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Members of the Republican National Committee are expected to formally approve in January President Bush’s recommendation that Sen. Mel Martínez of Florida take over as RNC general chairman. Martínez, who would keep his seat in the Senate, would serve as chief spokesperson and principal fundraiser. The committee’s day-to-day operations would be handled by its current general counsel, Mike Duncan. The two men would share duties held by current chair Kenneth Mehlman, who resigned effective at the end of the year.

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Five of the six Latina Democrats in the U.S. Congress abstained or voted against the election of California Democrat Joe Baca to be the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair in the 110th Congress, which convenes January 3.

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Republican legislator Henry Bonilla of Texas is headed for a runoff with former Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, Democrat Ciro Rodríguez, after failing to obtain the necessary 50 percent of votes to represent District 23 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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As ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, New York Democrat Nydia Velázquez is poised to become the first-ever Latina to chair the powerful committee.

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzáles announced Oct. 16 the launch of the Initiative for Safer Communities to target violent crime prevention efforts in selected communities across the country.

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Rep. Hilda Solís (D-Calif.) Oct. 24 expressed her disappointment over a refusal from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a department task force or working group to ensure its programs are accessible to veterans with limited English proficiency. This is despite the department’s own admission that ”˜additional work is needed to ensure the department complies with the intent’ of Executive Order 13166 which provides for the improvement of access to services for persons with limited English proficiency.

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Mirroring what many Hispanic members of Congress said, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) criticized the recently signed Secure Border Act, which authorizes 700 miles of new fencing along the 2,000-long U.S.-Mexico border. Reyes, a former Border Patrol chief, said the fence would do nothing to stop illegal immigration or help with national security, and that it was done purely for political reasons.

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Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.) received a 100% score on the 2006 League of Conservation Voters’ Environmental Scorecard.

“I believe that Congress must take the lead in protecting our environment,”? Serrano said Oct. 13. “Unfortunately, in a Congress run by a conservative Republican majority, pro-environment legislative successes were few. Our environment and the planet’s health are approaching dangerous tipping points, after which it will be hard or impossible to repair the damage already done. We must take action now and not pass these problems on to the next generation.”?

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Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) Oct. 12 sent a letter to Thomas Dryer, the General Services Administration’s Acting Associate Administrator for Congressional Affairs, asking him to consider a new rule that would prevent government employees from using government credit cards to purchase CITGO gasoline to protest Venezuelan leader Hugo

Chávez’s recent speech at the United Nations.
“Chávez’s now infamous delusional outburst was an insult to the entire country,”? said Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. “It is time for taxpayers to stop pouring money into the pockets of this despot.”?

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Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) Oct. 12 requested a series of congressional hearings and investigations regarding newly reported incidents of alleged “illegal treatment and disposal of hazardous waste”? by the Defense Department at the Asarco smelting plant in El Paso.

Reyes formally asked for hearings by the House Armed Services and House Government Reform Committees to begin the week of November 13 as soon as Congress reconvenes. Additionally, Reyes has asked Comptroller General David Walker for an inquiry by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

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