 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here to take your seats. We'd love to get the program started this evening. Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. My name is Crystal Vargas and I'm serving as the Executive Director for the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, covering the Southwest, the Northwest, and the entire Western sector of San Antonio and we're proud to be here tonight to honor our 20th District Congressman Charles Gonzalez. So we'd love to get this program started and I'd like to introduce someone who is very close to us. We definitely work with different veterans associations, VFWs, but there's always this one person who is always true to our heart and who has always been there, not only in a bind to help support the Chamber and our veterans and business, veterans and business award that we have every year. So I'd like to announce Mr. John Rodriguez from the Commission on Veterans Affair, District 3 Representative. Mr. John Rodriguez, would you please walk up? Please walk up. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, post VFW, post 76 and John Rodriguez, thank you so much. We definitely appreciate you being here tonight. Will everybody please remain standing until the flags leave the room? You'll stay for the invocation. May I have Rita Hernandez, one of our board members from Inspiration for Life radio show. Please walk up here to do our invocation. Welcome. Thank you, Crystal. It's such an honor and blessing to be here today to do the invocation. Just a true blessing to be surrounded by amazing people of our community. And I just want to thank you all for being here. This is about your heads. I just want to thank you, Lord Father God, for everything that you're doing for this evening, for putting your hands in blessing everybody here this evening, for this 11th annual state of the district, featuring Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez. For everybody that's here, Lord, that we ask that you bless us for this wonderful evening, and to bless our food, and to bless us as we make our journeys home safely to my Father God. And we thank you once again. And Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. I'm not Crystal. You can be seated. Thank you so much. At this moment, we'd like everyone to take a few moments to enjoy your dinner, and we'll start a program in about 15 to 20 minutes. So please enjoy. I hope everyone's enjoying their meal tonight, provided by the El Trapacano Hotel. As you can see, they've got a wonderful venue to consider for future events. I'd like to take a quick moment to introduce our brand new chairman, Mr. Gabe Fadies of the PRMP Group of Texas, which is a local marketing firm here in San Antonio. We've been fortunate enough to have Gabe Fadies as our chairman this year to guide and direct us in the right direction and take a more proactive marketing approach to the different things that we're working on with the chamber. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce Mr. Gabe Fadies. And as I promised Crystal and my wife, I will keep it real short because I'm looking at this agenda and I'm thinking, what's this idiot Gabe Fadies doing speaking with such distinguished individuals? Guys, thank you so very much for coming out today. I am the new chairman of the board for the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. This is the chamber on the move. We're doing some fantastic things, both out in the community, whether it's initiating our first ever health fair or doing things for our members, like having golf tournaments or having these wonderful events where we're here to honor the best of the best, not only locally, but in Washington, D.C. Right now what I'm going to do is I'm going to run down a list of the elected officials that are here today. First off, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Congressman Doggett is here from Austin. Thank you so much. A true champion for the cause. Also, sitting on stage with this Representative Joaquin Castro. He's going to be speaking with us a little bit later. And I got to say, I may be a bit biased. This next guy is my favorite politician. Bar Nun, State Representative Joe Fadies, District 118. I said it right, Dad. Is that how you wanted me to jot it down for me? Okay, got it. Boy, our commissioner's court. We've got two fantastic commissioners that are here with us. Commissioner Tommy Atkinson. Tommy, where are you at? Commissioner Atkinson is a true champion. And this next individual is absolutely everything that is good and great about the western sector of San Antonio. A true champion working at the courthouse. And that's Commissioner Paul Elizondo. We've also got Representative Pete Gallego is here. Representative Gallego is here from Alpine, Texas, making the way all the way down here. Another one of my favorite guys right here, and that's because when you Google Gabe Fadies, his big ugly mug will appear on the Walker Report about a dozen or so times. Judge Steve Walker right here. One more time, that's right. We've got a couple of fantastic former judges. We've got Judge Al Alonso who's here. Judge Alonso, thank you so much for coming. And also Judge, a great friend, Michael Mary. Judge Mary is around here somewhere. We've got a former, I've got him listed as former State Representative Justin Rodriguez, but that's not right. Former Councilman Justin Rodriguez is here. Getting about 20 or so years ahead of myself, I apologize. We've got Constable Rubin C. Tejeda is here. Constable Tejeda. Thank you so much. And one of my truly best friends, and I can honestly say that former Councilwoman Jennifer Ramos is here as well. Jennifer, thank you so much for coming out. Boy, that's a pretty distinguished list of Democrats. Well, it's kind of a who's who of Democrats