Annotations for People: Diaz-balart-lincoln 1954-

An international labor union has begun a series of meetings nationwide to involve its Latino retirees in national healthcare reform. From Miami, Emilio San Pedro reports.

About 40% of the retired members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the ILGWU, are Latinas. That's why the union decided to create a series of nationwide meetings on Latino healthcare called Acceso or Access. At the first such meeting held in Hialeah, a primarily Hispanic industrial city northwest of Miami, about 100 retired Latinas expressed their healthcare concerns to a panel made up of national and local union representatives as well as representatives from the local congressional offices of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz Ballard.

The kickoff will be for our retirees, our Hispanic retirees across the country, to highlight the fact that for them the key issue, for our Spanish-speaking retirees, it's the access issue because they have the additional difficulty at times of not having linguistic access to this care, and particularly for women.

The retirees say they're concerned with how a new healthcare system would impact their ability to seek medical care from Hispanic doctors. For Latino USA, I'm Emilio San Pedro in Miami.

Are we affirming Mexico as a dictatorship? That it's a dictatorship and it's the longest lasting dictatorship in this hemisphere, probably...

I don't see any change in the Mexican political system that leads me to believe that it's anything but the rotating dictatorship that it has been since the beginning of the pre-reign.

I'm Maria Martin. Reaction to and debate about President Clinton's Health Security Act of 1993 began long before the act was unveiled officially and is still going strong. Latino USA's Patricia Guadalupe spoke with Latino legislators and policy makers in the nation's capital. She prepared this report.

In what is called by analysts the most ambitious economic and social reform since President Franklin Roosevelt proposed social security more than half a century ago, President Clinton delivered his long promised plan to reform the current healthcare system. In a joint session of Congress, he outlined what he called six guiding principles. Security, simplicity, savings, choice, quality and responsibility, with the focus on universal access. Although President Clinton offered very little detail, particularly on how to pay for the new system, it was welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Democratic representative Ed Pastor of Arizona called this a first step in the right direction.

People want change and I'm happy that he took this bold step. It'll probably be the only step we'll have to change our health system and now it's up to us. He made the challenge to us. He said, "Here's a blueprint. Congress a year from now, give me the legislation back that makes every American secure in their in that they know they have health service available to them." And now the challenge is to us, and I hope we do it in a very nonpartisan way and get it done.

When President Clinton speaks of universal access to the healthcare system, he includes Puerto Rico. Under his plan, residents of the island will receive the same amount of Medicaid payments as those who live on the mainland. Under the current system, Puerto Ricans on the island receive only 20% of what they would receive if they lived here. Resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, is pleased with the proposed change.

For the first time in our history, we're now going to be covered in equal terms with all citizens in the nation. Up to now, the Medicaid has not covered Puerto Rico. We have only gotten 79 million dollars and now for the first time we are going to be treated as equals.

But when President Clinton speaks of universal access, he doesn't include undocumented workers. Under his plan, only US citizens and legal residents will be included. Ira Magaziner, our chief advisor to the president on healthcare, explains why.

We're guaranteeing something to all American citizens. And they're not American citizens, they're not here legally and there's something that we think is not quite right about saying people who are illegally here should get a legal benefit from the country.

Activists have complained that this will actually cost more in the long run. Some go a step further and say excluding undocumented workers is discriminatory. Cecilia Munoz, Senior. Immigration Policy Analyst at the National Council of La Raza is one of them.

It's pretty clear that the decision's politically motivated, that the administration doesn't want to find itself in a position of having to defend taxpayer dollars being used to cover undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, that decision's really not in the best interest of the public health in the United States.

Unlike some of the president's earlier speeches. Republican response to this one was generally favorable. While some said the proposed changes would create a huge unmanageable bureaucracy, most said they recognized the need for change. Republican representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida, says he wants to see change but not at the expense of what he calls the best system in the world.

And that's one of the problems when you have these socialized systems like in England where I hear that the people in Great Britain are extraordinarily dissatisfied with their system now because of the lack of quality and also the total bureaucratic morass.

In the next few weeks, president Clinton is expected to present to Congress details on how he plans to pay for the new system. It is on that particular issue where much debate is anticipated. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

As the Census Bureau issued new figures showing the Latino population growing at a faster rate than previously projected, dozens of Latino leaders from across the country met to focus on the issues which most affect this growing population. Among them, education, health, and how to make Latino communities viable. Organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the three day meeting culminated with an electronic town hall meeting linking together San Juan, Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Antonio. Latino USA's Maria Martin reports.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute presents threads of diversity, the fabric of unity.

Finding an agenda which can unite the many diverse and regionally scattered Latino communities is what brought together some 800 invited guests and the Hispanic members of Congress for an electronic town hall meeting joining together seven cities.

