[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1709-E1710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE DOMINICAN AMERICAN NATIONAL ROUNDTABLE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: 
                        INSPIRATION AND LESSONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with my colleagues a 
wonderful meeting I had this morning with a group of bright, engaged, 
and active young Dominican Americans from the Dominican American 
National Roundtable, an organization which is becoming increasingly 
recognized for its advocacy on behalf of the Dominican American 
community. Today, the inaugural group of its Dominican Leadership 
Institute--all young men and women attending some of the best colleges 
in this Nation--visited my office to discuss their views on a variety 
of important issues facing this country today. From immigration to 
education, we had a lively thoughtful exchange about the future and 
direction of this Nation and ways that they can get involved and make 
an impact on this country.
  In 2005, the Dominican American National Roundtable joined with the 
Coca-Cola Bottling Company and the Bert Corona Leadership Institute to 
host the Dominican Leadership Institute. The program is designed to 
expose college students to the range of opportunities and skills needed 
for the next generation of Dominican American leaders. The Leadership 
Institute trains, empowers, and motivates these future leaders in the 
research, command and advocacy of important issues facing the Nation 
and, specifically, Dominican Americans.
  This inaugural class of the Dominican Leadership Institute includes 
Edwin Zambrano, Nassar Fand Mufdi Ruiz, Pablo Rodriguez, Ysaira C. 
Paulino F., Bethsaida George John A. Meche, Amaris Guzman, Evelyn Ng 
Duran, Suhaly Bautista, Natalie C. Archibald, Karla Acevedo, and 
Arlenis Almonte. These students and future leaders have been exposed to 
the challenges of leadership, the need for innovation and creativity, 
and the importance of civil engagement in the political system.
  During their visit to my office, we spoke about the need for a more 
humane and effective immigration policy, the challenges in integrating 
new citizens into the country, the problems of the modem family in 
major urban communities, and the need for a really fair trade policy. 
They were thoroughly knowledgeable of the topics and presented ideas 
and suggestions that would be quite useful to this chamber.

  I was impressed by the civility, awareness and thoughtfulness of this 
group. They approach each issue with a determination for justice and an 
ear for understanding. They were articulate about their views and 
thoughts and shared with me their life experiences and their reasons 
for wanting change. While we seldom disagreed on the policy 
implications of the concerns they raised, I was also impressed by their 
willingness to hear and sympathetically comprehend all sides on each 
issue. This group clearly represents a promising future for the 
leadership of the Dominican American community and our Nation.
  However, I was a bit disappointed to hear about a disturbing 
experience of these bright champions of change in the offices of the 
House. As intelligent young Americans of Dominican origin concerned 
about the welfare of their families and other citizens of the Dominican 
Republic, they rightfully were opposed to CAFTA and met another group 
of people who supported the bill in the Longworth Cafeteria where they 
were having lunch yesterday. When they initially asked the supporters 
about their support, they received information about the background of 
CAFTA. When they expressed their awareness of the trade bill and 
opposition to it, the supporters became rude and hostile to them and 
would no longer explain their rationale. This was a grand opportunity 
for an exchange of ideas, a meeting of the minds, but it failed, and it 
failed shamefully.

[[Page E1710]]

  While unsettling, this experience did not deter these young Dominican 
Americans from their commitment to highlight the issues of importance 
to them. It is a shame, Mr. Speaker, when students cannot come to their 
House and freely, comfortably, debate the issues of the day. This 
should be a place for open debate, a free exchange of ideas, and a 
respect for different and diverse opinions. I am glad these young men 
and women were not deterred by this instance; this is another example 
of their considerable maturity, comprehension of the issues, and 
respect for their fellow Americans.
  I am grateful to have had such an opportunity to exchange views with 
such young outstanding Americans. I encourage them to continue in their 
diligence, dedication, and search for the truth. I look forward to 
seeing them in the future and to knowing of their success and the great 
contributions they will make in their professional careers to this 
Nation. I urge my colleagues to find ways to reach out to the Dominican 
American National Roundtable and obtain information on how you can 
recruit members of this group for internships in your congressional 
office. These students are bright, motivated, and promising. All they 
need to reach their great potential is opportunities for exposure to 
the policymaking and legislative process. And you will find that your 
exposure to this fine group of Americans will be thoroughly rewarding 
and insightful.
  I submit to the Record a copy of the statement that this group 
presented to me on their policy recommehdations for this Congress. It 
is important that we carefully consider the thoughts of our young 
people.
       We represent the Dominican community as members of the 
     Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR), and we are 
     before you today to discuss issues that affect our community 
     and to propose a number of solutions.


                               Education

       In order to allow the United States' economy to prosper, we 
     propose that Congress pass the Development, Relief, and 
     Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act due to its potential 
     to increase the country's economy by the work of those future 
     taxpayers.
       In order to decrease the poverty level, we propose that 
     Congress pass the DREAM Act so that it may increase the 
     quality of life for those who are young and undocumented in 
     the United States.
       In addition, we support the Equal and High Quality 
     Educational Amendment to the Constitution because the law 
     would create and sustain high standards in all the schools 
     within the Nation.


                              Health Care

       We propose that Congress provide programs and services that 
     may educate people on obtaining healthcare and create 
     reasonable qualifications for those who are underprivileged.
       We recommend that Congress provide free, complete, and 
     quality healthcare for children under the age of eighteen 
     (18). Furthermore, we request that adequate health 
     information be provided by local clinics and health 
     professionals regarding issues of teen pregnancy and sexually 
     transmitted diseases to their communities.
       We propose that Congress internally restructure and 
     organize Medicaid and Medicare so that private specialists 
     will accept public healthcare.


                            Quality of Life

       We propose that Congress counter the inevitable effects of 
     gentrification (i.e., displacement due to the higher priced 
     housing in our neighborhoods) by establishing Community Land 
     Trusts, where the residents would own the buildings they live 
     in and a non-profit neighborhood membership organization 
     would own the land under the buildings. These Trusts would 
     uphold living and maintenance standards and, more 
     importantly, would safeguard low-income communities.
       We propose that Congress provide ample funding to Community 
     Centers within these neighborhoods in order to educate the 
     residents as to this new protection, and to provide 
     educational and extracurricular opportunities.


                                DR-CAFTA

       We propose that Congress vote against the DR-CAFTA, because 
     both countries' economies cannot collectively prosper under 
     the current agreement and only big corporations will benefit.
       DR-CAFTA will eliminate tariffs on imported goods forcing 
     out local competition and increase prices on basic 
     commodities, which will increase the percentage of poverty-
     stricken households.
       DR-CAFTA was modeled after NAFTA, which did not accomplish 
     its goals of decreasing poverty and immigration to the United 
     States. Furthermore, like NAFTA, DR-CAFTA allows foreign 
     companies to sue national governments, therefore having a 
     negative financial impact on developing countries' economies.
       We thank you on behalf of our community for giving us the 
     opportunity to speak with you regarding these issues and our 
     proposed solutions affecting its development. Please send a 
     written response.

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