Buenas tardes a todos. Thank you for the invitation to be here. It was an honor. It’s always great to be with LULAC and to be with your organization. And I want to thank you, first and foremost, and congratulate you for what you do in your long and distinguished service to our country and to our community. Muchas gracias.

You know, one of the great privileges that I have in public service is the opportunity to work on issues that are important to the Latino community, and that includes issues that are not only inside our borders but also outside of our borders.

This administration has been tremendously engaged with Latin American countries. Since taking office, President Bush has made eight separate trips and visited 10 Latin American countries in addition to literally hundreds of phone calls and one-on-one meetings with Latin American leaders.

Six of the 11 countries with which we have implemented FTAs are Latin Countries. And of the three pending FTAs, two are with Latin America.

So the first issue that I want to talk to you about, it’s an important issue for me, and I hope that it is an important issue for all Latinos, is the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.

This, of course, is a trade issue, but it’s also commercial issue. It is also a foreign policy issue. It is a national security issue. But for me, I would say that it is also a Latino issue, it’s an Hispanic American issue, and I would hope that it is an issue that is important to all members of our community.

I’ve spent some time in Colombia. Over the last six months or so I’ve taken down four delegations of members of Congress. Colombia, as you know, is a friend. Colombia is a great ally. Colombia is a great country. And Colombia has achieved over the past 6, 8, 10 years, probably the single most impressive turnaround that I have ever seen in my career.

Colombia has been an ally for a long, long time. Colombia was the only Latin American country to send troops to Korea 50 years ago. So we’ve had a long standing relationship. We’ve been friends for a long time, and we have a strong interest in seeing Colombia have a prosperous and peaceful community.

About 10 years ago the only thing people heard about Colombia, the only thing you saw in the news about Colombia, was that the FARC, I’m sure you heard recently about the FARC over the last few days, this guerilla organization, the FARC, was outside of Bogotá, and there were risks that the government would fall. And that it literally would fall to the hands of guerilla organizations and drug cartels

With the help of Plan Colombia, a bipartisan initiative started then by President Clinton, we have helped Colombia today become a proud, vibrant, growing society. Crime is down in Colombia. The economy is growing; poverty rates are down. Labor violence has declined more than violence in the country as a whole. It’s been an amazing accomplishment. Over 30 thousand paramilitaries have turned in their weapons and have reincorporated into civil society.

Last week I’m sure you all saw as the whole world rejoiced with the families and friends of the 15 hostages that were rescued from the FARC as a result of efforts of the Colombian government and the Colombian military. And we believe and I believe very passionately that the U.S. government should support Colombia and that Latinos throughout the United States should support Colombia given what Colombia has been through, given what they have accomplished, given how far they have come.

Now is the time that Colombia needs us. President Uribe, who by the way has an approval rating of about 80 percent in Colombia, 80 percent before the rescues, who knows where it is today, he believes the single biggest thing we can do to help Colombia continue to make progress is to approve the Free Trade Agreement.

Every time the President has asked him, every time we have asked him, “What can we do to help?” his response is “Ask Congress to approve the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.” So when you hear people say that they think they are doing the right thing for Colombian workers by not approving the agreement, just remind them that President Uribe has an 80 percent approval rating and he represents the Colombian people and he believes the single biggest thing we can do to help them is to approve the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.

And, let me just say that I applaud the Florida LULAC—where’s the Florida LULAC, all right—the Florida LULAC chapter for standing up and supporting the Colombia FTA. It’s an important agreement for all Latin Americans. It’s an important agreement for our hemisphere. It’s an important agreement for our country.

We have asked our Congress to simply allow the FTA to come up for a vote. We don’t want any guarantees that it will pass. We just want it to be submitted for a vote. The agreement was signed over 600 days ago. And the incredible thing from a commercial standpoint, our exporters have paid over $1 billion dollars of tariffs that they wouldn’t have had to pay had the Agreement been approved.

So there’s no reason except for politics to keep this agreement from going to the floor of Congress. There is no reason to deny Colombia a Free Trade Agreement. Even though this is an election year and Free Trade Agreements are always tricky, we believe Colombia deserves better. So thank you, thank you for that.

The second issue that’s high in our agenda, and I know it’s on yours, is the 2010 Census.

Census Bureau Director Steve Murdock was here earlier on a panel, which included Arturo Vargas, who was on our own Census Advisory Committee, and Angelo Falcon, who recently agreed to serve on our Hispanic Advisory Committee.

The Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department, and we are committed to having the best census ever. We want a full, accurate count of every person living in the country in 2010.

You may have read that we’ve had some technical issues that have recently surfaced in our dress rehearsal. We are dealing with them, and, believe me, the census is one of my personal top priorities.

We’re going to need your help. We need to get the word out that the higher the response rate to the first questionnaire, the higher the response rate to that first questionnaire that goes out, the more successful the census will be.

This is not a questionnaire, this isn’t a questionnaire designed to check immigration status. It’s a simple form with a few questions. The information provided is confidential. It’s protected by law, and we can’t share personal information with other agencies or the public. The only reason we want this information is to count how many people are living in the U.S.

And the numbers will affect not only Congressional representation, but they will determine how some $300 billion dollars of government spending will be allocated to local and state governments and where schools, hospitals, business, and government services are located. So this is important. It’s a big deal, and it’s important for our community that we get an accurate count.

The form is available by request in Spanish, as well as other languages. Importantly, 2010 is also the first time that we will mail bilingual questionnaires to some communities.

