Friday, May 24, 2013

Hispanic Caucus backs Grijalva for top committee slot

Hispanic Caucus backs Grijalva for top committee slot

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is backing Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s (D-Ariz) uphill battle to become the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee.

“As Democrats, we rightly pride ourselves on our diversity and awareness of what it means to represent Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life,” states a “Dear Colleague” letter from the caucus circulated Thursday. “Few of our colleagues understand and embody that diversity and awareness as well as Raul.”

That slot will open up if current ranking member Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is elected to the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Grijalva faces very long odds against Peter Defazio (D-Ore.), who’s next in line for the ranking member slot by seniority and has support from a number of key Democrats.

But the CHC, in the letter, calls Grijalva “one of the strongest public land advocates our party has seen in a long time,” and says he is a “consensus builder” among Latino, Native American, Western, environmental and progressive communities.

Email from The Hill.

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