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Senator Barbara Boxer
Statement on the Nomination of Congresswoman Hilda Solis
January 9, 2009

Good morning Chairman Kennedy, Ranking Member Enzi, and Committee members.

Thank you for the opportunity to introduce my good friend and colleague from California, Congresswoman Hilda Solis, President-elect Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Labor.

Mr. Chairman, too often over the past eight years, the voices of working men and women in this country went unheard.

But in selecting Congresswoman Solis, President-elect Obama has sent a clear message that America’s working families will be heard.

Congresswoman Solis has a strong understanding of the everyday struggles of working families, the challenges facing our economy, and the need for change to jumpstart the economy and create jobs.

This change could not come a moment too soon.

This morning we received more sobering news about the current state of the labor market.

Last month the economy lost 524,000 jobs, and in 2008, 2.6 million jobs were lost – the most in one year since 1945. Unemployment continues to climb – in some areas of our home state of California, the unemployment rate is over twelve percent. And wages for many in the middle class have actually decreased over the last eight years.

We are in the midst of the greatest economic challenge this country has faced in a generation.

And I can think of no one who will take on the task of jumpstarting our economy and bolstering the middle class with more energy, creativity, and integrity than Congresswoman Hilda Solis.

Throughout her entire career, Congresswoman Solis has been a forceful advocate for working men and women in California and throughout the nation.

Born and raised in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley, she was instilled early-on with the values of hard work. Her father emigrated from Mexico and worked various jobs before becoming a Teamsters shop steward. Her mother came to the US from Nicaragua and worked at a local toy factory. From them Congresswoman Solis learned about the importance of union membership, and the sacrifices many parents make to provide opportunities for their children.

As the first Latina elected to the California State Senate, Congresswoman Solis worked tirelessly to pass progressive laws to strengthen our economy and build California’s middle class.

In addition to her many other legislative accomplishments, she led efforts to pass a much-needed increase in California’s minimum wage.

In the 1990’s, when Congresswoman Solis discovered that toxic sites were disproportionately located near minority and low-income neighborhoods, she wrote an environmental justice law to guarantee protections for these communities.

For her dedication to this cause, she became the first woman honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

From the time she was first elected to represent California’s 32nd Congressional District in 2000, she has focused on solutions to strengthen our economy. In 2007 she secured passage of a bill to establish an energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program.

Knowing Congresswoman Solis as I do, I am confident that as Labor Secretary, she will turn the many challenges we face into new opportunities for the American people.

As Secretary, she will continue to promote policies that will invigorate our economy, protect American jobs, re-train our workforce for a sustainable energy future, ensure safe working conditions, enforce wage and hour laws, protect against worker discrimination, and strengthen the middle class.

Congresswoman Solis is truly the new face of the American dream, and as Secretary of Labor, she will continue her life’s work to help millions of Americans secure their own American dream.

Thank you.



Business News




Education News

Time for historical lesson on Mexican migration into U.S.
By Arturo Villarrealand Charley Trujillo
Article Launched: 08/06/2008 01:34:15 AM PDT

Immigration is driven by historical and economic necessity on both sides of
the border. There are times when the United States needs Mexican labor, such
as during World War I and World War II, that migration is encouraged. During
economic downturns, migration is discouraged. Repression is directed toward
this population, such as during the Great Depression, the economic recession
of the 1950s and the present downturn.

Perhaps by analyzing and understanding history, we can change our
perspective on the issue - not by building a fence across the border but by
building a bridge between two countries that share a long history. It is
difficult to comprehend that a physical barrier across the border will fence
in history.

Most discussions of Mexican migration into the United States lack a
historical perspective that lead to characterize it as a spontaneous and
recent phenomenon. However, people of Mexican origin are descendants of one
of the six original world civilizations and whose ancestors help lay the
foundation for the development of the present-day Southwest and other
regions.

The melting pot theory of assimilation and its assumptions are most often
used by journalists, politicians and citizens who don't believe Mexican
immigrants, legal or not, are productive members of society. At best, this
theory is applicable to ethnic immigrants of European heritage. Unlike
European immigrants who had to traverse an ocean, this theory does not apply
to Native Americans or Mexicans who are indigenous to America.