in this room. I'm almost frightened to say that if something were to happen in this room, the biggest name in Democratic politics would be like Reed Williams. That was my one joke. Was it okay? No? Just don't tell Reed I said that, please, because he's actually my Councilman. You know, I've got to acknowledge this next individual, even though she's not an elected official, she meant a lot to the West San Antonio Chamber, and that's former President Mary Cruz. Mary, where are you at? Thank you, Mary. We've got several board members from some of the organizations that are here today from the San Antonio Water Systems, Robert Anguiano and Samuel Luna. Guys, thank you so much for coming out today. Come on, you can clap for everybody. There we go. From the San Antonio River Authority, several individuals that mean a ton to that organization. Robert Rodriguez, Mike Lackey, Robert Ramirez, Olga Liscano, and Adir Sutherland. Thank you so much for coming out from the San Antonio River Authority. From VIA, we have Board Trustees Gerald Lee, Dr. Richard Gambita, and Lou Miller. Guys, thank you so much. I'm a third of the way down, so just bear with me. I'm joking. I'm almost finished. John Rodriguez, where's John at? Let me tell you something. When you talk about veterans' causes and when you talk about fighting for veterans, we've got a ton of elected officials that already do that. The one guy in this room who's not an elected official that probably does more with all due respect is Mr. John Rodriguez, who sits on the Veterans Commission for District 3. John, thank you so much for all that you do. From Port San Antonio, and I've got to tell you, before I introduce these board members, Port San Antonio means a tremendous amount to the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. They're big supporters. Andrew Anguiano and Maria Elena Torralva Alonso. How can I get your name wrong? Thank you so much for coming out. Thank you so much. Only 17 more names. Guys, I got to recognize our board members, the West San Antonio Chamber. We've got a brand new board, and they are just doing fantastic things with this organization. They are involved, and they are seeing our projects and our goals and our missions and everything that we have going on. They're seeing everything to fruition, and they're doing a fantastic job representing this organization. Teresita Aguilar from Our Lady of the Lake University. Teresita, where are you at? Thank you so much. Ms. Rita Hernandez from Inspiration for Life. Rita. Thank you, Rita. Mr. John Liao from CPS Energy. John. And our one board member who's not here, Jorge Beltran from Earl & Associates. Guys, thank you so very much for what you guys do and what you guys bring to the table with the West San Antonio Chamber. And I would be remiss if I didn't introduce our wonderful executive director, the spark plug that makes all of this happen, Ms. Crystal Vargas. Crystal, thank you. I was told I could only speak for five minutes, and I think I've spoken for six already. So I'm just going to say a couple of things about what we have going on with the West Chamber. We've got some great events coming up. Everybody has great events, but we have some fantastic ones. Some ones that really are outside the box thinking events. We've got a golf tournament that's coming up June the 16th. I know everybody does a golf tournament, but ours is a little different. We do ours over at Brackenridge Golf Course. You can learn about all these events that we have coming up on westsachamber.org. Our doctoral achievement awards that's coming up later in the year in September is a fantastic award ceremony that we have where we honor individuals that go above and beyond that are JDs and MDs and PhDs. So that's another event that we have that it really sets itself apart. And our Veterans and Business Awards is going to be coming up in November. Remember, you can learn about all of these events by our website at westsachamber.org. The one thing that I'm going to talk about that we're doing differently this year, that I can't remember this organization ever doing, is, you know, we have the events and we help our members and we provide incredible networking opportunities for our members. But one of the things that we're going to do differently this coming year leading into the next legislative session is that for the first time ever, the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is going to collectively put our minds together, our 385 members that we have. And we're going to come up with our first ever legislative agenda and we're going to go to Austin and we're going to advocate on behalf of our members and our businesses and our partners on how we can make a big difference at the state level in helping our members holistically. We've never done this before, but we have a group of board members who's excited about really making a difference, whether it's a hub bill that we're working on to try and improve situations for our small businesses in the West Side or whether it's going to Austin with a bill that can help our utilities or Port San Antonio, we're going to be there for our members like we've never been there for our members in the future. So if you can give a round of applause to the board members because this is some really wonderful outside the box thinking. And if you've heard me speak once, you've heard me speak a million times on this one phrase. Our goal at the West Chamber is to improve the quality of life of our members. That's what we want to do. We want to create opportunities so that our members can build another building or our members can hire another two or three employees. And when you do that and when you accomplish that basic goal of being an organization that makes a difference, whether it's making a difference for Port San