out is latinos will follow latinas, how do we

get into follow? beautiful latinas into the workforce or education field or universities? it is a two part. >> and the rest of my colleagues. -- >> lucile. lucille can answer those. >> notice i did not pile on him like the rest of my colleagues. i'm sorry you even mentioned that. have known better with the women up. >> the generous and kind one. going back to the question as i understood it, i a thing that is an example when you talk about education is an example of why it is so critical to vote, for

our community to vote and for teachers to vote. let me tell you what i am talking about. whether we like it or not everything happens in the political arena. is no accident one of the last things any member of congress wants to do is to cut social security or medicare. seniors vote. why is it so easy to cut money for education? why is it that we fight every single year to stop the elimination of the program? because students don't vote and to a large degree the same thing happens with teachers. i can't tell you how many teachers have said to me we are not politicians, we can't get involved in politics. i am here to say you can't afford not to get involved in politics and you have to nurse -- [applause]

>> you have to look at who is in office and look at their voting record. for get the kagan democrat or republican or tea party or whatever, look at that voting record. i have a teacher come at me because i am on the labour h h as subcommittee and homeland security subcommittee. i had a teacher come to me to lobby on behalf of increased funding for education and it was the battle we have in our committee to try to at least keep what we had. as she leaves, she says to me, i guess, full disclosure here, i only vote republican.

talk about increasing money, it was her vote that put into power at the very party that was cutting education. you can't have it both ways so we have to have educated voter base, we have to participate, we have to participate and that is how if education, teachers, parents voted, believe me, one of the last things any elected official wants to do is cut education money. >> one thing. >> talking into the microphone.

>> it's just that it's hard to hear. you are turning that way. we want to hear you. >> you will never see any elected official stand up and say -- this is not true -- they hate education but there unidentified speaker are those that want to eliminate the department of education been very where lee will use the elected officials say they want to cut education or education needs to be cut. they will always talk about how there for education and for opportunities but the measure of your b s meter, look and see how they vote. if they put their money where their mouth is, if there for education and vote for the funding they are legitimate. [applause] >> if they stand up and say they believe in education and are for education and education is great and the other time when you are not watching them they're voting against it they are not your friends. we have a saying in washington that i love to repeat. you don't have a seat at the table chances are you are on the menu.

they will carve you up and serve you to everybody so you have to have a seat at the table and the way you do that is through your voice. your voice is your vote. >> whole bunch of new mexico educator's here in the audience. and back there, earlier education, elementary education all the way to higher education represented here, we are showing up in droves and after dep election, hoping that it is enough but it won't be for lack of effort. those elected governors and legislators, we talk about education is our number one priority where if you look at funding, that is clearly not the case in the federal budget. we need to the same stuff we did in the affordable care act. if we don't do work force

development that brings respect back to educator's by paying back a reasonable, meaningful way we aren't investing. we had the evidence that shows those investments were returned to us. we don't get it done. i appreciate you brought back that question because that has got to be a shift in all the policiesmakers. that is the number-1 issue. early childhood education. rah rah rah! >> you are right on. one of the things i was going to let the gentleman know and the media that this year note, and the beauty of teachers that they are our second parents so we need to recognize them and measure to what they deliver to our children. how do you do that?

to convince your state to put more money in the education fun you have to convince the local school board to put the funding in salary increases to the merit basin that teacher's education ability or ability to agent -- to educate. i was told from infancy that you lose everything you can, holes, -- your health, your wealth, your friends, your holdings, except your education. they need to strengthen questioning their teachers, we need male model teachers. we need that. how do we do that? media, public service announcement, show the value of teaching, you are for leadership of tomorrow and paid them equally. >> let's do one more question.

>> thank you so much for being here. let me say it is refreshing to have you here and see you speak passionately. it really is refreshing. my name is mary ann and i am a master of student health at george washington university. my question is yesterday i was in class. one issue that came up was teen pregnancy among hispanic women, how it is such a higher rate among our communities and one of the reasons implied or at least by the speaker that was present was our hispanic community, young teenagers don't have ambitions or goals. that was sort of implied.

as mad as you can be a concern that back, where i they getting the stories, where are we failing that people are assuming our community, that is how they are defining our issues? >> jumping in before i came to congress, secretary of health in new mexico, and i am going to ask you to push back to ever talk to that class because i like to see the evidence that suggests hispanic young women lack ambitions and goals. i think that is outrageous. may be a member of congress would like to see that report. >> let me tell you something, hold on. i yield, thank you, young lady. i have never seen a first grade class where the teacher comes in and she has you stand up, and she says answer the question,

what do you want to be when you grow up, i have never seen a kid stand up and say i want to be at teenage pregnant person. i have never seen someone stand up and say i want to beat for. -- be poor. when i was asked that question i stood up and said, i want to be the pope. i said who has the money and the power? it is totally incorrect. kids are like anybody else's kids. they want to be firemen, they want to be the plumber, depending on -- the want to be the president, congresswoman, julia child, whatever is they want to be they can be and mimi

