Immigration issue hardly mentioned at GOP convention
Fresh from covering the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, last week, HITN, the first national Spanish-Language Public Television Network in the United States, continues to take the lead by providing historic, nightly, primetime coverage of the Republican National Convention through Thursday, September 4.
HITN’s live coverage begins at 7 p.m. (ET) directly from the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The telecast, with award-winning broadcast journalist Marlene Fernandez as anchor in Minneapolis, and award-winning journalists Malin Falu and Gerson Borrerro as anchors in HITN’s New York studios, is a special presentation of HITN’s Destination Casa Blanca 2008 cable television show. The show’s format includes guest interviews, analysis, commentary from community-based organizations, and live calls from the viewing audience.
A first in television history, Destination Casa Blanca 2008, the Latino Voice in the Presidential Election, provides an English-language, nation-wide news program focusing solely on issues of importance to the Hispanic community. “Our goal is to provide the Hispanic population with the knowledge necessary to understand issues that affect our communities and with knowledge that will ultimately empower our viewers to make choices and their voices heard in the electoral process,” said Jose Luis Rodriguez, Founder and President of HITN. “We want our audience to experience and understand the process that goes into the making of a President so that they can be educated voters. I am proud to say that HITN is the only network that has provided comprehensive coverage of both political conventions for two consecutive weeks,” he added.
About HITN: The Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN) was established in 1983 as a non-profit organization. HITN’s mission is dedicated to the advancement of Hispanics by providing engaging educational entertainment that invites individuals and families to live fuller, richer lives and enables them to serve as an ever-growing engine of intellectual power and progress. HITN provides a unique source of educational, cultural news and public affairs programs to the homes of Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico. HITN is available on Dish Network; DirecTV; Time Warner Cable (NY, NJ, TX); Comcast (IL, CO); Charter (CA, NV, WA, GA); AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOs nationwide.
For more information, log onto www.hitn.tv.
HITN: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS AS AMERICA’S FIRST PUBLIC TELEVISION NETWORK FOR LATINOS “
2008 Republican National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by the Honorable Rosario Marin
(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080114/RNCLOGO )
Buenas noches.
I am so thrilled to be here … especially after hearing last night from our Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin!
You know, I was supposed to talk to you tonight about government reform and taxes.
But having seen how the media and our opponents have treated our nominee this week, I am compelled to talk about Sarah Palin.
After all, we have a few things in common.
Like her - and millions of women across this land - I am a working mom. I have three wonderful children who have blessed my life.
Like her, I have been underestimated.
Who would have thought the girl who came to this country from Mexico when she was 14-years-old without speaking English would become the first immigrant to serve as Treasurer of the United States?
Like her, I have been the mayor of a small town. I served Huntington Park - in the glorious state of California!
But most importantly - like her, I have had the privilege of raising a son with Down Syndrome.
Eric, my first-born, is now 23. He has been and will always be the Wind Beneath My Wings. As a matter of fact, my desire to impact government and make a positive difference in my community started, almost immediately, after Eric was born.
When I was running for office, I was criticized as Sarah Palin has been. And while painful, I knew that was the price I’d have to pay to leave this country a better place for Eric and others like him.
I know I speak for the millions of families that have a child with a disability: Who better than Sarah Palin to understand the daily challenges of raising a family while holding a job, working on a career or managing your own business?
Who better than her to understand our fears, our hopes and our dreams for all our children but especially those with disabilities?
Sarah Palin will serve alongside John McCain as a passionate advocate for Americans with special needs - breaking down both physical obstacles and false perceptions of people with disabilities and ensuring that all of our children have access to the jobs, education, and privileges that Americans enjoy. Senator McCain, thank you for your choosing Sarah Palin as our next Vice President.
You have given families like mine an accomplished leader, a true advocate and a clear voice.
I know in my heart that there could be no better champions in the White House for people with disabilities and their families than John McCain and Sarah Palin.
So let’s get them there!
Gracias!
About the Republican National Convention
The 2008 Republican National Convention will be held at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center from Sept. 1-4, 2008. Approximately 45,000 delegates, alternate delegates, volunteers, members of the media and other guests are expected to attend the convention. Minneapolis-Saint Paul is expected to receive an estimated $150-$160 million positive economic boost from the four-day event. For more information about the 2008 Republican National Convention, please visit our website at www.GOPConvention2008.com and join our social network sites on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube.
Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2008 Republican National Convention. Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate’s Committee. “
2008 Republican National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez
(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080114/RNCLOGO )
Thank you and good evening.
As we just watched, it is - indeed - a dangerous world.
That is why we need a strong America.
That is why we need a strong Commander-in-Chief.
That is why we need President John McCain!
On the world stage, America stands as a beacon of hope and a sentinel of freedom. My journey to freedom, from Cuba, began with the dream and hope offered by America.
My journey, however, is not a unique one.
What is unique is the special place our country holds for people around the world - especially those who are oppressed or denied the liberties we take for granted.
The challenges and dangers we face in this uncertain world… call for strong leadership, and a clear understanding of the threats we face… and how to meet and beat them.
Only one man in this race is qualified to meet the current global challenges.
