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Chairman Baca lives to fight another day |
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By Jonathan E. Kaplan
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Posted: 03/01/07 05:25 PM [ET] |
Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) fended off efforts Thursday to oust him as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Following a 75-minute meeting with Hispanic Democratic lawmakers, Baca said he was still in charge, commenting, "Elections were held, elections are over … everyone has opinions."
He would move forward to focus on policy issues important to 45 million Hispanic Americans, he said.
Lawmakers spent part of the meeting complaining about what they said were misleading news reports about the caucus’s internecine fighting, and discussing a proposal to create three positions — a communications chairman, a policy chairman and CHC Institute chairman. The lawmakers will meet next week to discuss that proposal, Democratic sources said.
Normally a lawmaker is elected chairman of the CHC and the CHC Institute.
Caucus members said the plan to create three leadership positions within the CHC should not be viewed as a plan to oust Baca. Nevertheless, one lawmaker, who did not want to be identified, said that at least half the caucus is opposed to Baca.
This faction floated the idea of electing Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) to chair the CHC and the CHC Institute, a nonprofit foundation, respectively.
Sensing trouble Wednesday, Baca and his allies moved to solidify his support among the CHCI’s board members, who include lawmakers and Democratic allies.
He won the vote to remain CHCI chairman, according to a statement he sent to the media. "I look forward to leading CHCI as we approach our 30th anniversary next year," his statement said. "I will work hard to expand CHCI’s services so we can get more youth involved in public service and civic life."
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), a former CHC chairman and now the assistant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), suggested that the CHC’s bylaws required a two-thirds vote to oust Baca. Other CHC members dismissed that reasoning, said a Democratic source.
Most CHC lawmakers remained tight-lipped. "To talk about this does a disservice to what we’re trying to do," commented Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), a former CHC chairwoman, declined to answer questions about the feud, saying, "If you want to talk about dirt, then no."
Many caucus members are unhappy with Baca over the allocation of CHC political action committee funds to election campaigns involving Baca’s sons, and the accusation that the chairman called Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) a "whore."
Sanchez has quit the CHC. "If they make the changes they need to make … I’ll return," she said Thursday.
Beyond the personal disputes, most members are concerned that the CHC is losing its ability to speak with a single voice for the fastest growing ethnic population in America.
"What many of us are focused on is the efficacy of the group," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), who is of Portuguese descent. "If there were more inclusion there would not be this pent-up frustration."
Cardoza pointed to instances in which it would take two weeks to organize a press conference, and by the time they were ready, the issue had passed.
Internal strife has plagued the CHC since the 1990s. In 1997, Becerra, then chairman, visited Cuba and angered Cuban-American members of Congress. Afterward, the Republican members of the caucus quit. They have not returned.
Rivalries reemerged in 2002 when then-Rep. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) vied to become the Democratic Caucus chairman. The CHC supported Menendez, but there were cracks in the caucus and Reps. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) and Sanchez backed DeLauro. |
