Congressional Hispanic Conference

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The Congressional Hispanic Conference was founded on March 19, 2003 by six Republican members of the 108th United States Congress. The stated goal of the CHC at its formation was to promote policy outcomes of importance to Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent. These priorities include: support of President Bush and American troops in the war against terrorism; the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA); tax relief to families and the over two million Hispanic and Portuguese owned small businesses; support for faith based initiatives; and, educational choice for all. It should not be confused with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is a similar organization for Democratic Congressmen.

Members of the CHC in the 110th Congress included the Cuban-American delegation from Florida (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart), Luis Fortuño from Puerto Rico, Portuguese-American Devin Nunes of California and Mexican-American Trent Franks of Arizona. Two members of the Caucus were defeated in the 2006 elections. Henry Bonilla, a Hispanic from Texas and a Portuguese-American from California, Richard Pombo).