The first significant contact between whites and Chicanos led to the Texas
revolt of 1834-36 when the symbolic battle of the Alamo occurred. Many of
the whites in the Alamo were undocumented because Mexico barred further
white immigration into Texas in 1830. Armed with a strong military and the
ideological doctrine of manifest destiny that deemed the United States as
people chosen by God to rule from sea to shining sea, the United States
invaded Mexico in 1846.

Mexico lost the war and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.
Mexico ceded California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and parts of Nevada,
Utah and Wyoming for $15 million. Under the treaty, remaining Mexicans
became U.S. citizens with all rights of property, language and religion.
However, the provisions were ignored; or, in the case of property, it was
taken by legal and extralegal means.

Violence against Chicanos by vigilantes and law enforcement officials was so
severe that scores left for Mexico. Violence faced by those remaining was
comparable to what blacks faced in the South. By the early 1900s, cheap
Mexican labor was needed for work in the mines, railroads, agriculture and
other industries. During this period, Mexicans also migrated to the Midwest
and Northwest. The Mexican Revolution and World War I also contributed to
push and pull factors that brought migration of Mexicans into the United
States. It is estimated one-eighth of Mexico's population legally moved into
the United States during this period.

Mexican labor has been instrumental in the development of infrastructure and
capital accumulation in the United States. However, with the economic
depression of the 1930s, Mexican labor was no longer necessary. Hundreds of
thousands of Mexicans were deported. This deportation included U.S.
citizens, a practice that continues.

Racial categorization in the United States is the confusion of race,
nationality and ethnicity, whereby people of Mexican origin are always
suspect of being foreign, regardless of legal status. To the dominant
society, however, they are all indistinguishable. Unlike European immigrant
groups who are removed geographically from home countries, Chicano culture
and language are reinforced by new arrivals from Mexico. Unlike immigrants
from other countries who can forge a new place for themselves, migrants from
Mexico have a ready-made niche for them because of historical circumstances.
Historical perceptions and stereotypes of Mexicans precede them as they
venture into other parts of the United States. Hopefully, by understanding
our shared history, we can refrain from stereotyping and scapegoating
Mexicans.
 

ARTURO VILLARREAL is a professor at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose.
CHARLEY TRUJILLO is a writer and publisher in San Jose. They wrote this
article for the Mercury News.



Health News



Spotlight

 
Please feel free to distribute this information.
 
**************************
Monterey Hills Federation Meeting
 
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
7:00 PM
 
Marshall Villas Community Room
4225 Via Arbolada
Los Angeles CA 90042
The Monterey Hills Federation was formed in order to help promote the
interests of the Monterey Hills community and its' residents. We work
directly with HOA's, the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, Los Angeles
City Council, and POST Security.
All Monterey Hills Residents and Homeowners are welcome to attend
monthly meetings held at the Marshall Villas Common Room. Once yearly,
appointed representatives from each association elect officers which
then serve for one year terms.
**************************
DONE Town Hall
Saturday, January 31, 2009
8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Barrio Action Youth and Family Center
4927 Huntington Dr. Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90032
DONE will be hosting three regional town halls to review the proposed
MOU between Neighborhood Councils and the Department of Transportation,
the Neighborhood Council Funding Program, the 2010 City Clerk elections,
and the City budget among other items.  Please plan to attend to learn
about important updates affecting your Neighborhood Council and to
network with DONE General Manager, BongHwan Kim, your local City
Councilmembers, and other City departments.
**************************
City of Los Angeles
Regional Budget & Finance Committee Meeting
 

February 23, 2009
6:00pm to 8:00pm

 
El Sereno
4927 Huntington Drive North
Los Angeles, CA 90032
 
As the Budget and Finance Committee begins the planning process for
Fiscal Year 2009-2010, we invite you to help us understand your
priorities by sharing thoughts on creating a balanced budget that
addresses the fundamental issues of our city, while remaining fiscally
responsible.
*************************Please feel free to forward to your networks.
If you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, please kindly reply to
this e-mail and indicate please remove from mailing list on the subject
line.

Best,

Erick Martell
Field Deputy
Councilmember José Huizar
Council District 14
4927 Huntington Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032
P: (323)226-1646
F: (323)226-1644
http://www.lacity.org/council/cd14/



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