Before I write anything else, I want to congratulate the founders of this blog. ¡Felicidades! This is a highly-important, highly-relevant undertaking in New Jersey’s Latino community, and I am honored to help get it started. LatinosNJ.com represents another vital place where we can congregate, share ideas, and focus on the issues affecting our everyday lives.

On top of that, it is also symbolic of the importance of the Latino community in our state and, more broadly speaking, across our country. When you look at the totality of our contributions to this state and this nation, it is undeniable that we help shape our society.

Just absorb some of these facts. The total count of those of Latino descent in this country is greater than the total populations of Canada, Croatia and Costa Rica combined. And 1.36 million of us live right here in New Jersey.

Our domestic marketplace is nearing $1 trillion annually, and the number of Latinos who make over $40,000 a year is increasing at three times the national average. Soon one out of every four children in our nation’s public schools will be Latino. And this is a nation where salsa outsells ketchup and where Alex Rodriguez, Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez aren’t just Latino names, they are household names.

Clearly, the Latino community is helping drive this nation, and the time for Latinos in New Jersey to have an online meeting place has come.

That brings us to a message that I have been delivering this year and will underscore again here. For all of our importance in this country, one thing is clear. How much the leadership of this nation chooses to respond to our concerns depends on how many of us make our voices heard where it counts: in the voting booth.

Countless brave men and women have struggled in countless ways over countless years so we could have that right, and we dishonor their sacrifices if we give that right away.

If we vote, in strength—all 17 million of us who will be eligible—then Hispanics will be well represented in 2008, and the key to the White House will be in our hands.

It will be in our hands not just because of our strength in numbers, but because of where we make our homes. Along with New Jersey, Latinos live in strategic states across the nation. We live in states with early primaries like Nevada and Colorado, so we will play a big part in determining who the presidential candidates will be. We live in states like Florida and New Mexico where the race will be especially close. And we live in states with many votes in the Electoral College like California and Texas, votes that will decide the winner.

Our national community has plenty of good reasons to vote next year. Hardship knocks on the door of millions of Latino families in this country. Millions cannot afford to see a doctor when their children are sick. Millions of Hispanic students don’t graduate high school.

New Jersey is no exception when it comes to these problems. In New Jersey, Hispanic students are statistically far more likely to have low test scores, far less likely to graduate from high school, and far less likely to have health care coverage.

This is unacceptable, and it should mean millions and millions voting for change in 2008. The Bush Administration has just asked for $200 billion more for the senseless war in Iraq, but doesn’t think we can afford to pay for health coverage to help sick children go to the doctor. Our community cannot stand for another Administration like this one.

It’s up to all the candidates that ask for our vote to represent the values that make our community strong. And it’s up to all of us to show up in strength at the polls when they do.

Amigos y amigas:

In October we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and this blog is a great way to kick it off. Best of luck, and I look forward to watching this site grow!

Best wishes,

Bob Menendez

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.