Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force Summit

Statement

Senator Akaka's remarks as prepared for delivery:

Hola and Aloha!

It is wonderful to see so many of you gathered here today for our shared goal - economic empowerment for the Latino community to create opportunities for a new generation of leadership; to better the lives of the hardworking men and women in our country; and to pave a bright future for our children.

You might be surprised to learn that Hawaii's history is intimately linked to earlier Hispanic-Americans.

In 1838, at the request of Kamehameha the Third, Spanish-Mexican vaqueros came from California to teach Hawaiians how to manage our wild cattle herds. The vaqueros became paniolo, a word derived from español. The name was also given to the new Hawaiian cowboys, some of whom you can see roaming the Hawaii ranchlands on horseback today.

I was surprised to learn that, even within the diverse communities that make up our islands, Hispanics are a fast-growing population. According to the Census, Hispanics make up nearly ten percent of the state's population.

In Hawaii, we are used to facing the challenges of diversity and inclusivity, particularly because our state's population is dominated by so-called minorities.

I know that for every community of color, even in Hawaii, even in modern-day America, we face cultural and language barriers to basic health and education, and government services. We also face societal challenges to reaching our full potential - the glass ceiling.

We must also make sure that the systems and programs that are designed to help mainstream, Main Street America, are fully accessible to Latino businesses and workers. That is what you are here to discuss today - the critical issues of the day: access to capital, creation and growth of small businesses, lending issues, and procurement.

With more than 2.3 million businesses, Hispanic-owned enterprises represent one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. economy. If any federal initiative is going to be successful, we must be sure that it works for you.

And we must as be vigilant in providing the opportunities for our children to access and continue a quality education that will lead them to prosperity, and position them to be leaders - community leaders and national leaders.

Those are some of the reasons why I am so honored to join you here today for this important dialogue. Mahalo, and Gracias for being here with us today.

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