WASHINGTON, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, President Obama delivered remarks at the annual conference for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) - the only 2012 presidential candidate to do so. After his speech, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement:
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"I commend President Obama for his address at NCLR today. Beyond his remarks, I am proud of President Obama's actions, which are a strong testament to his commitment to the Hispanic community. Under President Obama's leadership, we've expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to an additional 4 million children, including legal immigrant children for the first time ever. Students across America benefit from student loan reform, which provides an additional 150,000 Pell Grants to Hispanic students. And he signed into law the Recovery Act, which kept 1.9 million Latinos out of poverty in 2009.
"But these achievements have come in the face of undue Republican opposition in Congress - opposition not based in substance, but in political gamesmanship. As President Obama noted during his address, the minute he pronounces his support for a measure - like the DREAM Act - Republicans immediately oppose it, even if it was their idea to begin with. That's the type of political game that has cost Latinos and the middle class dearly.
"Similarly, Republicans need to stop playing games with America's economic future. Right now, Republicans are trying to balance our budget on the backs of seniors and working Americans, including Hispanics, and are seeking a return to the very policies that drove our economy to the brink of disaster. What our communities need is not a return to those failed policies, but rather President Obama's continued leadership in pushing our country forward."
SOURCE Democratic National Committee
