Durbin Meets With Members of Congressional Hispanic Caucus to Discuss Agenda for 2005

DURBIN MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESSIONAL HISPANIC CAUCUS TO DISCUSS AGENDA FOR 2005

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Today U.S. Senator and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss the legislative priorities of the Hispanic community in the 109th Congress. Health care, education and immigration were among the issues discussed.

Durbin said he shares many of the Hispanic Caucus' priorities for the 109th Congress. "We want to ensure that all children and pregnant women in America have access to health care. If they don't have private coverage, they should have access to quality care though Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program," Durbin said. "The key to opportunity is education. We want to provide more families with more help to pay for college. We believe that all work has dignity and people who work hard ought to be able to create a better life, with greater opportunity, for themselves and their children. So we are proposing to increase the federal minimum wage, and restore overtime protections to the 6 million American workers who lost those protections last year."

Durbin pledged to continue his push for passage of the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow students who have graduated from high school in Illinois to pay in-state tuition for college-regardless of their immigration status. Some students may even be eligible for legal resident status under provisions of the DREAM Act.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who participated in the meeting included Chair Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), First Vice Chair Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA), and Second Vice Chair Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ).

http://durbin.senate.gov/releases.cfm