Antonio or making a difference for, you know, Chubby's Auto Sales, who has two locations, then what we, you guys laugh, that's actually a great place to go buy a car. You know, what we do is we accomplish our goal of trying to improve economic development in the Western sector of San Antonio. So with that, I'm going to introduce, not to come up and speak, but our last political figure that we have here, big round of applause for Congressman Charles Gonzalez. Guys, go ahead and continue your dinner. We're going to continue with a program here in about five or six minutes. But again, thank you so much for coming out on behalf of the West Chamber. We appreciate that all that you guys do for us. Thank you very much. All right, folks, if I can have your attention, we're going to continue with the program now. The individual that I'm about to call up right now is somebody who has been, you know, absolutely and utterly fighting the good fight. And I can say this, that the one thing that I dislike about this guy, who is looking at me, is that he's not going to be in Austin next year. That's the one thing that just absolutely kills me because he has been there and he's been fighting for everyone. And I talked earlier in the chairman's reception, these guys, they fight for individual. It doesn't matter what side of the partisan rally they sit on. They make decisions and policy based on what they feel is the best for us locally and for us here in the state of Texas. And nobody does that better than our next speaker, Representative Joaquin Castro. Good evening. Thank you, Gabe, for the introduction. And it is so wonderful to be here with everybody from the West Side Chamber and Crystal and all of the staff from the West Side Chamber who over the years have helped build this organization into what it is today. And also, it's very special for me to be here to honor and to introduce such a legend in San Antonio, Charlie Gonzalez. You know, there are on the West Side a very special part of town for me. It's where my brother and I grew up. I tell people that my upbringing was a tour, literally a tour of the West Side. On the West Side of town, there are certain hallmarks that everybody knows, whether it's Lanier High School, La Tecla, Fox Tech, where my dad went, Guadalupe Street, the mural of Henry B. at Estelas, of those hallmarks when you think about the names of politicians and public servants who have done so much for our community, there is one name that stands above the rest, and that is Gonzalez. And we here today honor not just a man who served in Congress since 1999 and who has done incredible things for our city, but also somebody who is part of such an incredible legacy. I don't have to tell you that this is historic for our city because when Charlie retires from Congress in January of 2013, it really will be the passing of a torch and the closing of a long and wonderful chapter in our city. His father Henry B. was elected in 1961 in a special election, and this city has gone through such incredible and wonderful changes over the years, owing in large part to the work of Henry B. and to the work of Charlie Gonzalez. You think about Charlie's tenure in Congress over the last, I guess, 13 years it will be, 13, 14 years, almost every single part of our city has changed for the better. Our colleges and universities have grown incredibly. We now enroll over 100,000 students at our colleges and universities, more than Dallas, more than Austin, more than many major American cities. The amount of federal money that we've gotten for our colleges and universities has grown incredibly. You think about our economic expansion and how Congressman Gonzalez and others in Texas helped the city react after 1995 when, through BRAC, Kelly Air Force Base, which had ushered thousands of families into the middle class, was closed. And all of the work that Charlie has done to make sure that the aerospace industry, that Boeing and Lockheed Martin and other companies at the port have provided jobs for our city and have continued to grow our economy. There is almost no sector that has been untouched by the work of Charlie Gonzalez. His term in Congress has been a special one. His legacy is one that will go on for a very long time. And it was a very bittersweet for me. You know, I've been telling the story on the campaign trail about the day that I heard that Charlie wasn't going to run for reelection. And I hope Charlie won't mind if I tell the story real quick. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and it was about five o'clock in the afternoon. And I had been running for Congress in a different district for about five months at that point. And so this was finally a chance for me to rest for you know, we were going in that we were in the holiday weekend and Charlie and I had run into each other down at the federal court and said that we would talk after the court came out with a decision, which they had on Wednesday, separating the 35th district and at that time the 25th district of Lloyd Doggett. So Lloyd was happy. He was going to be able to run in Austin. I was happy. I was happy. And I had a new 35th and then the day after Thanksgiving at five o'clock, Charlie called and I saw that Charlie was calling on my cell phone and I was asleep. And I said, oh, maybe I'll just call Charlie later. Well, thank God I answered the phone because I answered the phone and Charlie said, Joaquin, I called to tell you that I'm not going to be running for reelection and that I just told my mom and my family two days ago on Wednesday. And I was still asleep and I said you're not going to run for reelection this time. I don't know what other time he'd be talking about. But it woke me up very fast and it was very bittersweet because of course a wonderful opportunity for me as somebody who has