Only one man has a history of always putting country first.
That man is John McCain!
John is a leader committed to peace, because he knows - first-hand - the pain and horror of war.
To meet the challenges of our dangerous times, he knows that peace is a dividend of strength.
And John McCain will ensure that our Armed forces have the troop strength and the equipment necessary to meet all threats.
We must ensure that our forces are led by a Commander-in-Chief who is ready to walk in to the Oval Office on Day One …with a clear vision of the mission and the know-how to succeed.
This is not a time for on-the-job-training.
In addition to our military strength, the world respects our ideals and values.
President McCain will help spread these ideals and values across the globe… in places such as:
Latin America, where authoritarian rule and worn out ideas drive tyrants like Fidel Castro and his sidekick, Hugo Chavez.
Iran and North Korea, where we have seen the dangerous and destabilizing pursuit of nuclear weapons.
And the Middle East, where anti-American sentiment - bred by hatred and fueled by radicalism - threatens us all.
We must engage and compete with the strength of our ideas. We must engage with confidence and without apology.
America is a good and decent country -I know.
And I know, John McCain is the right person to carry this message .
And he will do it in a consistent manner - unlike his opponent.
Senator Obama is a relative newcomer on the national scene and an unproven quantity on the global stage, so, do we know what he stands for?
First, he said he would meet with rogue leaders without condition, then he came to understand that is an unwise and dangerous approach to American leadership.
First, he was for trade, then he was against NAFTA.
First, he was for a “soft” response to the Russian invasion of the emerging democracy of Georgia, then he realized it warranted a more muscular response…only after John McCain led the way in standing up to Russian aggression.
Is this what he means by “change we can believe in?”
It is not the kind of change we need from our President and Commander-in-Chief.
Our country needs our next president to have character, experience, and an unending willingness to put country first - first above self, and first above political ambition.
That person is John McCain.
With him as President, we know America will be to others what it has been for me - a land of hope and great opportunity.
Thank you.
About the Republican National Convention
The 2008 Republican National Convention will be held at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center from Sept. 1-4, 2008. Approximately 45,000 delegates, alternate delegates, volunteers, members of the media and other guests are expected to attend the convention. Minneapolis-Saint Paul is expected to receive an estimated $150-$160 million positive economic boost from the four-day event. For more information about the 2008 Republican National Convention, please visit our website at www.GOPConvention2008.com and join our social network sites on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube.
Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2008 Republican National Convention. Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate’s Committee. “
In a More Diverse America, A Mostly White Convention - Republican National Convention
5% Hispanic Delegates at RNC vs. 11.8% Hispanic Delegates at DNC
Hispanic delegate hoping to get his brethren to vote McCain - Colorado’s Joe Nunez
HITN’s live coverage begins at 7 p.m. (ET) directly from the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The telecast, with award-winning broadcast journalist Marlene Fernandez as anchor in Minneapolis, and award-winning journalists Malin Falu and Gerson Borrerro as anchors in HITN’s New York studios, is a special presentation of HITN’s Destination Casa Blanca 2008 cable television show. The show’s format includes guest interviews, analysis, commentary from community-based organizations, and live calls from the viewing audience.
A first in television history, Destination Casa Blanca 2008, the Latino Voice in the Presidential Election, provides an English-language, nation-wide news program focusing solely on issues of importance to the Hispanic community. “Our goal is to provide the Hispanic population with the knowledge necessary to understand issues that affect our communities and with knowledge that will ultimately empower our viewers to make choices and their voices heard in the electoral process,” said Jose Luis Rodriguez, Founder and President of HITN. “We want our audience to experience and understand the process that goes into the making of a President so that they can be educated voters. I am proud to say that HITN is the only network that has provided comprehensive coverage of both political conventions for two consecutive weeks,” he added.
About HITN: The Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN) was established in 1983 as a non-profit organization. HITN’s mission is dedicated to the advancement of Hispanics by providing engaging educational entertainment that invites individuals and families to live fuller, richer lives and enables them to serve as an ever-growing engine of intellectual power and progress. HITN provides a unique source of educational, cultural news and public affairs programs to the homes of Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico. HITN is available on Dish Network; DirecTV; Time Warner Cable (NY, NJ, TX); Comcast (IL, CO); Charter (CA, NV, WA, GA); AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOs nationwide.
For more information, log onto www.hitn.tv. “
Latino evangelicals and the GOP ticket
Dr. Elena Rios, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), is scheduled to speak tonight at the Republican National Convention between 7 and 8 p.m. in Minneapolis, St. Paul and discuss health care and health disparities.
Rios is the only speaker addressing health care issues at the Republican convention. She is scheduled to speak between 7 and 8 p.m. Eastern Time as part of tonight’s RNC theme of “reform.”
Rios will be among a prominent roster of government and private-sector speakers tonight. They include Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s nominee for vice president, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.), former EBay President and CEO Meg Whitman, former Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina and GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele.
Rios’ speech will focus on health care as a national issue that “extends beyond the individual to virtually every aspect of society — it determines our economic productivity; it impacts the ability of children to learn; it even affects our military readiness.”
