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Press Release

NHLA Issues Report To Congress On Hispanic Underrepresentation

Latino Leaders Call on Congress to Resolve Growing Hispanic Underrepesentation - Gives OPM “F” grade for failing to improve Hispanic representation in the Federal Workforce

August 1, 2006

Contact: Lisa Navarrete, NCLR, (202) 785-1670, lnavarrete@nclr.org
Lizette Jenness Olmos, LULAC, (202) 365-4553, ljolmos@lulac.org

August 1, 2006, Washington, DC: Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, President of the ASPIRA Association, and Chairman of the Board of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, (NHLA), a nonpartisan coalition of the leading national Hispanic public policy and civil rights organizations, presented NHLA’s evaluation of the government’s performance over the last five years in advancing the representation of Hispanics in the federal employment today.

NHLA’s leadership is releasing the report findings in Washington this week and will review the critical assessment of OPM’s performance on Hispanic underrepresentation with Hispanic civic leaders and government employees.

The evaluation is based on NHLA’s analysis of Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program statistical reports from 2000-2005, and other government agency reports which address OPM’s performance on minority participation in the federal workforce. The report documents that Hispanic representation in the federal government has worsened over the past five years. Stating that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, (OPM) had failed to implement effective recruitment programs and accountability measures to address the underrepresentation of Hispanics in the federal workforce, NHLA gave OPM an ‘F’ for their poor performance.

The report states: Despite OPM’s pronouncements extolling an increase in Hispanic federal representation, the reality is that the underrepresentation of Hispanics in the federal workforce is getting worse. Hispanics have and continue to be the only underrepresented minority group in the federal government, and the growing level of Hispanic underrepresentation in the federal workforce is a direct result of OPM’s failure to implement effective hiring and employee retention initiatives.

NHLA will be presenting its findings and policy recommendations to members of Congress and Representative Charles A. Gonzalez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Civil Rights Task Force, who co-signed a request to the U.S. General Accountability Office to conduct a full review of Hispanic underrepresentation. The GAO is expected to release its report in September of 2006.

NHLA is asking Congress to take immediate action to implement results oriented systemic changes in the management of minority equal employment opportunity programs at OPM, and to hold hearings on the issue of Hispanic underrepresentation.

Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, NHLA’s Chair stated, “The federal government touches all aspects of our lives. NHLA is concerned by the lack of Hispanic representation in federal employment and is alarmed by signs that Hispanic representation is declining at a time when the U.S. population of Hispanics is at its highest. A government that does not reflect the people it serves will always struggle to deliver services in an efficient and democratic manner.”

The coordinator of NHLA’s Report to Congress on OPM’s performance, Manuel Mirabal, President of the National Puerto Rican Coalition and Co-Chair of the NHLA’s Government Accountability Committee, stated, “If we truly believe in the social values and importance of having a representative government, we must do all that we can to ensure that all segments of our society are given the opportunity to participate in it.”

Rosa Rosales, National President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Co-Chair of NHLA’s Government Accountability Committee said, “The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that that all Americans have access to housing, education, health, economic development and other social programs and services. However, the underrepresentation of Hispanics undermines the ability of the government to develop and implement policies that are responsive to the needs of the Hispanic community.”

Janet Murguia, President of the National Council of La Raza said, “We are particularly concerned that some of the lowest levels of Hispanic employment were found at the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), both of which oversee programs critical to the Hispanic community.”

In addition to reporting on the overall representation of Hispanics in the federal workforce, the report also includes information on the underrepresentation of Hispanics in two federal agencies which are responsible for programs serving critical areas affecting the Hispanic community - the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services which have two of the lowest levels of representation of Hispanics of all federal agencies.

The report was prepared with the assistance of a broad and diverse group of Latino leaders and experts in the field of public policy, human resource development, executive recruitment, and federal government employment.

About NHLA: The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is a nonpartisan coalition of major Hispanic national organizations and distinguished Hispanic leaders from across the nation. NHLA’s mission calls for a spirit of unity among Latinos nationwide to provide the Hispanic community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger voice in our country’s affairs. 

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