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发帖数: 1430 | 1 Vice President Joe Biden says the 2012 election will be forever viewed as a
turning point for the Latino community, whose political and economic power
is "just about to take full flight."
"What's finally happened is the American people, the American people have
finally begun to understand …the awesome potential, future potential of the
Hispanic community," he said Thursday at a welcome reception for new Latino
members of Congress. "...Now the nation -- and I might add the hemisphere -
- understands the Hispanic community must be courted. Must be courted."
Biden and President Obama were reelected in part thanks to strong support
from Latino voters, a key bloc they courted heavily throughout the campaign.
At the reception, put on by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute,
Biden ticked off stats -- that Latinos number 11 million and now comprise 25
percent of children in grade school in the United States.
"You're the center of this nation's future," he said.
And the vice president suggested progress would be easier going forward,
noting the American people's support when the president instituted deferrals
for deportations of children of immigrants last year.
"Immediately, two thirds of the American people said 'It's about time,'" he
said. "…There was no blowback, all the talk of ..blowback, there was no
blowback."
At the same time, the vice president said the deferrals are "only a small
part of what has to be done." But he also said that he believes Republicans
have had a "rapid epiphany" since the election about immigration reform.
He encouraged attendees to "step up and step out" in their states and let
Republicans and others in power know, "If you ignore the needs and concerns
of the Hispanic people, you will not win, you will not win." |
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