grown up on the west side and loves the west side and the 20th district but also very bittersweet for our city because Charlie has done so much for us. So please help me welcome a wonderful friend, a champion for San Antonio, our very good friend Charlie Gonzalez. No, thank you. Oh, please be seated. Thank you very much. Thank you. Joaquin, thank you. No, please. I promise people that I would attempt to be brief. The speech always goes a little longer than anticipated and I promise not to wonder off too much. But I want to thank Joaquin. I hadn't made up my mind that I would not be seeking reelection. I was consumed by trying to retain the character of the 20th district. It has always been the true San Antonio congressional district. It represented the cultural, social, civic, business centers of our city. And we were in the middle of a huge court battle. We had a temporary victory and then of course a setback. But in essence, at that point when we had the victory, I knew that it was time to make a decision. And what I told Joaquin that he probably found out that I wasn't going to seek reelection before many of my family members because the way I set it up was the night before I got my nephew who has everybody's email address and I said, okay, you know, don't say anything. I didn't tell none of my brothers, sisters, anybody. I said, but tomorrow at this specific hour I want you to start calling the family and telling everybody. And the reason is because I knew that as soon as the release went out it was going to be out there and I wanted family to know first. But the first person that I personally called was Joaquin. And the reason for that is that Joaquin had the courage and conviction to get out there and seek a congressional seat in what was a very, very difficult one that had been configured by the Texas State Legislature. And so I figured if anyone has earned the decision to switch to what we call the San Antonio congressional seat, it was Joaquin. So I called Joaquin right away I couldn't tell that you were sleepy or anything Joaquin, but I could tell that it was decision time and that you needed to start talking to family and friends and supporters. But my prediction is that as I leave in January Joaquin will be raising his right hand and will be elected to the United States Congress. And for all of you that have worked closely with me and my staff I can tell you now there is no doubt that that relationship will continue and this city will continue to prosper. And there's so many folks out there that I would individually say thank you for everything that you've done for San Antonio. First of all, Crystal, thank you again for your hard work, gave your leadership to the Board of Directors of the West San Antonio Chamber. Look, everything starts in our own backyard. Our family, our neighborhood expands to the community and so on. And that's what the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is all about. Being involved with our local small businessmen in a certain area that is expanding and it's a greater challenge, but you're assuming it and doing it very well. So I want to thank you. I also wish to extend because I always try to do it but once in a while I would forget but since this is going to be my last state of the district address many of you will come up to me and say thank you for this and thank you for that and Joaquin will tell you that it really is staff that makes any member truly effective. I want to thank all the members here tonight and I would ask if they would please stand and that includes our interns that don't get paid. If you'll please stand I want to recognize them. My father prided himself on having constituent service a second to none and I inherited some of his great staff that still work with me and I've just been truly blessed. They gave me guidance, they told me how to actually do things and they recognize they would say well who is that and say no that is someone that had a veteran's claim but now it's going to be social security and so on and so I even got to meet constituents that had been close to my father and that we continued to help and that's probably the greatest satisfaction that anyone could ever have. I always try to start off with a little bit of humor as you already know things have not been that humorous in Washington. I used to be able to come back and tell you about some stories that were quite funny you know it's gotten to be a very serious place but not in a good way and I'll touch on that in a minute and I do want to discuss a very disturbing topic and trend that we're experiencing not just nationally but even locally which is the strangest thing that the character of San Antonio and its composition that we somehow are being affected by the debate on immigration. But I will start with a little bit of humor real quick. Some of you may already heard some of this when the SA to DC trip a month ago or whatever but last summer we had a big debate on whether we needed to increase the debt ceiling. It was an absolute no-brainer. It had always been done because it was for past debts I mean you remember the debate people were very upset they didn't know we were going to default our credit rating system was going to be impacted and such so there was a poll and the poll showed at that point in time on July the 30th 2011 that Republican members of Congress had a 33 percent approval rating and Democrats in Congress had a 33 percent poll approval rating. Now you would say that's really low well it's lower today than it was back then as matter of fact it is it's still in double digits the problem is one of the digits is a zero so it's not good but people were saying oh that is just horrible 33 percent I said wait a minute in that poll they actually asked the following question if you believe in God how do you