So, we appreciate very much your help in making sure everyone is counted. Please get involved. Please stay in touch with our community. Please make sure that people return the questionnaires. There a lot to be gain by having an accurate Census count.

Another issue that I want to share with you that is important to our community is to help ensure that we have a smooth transition to digital television at midnight on February 17, 2009.

Estimates are that 20 percent of the households that rely on rabbit ears or antennas for over the air TV service are Hispanic households. So they will need to make one of the following choices: Either get a coupon from us for $40 to buy a converter box, either purchase a TV with a digital tuner; or connect to a cable, satellite or other pay TV services.

Information is available on our website: dtv2009.gov. Please let’s help our community. We don’t want anyone in our community to turn on the TV set on February 18 and find it goes dark. So let’s get involved. Let’s help out and have a smooth transition.

The last issue I would like to talk to you about is immigration. And first of all I want to thank all of you for what you have done. I know how hard you have worked to get immigration reform. Please know that for President Bush it is still a priority, and we are going to continue to insist that at some point in the nearest possible future we get an immigration reform bill. Until we do, immigration is going to be an unresolved problem. I know how important it is for you; and, I, as always, will continue looking forward to working with LULAC to get this done.
Until we get a comprehensive bill, we’re going to see a patchwork of local laws. For example, about 1,500 immigration bills were introduced in state governments. More than 230 were enacted into law, that’s more than 84 from the previous year. So what we’re seeing is the country being divided up with different immigration laws. It’s becoming extremely, extremely dysfunctional.

There’s been a tremendous amount of focus on securing the borders and ensuring that we enforce immigration law, but that is not enough. Until we have comprehensive immigration reform, immigration will be an unresolved problem. And our country needs immigration.

Without immigration, not only will we not be able to grow, but we will have a lot of families living in fear and a lot of families who are not participating in society but are contributing and are working extremely, extremely hard. So it’s untenable, unacceptable, and dysfunctional.

We can’t have 12 million people working and living in the shadows of our society. Living in the outskirts of our society.

It’s very easy, it’s very easy to say, “Just enforce the law.” It’s very easy to say, “Well, we need to deport those people who are in the country illegally.”

What happens to the people who have been here for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years? What happens to the estimated several million children who have been born here and are U.S. citizens by birth? Kids who are in elementary school and some are in high school. They are playing Little League. They are contributing. They have their friends. This is the only country they know. They are a part of our society, and we can’t just ignore the problem. What happens to them?

Like some of you, I am a product of immigration. There are more than 45 million Hispanics in the U.S. today, 15 percent of our population, and we know that large segments of the population are undocumented.

The thing to keep in mind is that the great majority, if not all, are here for one reason, and one reason only, and that is to work, to make a contribution, because they have a dream that one day their families will have a better life. That’s all people come for.

They just want an opportunity, they just want a shot, and I haven’t heard people asking for anything else other than the opportunity to be able to work. That’s exactly the type of commitment, the type of energy, the type of passion, the type of zeal that has always made this the greatest country in the world, and today we have a lot of people who want to contribute to make it even better.

So LULAC thank you, thank you for your commitment, thank you for your leadership on this issue and please stay on it. We cannot stop until we get comprehensive immigration reform through. And the problem is too complex, we had a 700 page bill, and people who wanted to be against it, people who didn’t want comprehensive reform, they shot it down with one word: amnesty. It’s a 700 page bill. It is way too complicated. This problem is too complex. It’s too human to be dismissed with one word. So we have to keep working. We have to keep insisting. It will happen. It’s just a matter of time.

Let me leave you with just two thoughts:

The first is I wasn’t born here. This is my adopted land and I love this country, but I’ll tell you that doesn’t mean that I don’t remind myself every single day of who I am, where I came from, and the fact that I am extremely proud, extremely proud to be, call it what you may, Latino, Hispanic American, Latin American. I am extremely proud to speak Spanish. I am extremely proud, extremely happy to eat platanos y arroz con frijoles, because it’s still my favorite dish.

Second, I believe the members of our community should take a deeper interest in Latino issues outside of our borders. If countries in Latin America are growing, if democracies are flourishing, if people are getting stronger, our community here in the U.S. will be stronger.

Even if it’s just a matter of pride, I want to see our neighbor countries, I want to see our Latin American neighbors, improve, do better, prosper, grow, be happy; and we should take an interest in that.

We should look beyond our borders and take an interest in our government’s policies towards countries in our hemisphere. Please pay attention to the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. Some of you may not be interested in trade. Some of you may be in disagreement with trade. But I believe the Colombian Free Trade Agreement is a lot bigger, is a lot more in Colombia than a free trade agreement. Please pay attention to it.

I don’t like the fact that at a time when Colombia is getting so close to achieving something that they have been fighting for, literally fighting for, for almost 50 years, they’re getting close to having what they’ve always wanted: a peaceful society. Now that they are getting close, I don’t like the fact that the U.S. appears to be turning their back on Colombia. It’s not fair. It’s not right. We should be there every step of the way, and the way to help Colombia is to approve the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.

So LULAC thank you for everything you do to strengthen our community. I am convinced, I have no doubt whatsoever, that as we look ahead 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now, we’re going to look back and see that Latinos, Hispanic-Americans made this a better country, made this a better society, made this a stronger nation. And I’m proud to be part of it. I’m grateful to you for everything you’ve done to make that happen.

Thank you very much.