[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 177 (Thursday, October 7, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6995-S6996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today in recognition of Hispanic 
Heritage Month to celebrate our Hispanic and Latino communities and 
their immeasurable contributions to our Nation. Hispanic and Latinos 
have been with our country since its very founding and have helped make 
America exceptional. Hispanic and Latino Americans play vital roles in 
our communities. They are our teachers, our heathcare heroes, our 
entrepreneurs, our essential workers, our public servants and elected 
officials, all vital to the fabric of our Nation.
  Hispanic Heritage Month started as a commemorative week that Congress 
established in 1968 and expanded to a full month in 1988 to recognize 
the critical role the Latino community has played in the civil rights 
movement. Celebrations start September 15, a significant date, as it is 
the independence date for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
Nicaragua, while Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16, 
and Chile celebrates its independence on September 18.
  This month, we celebrate the nearly 61 million Latino Americans 
across the country and the more than 600,000 Hispanic or Latino 
residents in Maryland. Maryland is proudly one of the most diverse 
States in the Nation. We are home to people with origins in Central and 
South America, with sizeable populations of Salvadorans, Guatemalans, 
Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans.
  America is a nation of immigrants; people from far and wide have 
settled in the United States, the land of opportunity. Since the 
Immigration Act of 1965, millions of individuals from Central and South 
America have immigrated to the United States for numerous reasons, 
including economic instability or violence in their native country.
  We take this month to highlight the importance of the Hispanic and 
Latino communities, including the election in 1822 of Joseph Marion 
Hernandez, the first Hispanic in Congress, as Florida's Delegate. 
Today, according to the Congressional Research Service, there are 54 
Hispanic or Latino Members--a record number--serving: 47 in the House, 
including two Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and seven in the 
Senate.
  Though the Hispanic and Latino communities have been essential to 
America's identity, from the scientific innovation to art, culture, 
music, food, and so much more, we must still recognize the disparities 
that these communities face. For the second year, we are celebrating 
Hispanic Heritage Month during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has 
affected people of color at disproportionate rates in terms of economic 
distress and case severity. The Hispanic or Latino unemployment rate 
soared to 18.9 percent in February of 2020. Hispanic or Latina women 
took even larger losses compared to their male counterparts. The 
unemployment disparity is due to the overrepresentation of Hispanic or 
Latino workers in the food preparation or serving industry, as well as 
building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. These sectors suffered 
some of the harshest economic effects of the pandemic. Even though the 
unemployment rate has decreased to 6.4 percent in Hispanic and Latino 
communities--6.2 percent in Maryland--they still have not experienced 
the same economic recoveries as their White counterparts.
  For the immigrants who do not have a green card, their likelihood to 
have lost a job is even higher. Many say that at least one family 
member in their household has lost a job or wages. Families are 
suffering; they are worried about putting food on the table or even 
losing their homes. The financial toll of the last year and a half has 
exacerbated the prepandemic inequalities that the Hispanic or Latino 
communities were already facing.
  Hispanic or Latino people are also more likely face the harshest 
health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, Hispanic or Latino people are twice as 
likely to catch COVID, 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 
2.3 times more likely to die compared to their White counterparts. In 
my own home State, Hispanic or Latino people are 14.3 percent of the 
case rates when they only make up 10.6 percent of our population. With 
the widening gaps of healthcare coverage, Hispanic or Latino families 
face large hospital bills for their bouts of COVID. Twenty percent of 
nonelderly Hispanic or Latino people are

[[Page S6996]]

uninsured. Although the Affordable Care Act and President Biden's 
expansion of the Affordable Care Act have helped many receive 
healthcare coverage, people of color remain less likely to have 
healthcare coverage.
  It is our duty in Congress to ensure that our Hispanic and Latino 
communities have the resources and access to healthcare they need so we 
can close the gap between them and their White counterparts. This comes 
with educating these communities on how to sign up and receive 
healthcare. It also comes with comprehensive immigration reform to 
provide an easier pathway to citizenship so people can come out of the 
shadows.
  Regardless of the repercussions of the pandemic, Hispanic and Latino 
Americans remain optimistic, filled with love and pride for their 
families, communities, and the United States of America. I want to take 
this opportunity to thank Hispanic and Latino Americans for their 
contributions that have made the United States the country it is today. 
I want to thank the hard-working Hispanic and Latino essential workers 
who have put their lives at risk to keep our country running during the 
pandemic. I want to thank the Hispanic and Latino communities who love 
our Nation and strive to change it for the better. Thank you for being 
an important part of the American story.

                          ____________________