feel about the job God is doing God only got a 52 percent approval rating so I figured we're only doing 19 percent at that point worse than God that's not bad that goes to show you and I see professor again better back there because he used to conduct these type of polls the other thing is so during that same period of time they would be interviewing people and asking them well how do you feel and they'd say well I'm filled with anxiety I don't know what to do you know it's going to be the end of the world and I don't mean to minimize it because it was a serious issue so they interviewed this retiree and they said well how do you feel and he says well I used to be a cautious optimist but now I'm a confused pessimist and this is my advice to Joaquin Washington can be a very difficult place you don't have to agree with the people but you need to be working together but Barney Frank has a way of saying it differently than that and this is what Barney said if you seeking office United States Congress if you're not able to work closely with people you despise you can't really work here and the last thing is that we don't take ourselves sometimes too seriously especially the political part the talking hands all the different programs you'll get invited Joaquin and they want you to say something outrageous and they want to take everything incredibly serious and it's got to be divisive and such and this is the way George Will had an article and he quoted Eugene McCarthy and he says being in politics said Eugene McCarthy is like coaching football you have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it's important and there are very important things that we do in Congress and there's some things that aren't as important but we elevate them and it gets in the way of the debate my topic tonight is a very serious one and I'm going to try to get through this because I know that as we refer to Wednesday nights I mean and we all have to go to work tomorrow and my final state of the district address is why is the national debate on immigration how it impacts all Latinos the undocumented and the citizen alike and how we resolve the issue will determine the future not just of our Latino communities but of our nation and it's a heavy topic and it's a serious topic but there's so much at stake and it's very familiar with its nature and we should try to figure out the answers and San Antonio and Texas can be role models if we really want it to we don't like discussing this I understand that because it's a difficult one and a disturbing issue but the immigration debate regarding the undocumented spills over to all Latino citizens in this country you don't have to look any further than here in San Antonio the basketball team outside of Austin can come and play linear and start chanting USA, USA and Arizona, Arizona explain to me how an Alma Heights basketball game against my alma mater Edison where you have a group of kids also chanting USA, USA in San Antonio, Texas you don't tell me that immigration debate is not filtering down and impacting everyone and maybe they start feeling a certain way and have always felt a certain way but it seems to give them license to express it publicly and it's destructive it truly is the chance are directed at players because of their ethnicity which is equated to illegal status which is seen as license to publicly express prejudice and bigotry and that's very harsh isn't it I don't think that it is it's truthful and this is where our educators have an opportunity to do something my fear is that nothing will get done because it's unpleasant what do you deal how do you speak to a child and say why did you say that what motivated you what is your idea of what is going on in this country why do you think of that brown and opponent as someone less than you at 66 years of age and for in Paul you know exactly what I'm talking about we've seen it but we thought we had really progressed the question is have we really progressed and where are we today for San Antonio a majority minority city for Texas a majority minority state and for Latinos in general we say that the issue of immigration but that it is not the top issue and Joaquin understands this because we get pigeonholed they'll invite Joaquin to go and talk but only about immigration they'll invite me but only about immigration and at some point you really feel limited by the fact that you are Latino and they just want to talk about immigration we want to talk about education we want to talk about healthcare we want to talk about jobs and having a skill set that allows us to be relevant in the global economy we want to talk about social security we want to talk about Medicare we want to talk about national defense and so I always felt and even as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus I always felt you know what I actually know something about energy I actually know something about telecommunications I actually know something about healthcare and they just want to talk about immigration but you know what I've realized that you have to talk about comprehensive immigration reform because it will impact all those other issues that are so important to us as a Latino community but to the entire United States whether you're Latino or not and this is the whole thrust of my address tonight it's not a Latino specific issue it is a United States issue so let's start off with the realities of demographics by 2050 the Latino population will triple while the non-Hispanic white population will remain essentially flat in October 2011 Express News article William H. Fry senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and Dow Myers urban planner from the University of Southern California were cited for the following the 2010 census showed Hispanics accounted for all U.S. population