According to Rios’ prepared statement: “The deck is stacked against some of us. Our nation is becoming more diverse. By 2042, people of color will be the emerging majority. One out of three Americans will be Hispanic. While this is truly something to celebrate, it also poses unique challenges when it comes to ensuring a healthy population.”
For example, twice as many Hispanics have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. The incidence of HIV/AIDS among Hispanic women is five times that of whites. African Americans face higher rates of mortality for heart disease and cancer.
The problem is compounded by poverty, language and cultural barriers, limited access to health information and the limited number of Hispanic physicians and nurses in the U.S., said Rios.
“With the right leadership, we can meet this challenge and have universal access to health care that is affordable for all Americans,” according to Rios’ speech. “John McCain’s focus on prevention will go a long way toward lowering the cost and incidence of chronic diseases.”
For example, McCain plans to expand walk-in clinics as alternatives to emergency room care — thus lowering costs and offering more responsive and effective care, according to her statement.
NHMA, a nonprofit group based in Washington, DC, that represents Hispanic physicians in the United States, will work with government “to tear down barriers that create health disparities for millions of minorities,” Rios will say in her speech.
Rios founded and established NHMA in 1994 to improve health care for Hispanics and the underserved in the U.S. To that end, NHMA has worked to combat obesity, diabetes and cultural competence in health care and improve care for the uninsured and all Americans. NHMA serves as a resource to the White House, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health and Congress.
“We have the greatest health care system in the world, with the finest doctors and cutting-edge technology. Yet, some people are falling through the cracks. Costs are rising at an unsustainable rate. And this impacts everyone’s ability to secure affordable health insurance,” according to Rios’ speech.
NHMA is working with federal officials to help make government programs more efficient and health insurance more accessible to more Americans than ever before.
“Whether you live in a barrio or on Main Street, U.S.A., the best of the American health care system should be available to you,” Rios will say.
Established in 1994 in Washington, D.C., NHMA is a nonprofit association that represents licensed Hispanic physicians in the U.S. in its mission to improve health care for Hispanics and the underserved. For more information, visit www.nhmamd.org. “
Washington Hispanic Delegate from Tri-Cities at Republican Convention
2008 Republican National Convention: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Tommy Espinoza
Tommy Espinoza
Good evening, my name is Tom Espinoza …
I’m CATHOLIC … HISPANIC … and a DEMOCRAT … and I’m proud to call John McCain my friend.
My grandparents emigrated from Mexico, and my parents were both born in Arizona. SERVICE runs deep in our family and in our culture. My father … ROBERT ESPINOZA … served as a Marine in the South Pacific during World War II where he was wounded in action and received a Purple Heart.
My mother, ERNESTINA, worked in the war effort building airplanes … My parents raised a DEVOUT FAMILY … rich in the TRADITIONS of … church … work … and SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY … My wife ELVIRA and I have built the typical Catholic Hispanic family … LOVING our five children … and 13 grandchildren.
Jesus Christ and La Virgen de Guadalupe are at the center of our home …
I first met John and Cindy McCain 25 years ago … I was intrigued with this MAVERICK Congressman from Arizona.
I asked Him: “WHAT SUSTAINED YOU … WHILE YOU WERE IN THAT PRISON CAMP?”
He looked intensely at me and said:
“MY Faith in GOD … My COUNTRY … and My FAMILY.” …
From then on we were Brothers … “HERMANOS” …
We’ve built a deep friendship, and I’m honored to be the godfather to John and Cindy’s son … JIMMIE.
You are probably asking, “WHY Does a Hispanic DEMOCRAT support JOHN McCAIN?”
First, because of FAITH …
No man can survive a prisoner of war camp without God’s Protection. HE called on his FAITH to bring him back HOME to his FAMILY and COUNTRY …
Second … HOPE. IT IS a rare man who makes you want TO BE MORE … TO DO MORE. I have seen John paint houses and clean yards for the POOR and ELDERLY in the Barrios of South Phoenix …
He is not just a public servant when the lights are on and the camera is running, it’s his way of life.
Public service is more than his profession.
It is his passion.
And Lastly …
LOVE …
The GOSPEL of MATTHEW …
Chapter 25 … verse 35 … says “I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU MADE ME WELCOME.”
When John McCain says, “IMMIGRANTS Are Also GOD’s children” … I know his SUFFERING … has given him COMPASSION for the weak, broken families, and the poor …
John McCain believes in the SANCTITY of human life from conception …
HE believes in the sanctity of MARRIAGE and FAMILY LIFE …
John McCain is the leader America needs.
VIVA … JOHN McCAIN … VIVA … AMERICA …
About the Republican National Convention
The 2008 Republican National Convention will be held at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center from Sept. 1-4, 2008. Approximately 45,000 delegates, alternate delegates, volunteers, members of the media and other guests are expected to attend the convention. Minneapolis-Saint Paul is expected to receive an estimated $150-$160 million positive economic boost from the four-day event. For more information about the 2008 Republican National Convention, please visit our website at www.GOPConvention2008.com and join our social network sites on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube.Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2008 Republican National Convention. Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate’s Committee “