In New York, Congressman Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo is in San Juan. We have Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Lincoln Diaz Ballard with an audience in Miami.

In their regional and national diversity, the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, its 20 members up from 14 since last November, mirrors this country's Latino community. Members don't always agree on issues, such as the embargo of Cuba and the North American Free trade Agreement. Yet at this conference, the congress members echoed the sentiment expressed by HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Yes, we are different national origins and yes we are are different partisan roots, Republicans, and Democrats, and independents, and radicals, and conservatives, and every sort of breed of political roots. And yes, we live in different parts of the country and we've already talked about that, but the truth is we have much more in common than the things that separate us.

To address issues in common, a survey was taken among those invited to the seventh City Electronic Town Hall. The results indicated education is the issue of greatest concern among Latinos followed by health community viability, that is jobs, and the environment. From politicians to students to grassroots organizers, they all had questions for their congressional representatives.

My question is language minority preschool-aged children do not have to be provided with equal educational opportunities. How is this issue going to be addressed?

Responding is California Congressman Xavier Becerra.

Mrs. Maria, I can tell you one thing that in Congress you will not be satisfied by the answer because those of us in Hispanic caucus are not satisfied. We will be spending something over $200 million this coming year on bilingual education, about 20 or 30 million more if the president has his way than was spent in the past year. That 250 or $230 million provides us with the funds to reach about 10 to 15% of all the children in this country who are in need of bilingual services. The states aren't doing much better-

I would like to know how the Hispanic Congressional Caucus intends to deal with the current anti-immigrant backlash. In general, its impact on K-12 education. In particular, its impact on children enrolled in federally funded bilingual education programs.

Responding to this question from Los Angeles, LA Congressman Esteban Torres.

At this time in our history we're undergoing a tremendous onslaught by those who would wish to blame all the economic ills on this country on immigrants. The immigrants I might say, didn't have a lot to do with the SNL scandal. They didn't have a lot to do with the Cold War issue.

Those questions and responses having to do with the prevalent anti-immigrant climate seem to get the most response from those in the town hall audience, not only in the area of education but regarding the exclusion of the undocumented from the administration's healthcare plan. Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

In Chicago, in our discussions, we understand that healthcare needs to become. Given any package that we approve in the Congress of the United States, needs to be looked at as a basic and fundamental human right. A basic and fundamental human right that is guaranteed to every human being who lives in the United States regardless of the color of their skin or their economic status, regardless of whether they arrived yesterday or today or they're going to arrive tomorrow. Cancer and tuberculosis and illness does not ask for a MICA card as to whether it can visit your home or your children.

Just very briefly say that on this issue and on every other issue, it is a caucus policy to include the undocumented as part of our community.

Caucus chair, New York Congressman Jose Serrano.

We are not immigration agents. We don't get involved in how people get here. Once they're here, we feel that they have to be protected. Number two, this caucus, for the first time is also addressing the fact that people who live in American territories are part of our American community. There are questions yet to be settled about those territories, but as far as fair play from Washington, this caucus believes that the members who represent those areas and the people who live in those areas, for American citizens that they are, must get equal treatment and that's the kind of approach that the caucus has taken.

There are no easy answers to all the questions and issues facing the Latino community and addressed during the three days of sessions on Capitol Hill, but what was perceptible in Washington was a new attitude. The Hispanic caucus has been energized by new leadership and by the additional members elected in November, including its first Mexican-American and Puerto Rican congresswomen. There was serious talk of coalitions between Hispanics and African-Americans in Congress at one of the sessions, and at the same time the issues forum was taking place, the 20 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus had an opportunity to show their new clout when they blocked a bill which would've extended unemployment insurance by cutting off benefits for blind and disabled legal immigrants. Congressman Xavier Becerra.

Chairman Serrano came into the discussions and it was through the efforts of the caucus, the name of the caucus, that we were able to say that Congressman Pastor who also came in, we were able to say that we as members of the Hispanic caucus, could not support this particular bill even though we knew we had many people in our districts who were unemployed, but this was not the way to do it. You don't rob Peter to give to Paul and we would not let it happen, and fortunately we had a leadership with the foresight to know that they should not do it either.

We have shown great progress and the fact that this caucus is being held here today is proved that the Mexican-American, the Hispanic can go forward. My question to you-

This new visibility and increasing political power for Latinos on Capitol Hill led one elderly participant to ask what those outside of Congress could do to help the members of the caucus be more effective. The answer came from representative Becerra.

Three important words Vote, vote, vote.

The town hall session of the Issues forum sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was broadcast over public television stations in New York, Washington, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Chicago. For Latino USA, I'm Maria Martin.