growth of children under 18 years of age since 2000 under 18 years of age Anglo population declined by over 4 million in the past decade during that same period of time the Hispanic under 18 years of age population grew by nearly 5 million only 51% of the United States population under 5 years of age is Anglo a quarter of the entire group is Hispanic 73% of the nations 50 to 64 year old population is Anglo from the Department of Labor Hispanics represent one out of every three new workers entering the United States workforce in 2011 by 2025 that number will increase to one in every two new workers now what about the reality and the inevitable consequences of those figures that I just tossed out to you well Mr. Fry makes the following comment quote this trend undoubtedly brings some challenges of racial generation gaps the disconnect between older white and a younger more diverse population who may not understand where their interests intersect and we've done a horrible job of doing that if anything we don't have that discussion how we must rely on one another I just read to you what should be some really startling demographics and we have not made a point to those that are fearful of this new majority that their future rest with that new majority it really does now Dow Myers what his observation was if not for the rapid infusion of immigrants and their children into the United States population the US would likely fall victim to the same stagnation in economic and population growth found in other industrialized countries such as Japan where the birth rate is too low to sustain the dependent elderly population projected to retire in the coming years so what is Ron Brownstein is writing in the National Journal and just remember what Mr. Myers just said about the elderly population projected to retire this is what Mr. Brownstein cites social security and Medicare serve 40 million beneficiaries today by 2030 it will serve 80 million 80 million four fifths of today's seniors are white and that proportion will not change for decades so you make the conclusion you make the connection and we're not making it and we're not explaining to people why we are invested and invested in each other I'm going to throw out some other facts and this kind of basically tells you the challenge 227,500 children born here last year in the United States had at least one parent who was an illegal Mexican immigrant this is Robert Smith of City University in New York the key to what kind of citizen those children will become is how they're being educated and incorporated now incorporated I would have used assimilated how they're educated and how they're assimilated he didn't say tomorrow he didn't say in 10 years he said now we're behind in terrible consequences await us if we don't speed up the process there was a Harvard study by Irokazu Yoshikawa and this was cited in the New York Times editorial of May 27, 2011 Professor Yoshikawa estimates that 4 million preschool-aged children of immigrants are American citizens their hindered development will haunt this country there is a price to pay for our ignorance and for avoiding facing the reality so how do we respond to this reality let's start off with education and the reason I say education is because a lot of people just believe that the sheer numbers of Latinos that the sheer weight and quantity of Latinos will break down that door to opportunity and to responsibility because we know with opportunity goes responsibility because we know that with opportunity people expect more of us that door will not open by the sheer weight of numbers it will not it's better to find the key that unlocks the door to opportunity but we have to be prepared to take advantage of that opportunity and then assume our rightful responsibility as residents and citizens of this great country so what do we do about education recognizing the challenge what have we done Texas is and should be a poster child and challenges that minority populations and immigration present both legal and illegal migration by 2013 Texas will have 185,000 additional students as compared when the Texas legislature last passed the budget and Joaquin is an expert on this because when I was researching this his quotes were all over the place about the shortfall there was a story in the news in April the 4th of last year the debates going on we know what's going to happen with education an education staffer said it would be the first cut in the foundation school program since its 1949 enactment follow up story August 20th 2011 express news in the last decade school enrollment in Texas grew by 874,000 state leaders in adopting the two year budget in 2011 bragged quote that lawmakers had appropriated more money for education than ever appropriated and Joaquin knows that is not an accurate statement he didn't support that budget on education and I'm incredibly proud of the majority of our state delegation that bought these cuts and thank you Joaquin I've been at gatherings where state officials get up and make the representation that there is more money than has been appropriated in the last session than ever before historically speaking so how do you reconcile that with the reality Paul Colbert school finance expert and former state legislator was interviewed and he said while Texas has increased general spending for public education by about 10.5 billion from 2002 to 2003 compared to the 2012-2013 cycle however public education funding actually is $537 less per student than it was four years ago they didn't do the math yes you're appropriated more money but not enough to address the increased enrollment of students but it's a fact you can still say we've appropriated more money than we ever have before now it comes out to be less per student but who's checking now you might say well