hilda solis and mel martinez. indeed, as the hispanic population in the u.s. has grown from 6% in 1980 to 16% according to the 2010 census, and as their advocates win powerful seats at the federal level, hispanic americans have become one of the most influential voting blocs in the country. gaining that reputation has never been easy an likely won't eefr be easy or simple or straightforward. the experiences of the hispanic members in that post 1977 period illustrate very clearly that there's no one person or caucus who can drive the agenda or determine the needs and the desires and aspirations of all hispanic american voters. this was very clear after the emergence of a separate congressional hispanic conference which was composed of republicans in the early 2000s. the caucus began to break over cuba policy, so now there is a hispanic caucus and a hispanic conference. they're divided in a partisan fashion. this is perhaps the clearest side that political debate is alive and well in that community. but regardless, based on this long history, there obviously is