Senator Chris Dodd will receive the Capital Award from the National Council of La Raza
DODD TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
Years of public service on behalf of Hispanic community lauded
September 23, 2004
Washington, DC – In honor of his service on behalf of the Hispanic community and his efforts to protect the civil and voting rights of Hispanics throughout his career, Senator Chris Dodd will receive the Capital Award from the National Council of La Raza, (NCLR) - the largest national Hispanic civil rights organization.
“Throughout his life, Senator Christopher Dodd has demonstrated a singular understanding of, and empathy for, the Latino community. Throughout Dodd’s career in the Senate, Latinos, both in Connecticut and nationally, have always been able to count on him as a champion on the issues of greatest concern to the community,” stated Raul Yzaguirre, NCLR President.
Dodd, who is fluent in Spanish and spent two years in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps, has a long history of leadership when it comes to working to improve the lives of Hispanic Americans. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Dodd has been deeply involved with issues of concern to Latin America, and speaks regularly of the need to honor the history, achievements, and traditions of the nearly 30 million people of Hispanic descent living in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Senator Dodd’s efforts on behalf of the Hispanic population are also evident in the area of education. He is a leading proponent of Head Start initiatives and has introduced numerous bills to expand Head Start to more eligible children and to strengthen Head Start's academic component. Head Start serves nearly 1 million children; one-third of all children served by Head Start are Hispanic.
Citing the importance of helping Hispanic children learn English and become integrated into mainstream classrooms, Dodd was instrumental in getting federal funds to for bilingual education initiatives in Connecticut schools. The schools used the grants to develop and implement more effective methods of improving English language skills among students whose primary language is not English.
As Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, Dodd was the leader in promoting equitable treatment for Puerto Rico under Title I (federally funded initiative that aims to improve academic performance of disadvantaged youth) . The new legislation gave Puerto Rican children the opportunity fully to share the benefits of Title I funding for the first time in the program's 36-year history.
Dodd has also fought for improvements in childcare, and has helped Hispanic families by authoring the Child Care and Development Block Grant which aims to not only expand the supply of child care for more families, but also to improve the quality of care that children receive. About 2 million children currently receive child care assistance about 15% of those children who are eligible. Most recently, Senator Dodd’s legislation to increase child care funding over the next 5 years by $6 billion was adopted by the Senate.
As a supporter of the DREAM Act, (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), Dodd has worked to address the tragedy of young people who grow up in the United States and have graduated from U.S. high schools but whose future is circumscribed by current immigration laws.
Citing these elements of Senator Dodd’s career, La Raza notified the Senator in a recent letter that he would be honored at La Raza’s 18th Annual gala this coming spring.