-- and we need to push back on the people whose a we have predetermined disposition to be mediocre. that is just not correct. >> one quick thing. >> you got to do both. >> this troubles me greatly. speaking into my left -- >> i can hear you. >> i'm supposed to be moderating but there is no way. >> it troubles me they're still teaching that and still because i have a teacher in high school tell me not to bother to apply to a four year university, because chances are you will get pregnant and dropped out anyway. i have a high school teacher tell me -- that infuriated me to know an end which is probably why i am where i am today but push back on the baseless assumptions based on negative

stereotypes people like to perpetuate. and we need to push back as a community and i think oftentimes people can make poor decisions when they are young. i can't tell you how many latino mothers with young kids have gone back to college or second careers and they go on to accomplish phenomenal things because they have learned in order to get ahead it takes sacrifice and diligence and dedication. it infuriates me that those same tired stereotypes keep getting recycled because it is a way to make our community feel bad about themselves and often times our kids may not xl pour achieve because people who were guiding them were giving advice and that they are not capable of doing or achieving famous. to.he things they want

>> first time you go to brown or berkeley or any top university in the nation. >> representative from new mexico. >> thank you so much. >> they did a beautiful job. i love that they are fired up. we know it is false information. what i believe to be the case is evidence based that we have a sense ceo economic issue, we have not invested enough in turning that around. class sizes are too big. they don't have the right support for families and losing something about that and we still disseminating. this is where i am not so proud, we have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country. it is not happening, we don't

stayed the course by investing in schools and evidence based programs, by doing what matters to these families and i expect that every state does a better job. we have to do a better job. everyone of these young people, moms and thats deserves our ability to do as much prevention and support and evidence based work including comprehensive sex education so that everybody has a chance to live their lives and fulfill their dreams to the highest possible expectations. >> back to the previous question we have extremely talented successful women and men latinos throughout this country, attorneys, teachers, doctors, scientists. the only time you hear about them is during hispanic heritage month, on tv about somebody. we have incredibly talented

young people who are going to yale and brown. maybe the press could highlight not just once the year but more often could highlight the positive contributions our latino doctors and nurses and attorneys are doing every single day to improve the quality of life not only of the community but the country as a whole. that would be helpful. >> in this language. >> we do that every day, not only do we have education but the health initiatives in the last three years. we had empowerment initiatives, groups, everything we do for the committee, an amazing job

highlighting the contribution, but we have to do more than that. >> mainstream press and ferret is one more thing, to the young lady, would you stand-up please? just recently probably a week ago, the little blurb that teen pregnancy has diminished. you need to check out the national institute -- it was decree's tremendously. give that report to the individuals that told you that and get to date with this fame. if you are unmarried and still in school teen pregnancy is the thing that is a fat sometimes because you haven't grown up yet. i was 18 and married and had my first child at 18. i was 23 and had five children.

i grew up with my children. i have a high school education. does that mean i wasn't able to participate because somebody told me that i couldn't? they tried to tell me i wasn't worth what i thought i was? each one of you need to know what is in here because whatever you want you can accomplish. using this and this and believe me, there is support up there, male and female support. sometimes they met at you but don't worry about the negative, go for the positives because those are the people willing to stand behind the u.s. and give you at heads up being able to make sure you can be what you really want to be and not what you are told you can't be. [applause] >> i.t. devoe that is all the time we have. we're ten minutes over. people asking what the most exciting part of my job, interviewing the press, having

broad cover to cover events, breaking news, interesting and inspiring people can talk passionately about issues like the ones we touched upon today and an incredible example of that so thank you for your time. it was a pleasure. i thank everyone for being here today. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> illinois congressman luis gutierrez and joe crowley were other congressmen who spoke at the hispanic caucus conference. this is an hour. ♪

boy, those lights are to be abut it appears good crowd. thank you very much for having me. before we start this very important panel, i want to tell you why i'm interested. why i have in fact elected to thet covering for fusion immigration reform debate. you see, as many of you, my parents, my grandparents were immigrants. they came across many years ago in the 1920's. my grandparents came across from chihuahua, mexico, into texas. they worked in the fields. my grandfather worked in a class factory and hot pot himself to read and write in english. then he raised 8 children, all of them professionals, many of them went to college, and all of them contribute it to society. and that is the model we hope that