Congressional Hispanic Caucus

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 42 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was founded in December 1976 as a legislative service organization of the United States House of Representatives. The CHC is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives.

As of the 118th Congress, the CHC is composed entirely of Democrats, although at its founding it was a bipartisan organization. Hispanic Republican members of Congress formed the Congressional Hispanic Conference in 2003 after leaving in the late 1990s over policy differences. The CHC has refused to admit Republican members in recent years, denying admission to Carlos Curbelo in 2017 and Mayra Flores in 2022.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus aims to address national and international issues that directly impact the Hispanic community. The function of the CHC is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda. In addition to covering legislative action, the CHC also monitors executive and judicial issues at the federal level.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Mexican American from Nevada, Senator Ben Ray Luján, a Mexican American from New Mexico, and Senator Alex Padilla, a Mexican American from California, are the current members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from the Senate. The remaining 38 members are from the House.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) was organized in 1976 by Herman Badillo (NY-21), Baltasar Corrada del Río (PR-AL, member-elect), Kika de la Garza (TX-15), Henry B. González (TX-20) and Edward Roybal (CA-25), to serve as a legislative organization through which legislative action, as well as executive and judicial actions, could be monitored to ensure the needs of Hispanics were being met. It was staffed by Raquel Marquez Frankel, who had grown up in Silver City and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had become, in 1947, the first Latina to attend the University of New Mexico School of Law. The goal was to work in conjunction with other groups, both inside and outside Congress, to strengthen Federal commitment to Hispanics and heighten the community's awareness of the operation and function of the American political system.

As of 2023, the CHC is composed entirely of Democrats, although at its founding it was a bipartisan organization. The Republican members left in the late 1990s over policy differences and, in 2003, formed their own group, the Congressional Hispanic Conference. In 2017, the Caucus declined to admit Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who would have been the only Republican member. In 2022, Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican, was denied membership as well.

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