who's this Paul Colbert I'm probably a former Democratic state legislator well I'll just go ahead and quote the Republican Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott February 6th 2012 Commissioner Scott apologized to the Texas Association of School Administrators for the legislature's decision to cut per student spending in Texas for the first time since World War II and for cutting $1 billion out of his agency's programs that have proven successful in boosting student achievement that's from within the administration so what are we doing at the federal level not much better we all know that at the federal level we probably provide 7-8% of school funding the rest is going to be state and local but what we do well and what we've done and we've improved on in the past four years have been on federal grants and student loans and I know that I have my university folks here you know exactly what I'm talking about that are essential for students to attend college Texas student aid sources for fiscal year 2009 those are the numbers that I could find recently in other words where are the funds for the students either by way of grants or loans in order to allow them the opportunity to go to college at the federal level we provide 44.7 billion dollars or 74% of all monies available institutions provide 970 million or 15% the state provides 447 million or 7% and then other sources provide about 287 million or about 4% what about Pell Grants I know I've got my university officials here you know what a Pell Grant is locally our lady of the lake has about 63% of its student body that receives the Pell Grant St. Mary's about 53% the University of the Incarnate word about 41% so what are we doing at the federal level we're going to increase the interest rate that we charge for our students for student loans and we're going to reduce the monies available for Pell Grants we are going to make it more difficult for those kids to go to college to find that key that will open the door to opportunity so what has been the political response to the need for comprehensive immigration reform so that we can educate everyone and we can assimilate into mainstream American society it has not been good Texas attempted to pass legislation is an emergency item we had SB 1070 in Arizona that is going to be argued before the Supreme Court in three weeks we've had HB 56 in Alabama which is even worse than SB 1070 in Arizona and I've been to Alabama and I can tell you the purpose of that law and we've had the introduction of similar legislation in many other states the national debate nothing but opposition to comprehensive immigration reform using fear anxiety and the insecurity that the recession has visited on our society this approach the political approach what we're doing with education not only ignores finding solutions that work in the best economic interest of our country but engenders prejudice that extends beyond the undocumented but touches and impacts all Latinos many of you are going to disagree with some of the things that I say here I sincerely believe it unfortunately I think it's going to play out this way unless we find the common ground unless we understand that we are a community and we will have to depend on one another but you ask me why the disconnect why aren't we making the association why are we doing this with education why are we doing this with dream kids why are we doing this with lack of comprehensive immigration reform Harold Merson on July 13th in a post article wrote as follows and I'm paraphrasing there are those to be sure have long waged a war on government but only now has it become an apocalyptic and total war at its root I suspect is the fear and loathing that many rank and file members feel towards their own government that it is inexorably becoming multi-racial multicultural cosmopolitan and now headed by a president who personifies those qualities that America is also downwardly mobile is a challenge to all of us but for some people the anxiety that our economy evokes is augmented by the politics of racial resentment and the fury that the country is no longer theirs that's not a country whose government they want to pay for and if the apocalypse befalls us they seem to have concluded so much the better that's what's really going on in this country I think that was the best description that I had read and somehow public officials seem to be feeding on this and even getting elected on it and it is destructive but there's also a simple political calculation and this is state representative Leo Berman from Tyler who introduced Arizona SB 1070 type legislation in the Texas legislature his comment on what would happen if we had comprehensive immigration reform or some pathway to legalization and citizenship there's 25 million in the United States you can't listen to 8 million to 12 million numbers that come out of Washington every day you're going to create an instant 25 million Democrats he actually said that or maybe it's something as old a minute ago I said I was 66, Paul remembers the days as many of you also remember it could be something too that is as old as human nature this is Michael Garrison talking about the DREAM Act and he's a Republican I really respect his writings in December of 2010 after the November election and we lost the House reduced the numbers as Democrats in the Senate we passed the DREAM Act out of the House it went to the Senate we had 55 votes we had a majority we would have the DREAM Act today but for the filibuster but what Michael Garrison said was as follows quote whatever it's legislative fate the DREAM Act would be a potent incentive at stripping away pretense opponents of this law don't want earned citizenship for any illegal immigrant even those personally guilty of no crime even those who demonstrate their skills and character the DREAM Act would be a potent incentive for assimilation but for some assimilation clearly is not the goal they have no intention of citizenship with anyone called illegal even those who came as children have grown up as neighbors and would be willing to give their lives in the nation's cause and things have only gotten worse since December 2010 we have a chance here in San Antonio to set the example for the state working then Texas has a chance to set the example for the entire United States if we don't come to grips with this I'm not really sure where we go as a nation because I will remind you about the demographics the numbers that I cited to you does anybody understand that that younger generation is truly the answer to the future we've always understood that why are we blind now is it some other kind of bias or prejudice what is the fear I'm not real sure I've quoted certain writers and I think they're on to something I don't know how we're going to do this now I remain hopeful I leave Congress Joaquin's going to be there he's going to be championing comprehensive immigration reform education the dream act and I am hopeful Joaquin I think you'll be successful in time two reasons one I'm hoping that will lead us to a system that will promote education and assimilation this is like the civil rights movement when John Lewis who I've had the great great honor of serving in Congress who used to march with Martin Luther King and what they used to say back in the civil rights movement and what African Americans faced during that point in history John would always say we may have come here on different ships yesterday but we are in the same boat today and then I still remain an optimist after 14 years Joaquin and so I expect that you will too and I still am an idealist and I do believe in America's basic humanity and that it will prevail that the best will still come out in all of us that we make mistakes and we correct them that we're willing to admit maybe believing something that was not constructive or positive and moving in a different direction I'm going to leave you with this last thought and this is the idealistic part but I really believe it about the humanity part I serve with a congressman who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus by the name of Emmanuel Cleaver he's just a wonderful man every couple of weeks he sends every member of congress a short letter in which he recites some experience or story of course it's not partisan he sends it to everyone because he understands we need to be communicating and this is what he said back in December of 2011 he said Dear Charlie as a great seminar professor was holding court with some of his best students he asked how would you know when the darkness has been subdued and the dawning of a new day begins one bright and articulate student said professor I will know that the darkness ends and a dawning begins when I can look into the distance and distinguish a dog from a sheep the professor said I'm sorry that is not the correct answer another student said and in the distance I tell the difference between a peach and an apple tree that is a very good answer replied the professor but it is not the correct answer finally one student said professor it is obvious that we do not know the answer to your question please tell us this is what the professor said well answered the professor we can tell the dawn has arrived when in the distance and recognize that it is a brother or a sister my wish for you the west San Antonio chamber to my city to my state and to my nation and for everyone's sake there we see that dawn in America sooner rather than later thank you very very much he is truly our congressman Charlie Gonzalez Charlie thank you so very much congressman for all that you've done I'm going to give him something hang tight guys just give me two minutes we're going to present him with something what do you give an individual who's pretty much gotten just about everything you could possibly get a plaque what do you give him we voted and we chose a Harley but we realized we didn't have the money in the budget for a Harley so what we wanted to give you is we have a local artist here in the western sector Blas Fernandez but we've got an original painting from Blas Fernandez local west side artist on behalf of the west chamber a local artist for all that you do but another thing that we're going to honor congressman Gonzalez with and we made this decision the board did here recently we want to make sure obviously his legacy is going to live on forever and we're going to do our part in continuing that legacy so starting in September at our doctoral awards we're going to name our first ever and this is going to be an annual award Charles Gonzalez western sector person of the year award and we're going to give our first award in September in honor of all of the accomplishment that you have done it's going to be based on accomplishment and diligence in promoting and doing great things in the western sector of San Antonio so that's something we're going to be doing sometime in September and we're going to be doing accomplishment for all that you do and all that you've done thank you, thank you, thank you one more round of applause for congressman Gonzalez guys I got two more quick announcements and then you can go home announcement number one Spurs 87 Boston Celtics 86 that's a final so we won tonight and I need to announce one more person that was here and I forgot I can't believe it she's a big part of our board Grace Rodriguez Elliott grace I know she's here from Broadway bank thank you so very much guys thank you so much for coming out westsachamber.org for pictures on this event one more round of applause for congressman Gonzalez and then you can go home good night everybody