Congressman Wants to Fund Latino Racist Organization La Raza (HR-1999) with $5 Million

by John Wallace - Candidate for Congress

posted 12/189/07

There is a bill currently in Congress (HR-1999) to fund the National Council of La Raza, a racist, anti-American, anti-assimilation, pro-illegal alien organization. This bill asks the American people to spend 5 million dollars in 2008 and 10 million a year for each fiscal year thereafter to fund La Raza. NOTHING LIKE GIVING THE HANGMAN THE MONEY TO HELP HANG YOURSELF.

The U.S. government, at all levels, is spending taxpayer dollars to promote causes of political organizations aligned with Mexico, open borders and corporate one world government without nation states. These expenditures include outrageous distribution of our taxpayer funds for an organization with expressed international one world government, racist overtones and stated desire to eliminate the white man from the United States. Use of our money for this purpose violates our constitutional freedoms, our very sovereignty and promotes disharmony between our racial groups. You must protest outrageous proposed federal expenditures of $10 million a year in perpetuity to La Raza an organization with stated objectives that will destroy American sovereignty for international corporate greed and profit.

A recent proposal in Congress — H.R. 1999, which was cosponsored in April by Reps. Ruben Hinojosa of Texas and Rick Renzi of Arizona — would provide $10 million a year to a radical immigration group, the National Council of La Raza (meaning “the people" or "the race”). The bill offers funds for “community development and affordable housing projects and programs serving low- and moderate-income households,” for families of “Hispanic origin.” So giving immigrants the same free medical care, education, food, housing and income support available to all low-income groups is not enough. Now we have to single them out for special treatment, empowering a radical organization in the process. And the bill does not discriminate between legal and illegal immigrants. It is bad enough there are already programs like this.

The real dig is that La Raza gets to distribute the money, cementing its position of influence within the immigrant community. La Raza challenges the “radical” label that Michelle Malkin, U.S. congressmen and others have given it. On its Web site, La Raza makes a forceful argument claiming it opposes illegal immigration, disavows separatist or racist Hispanic movements and only seeks to bring Hispanics into the American mainstream by teaching English, respect for our laws, etc. Sounds truly inspiring, but the organizations and causes it supports tell a different story. Remember the 1994 California ballot initiative that would have denied social services to illegal immigrants? Proposition 187 was fed up California voters’ answer to the crippling effects of illegal immigration. It passed with 58 percent support. Any rational taxpaying citizen, Hispanic or otherwise, should support it, right? Not La Raza. Along with other groups, La Raza successfully defeated it in court. Here’s the view, as expressed in an address by former La Raza President Raul Yzaguirre at the organization’s 2003 annual conference: Proposition 187 in California and similar proposals elsewhere were ugly efforts to hurt the Latino community. But we fought back then, and now the Hispanic community is being assaulted once more. This time they don’t want to make you angry, so their tactics are subtle. La Raza has relied almost entirely on generous American foundation and government grants since its inception in 1968. It received $5.8 million from the feds in 2005, according to its annual report, and now may well get an additional $10 million a year for its trouble. How nice. It gets better. Have you heard of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, better known by its acronym MEChA? If you live in California, you have. This group’s Web site states: “We are Chicanos and Chicanas of Aztlan reclaiming the land of out birth,” which according to their revisionist history, includes areas of the Southwestern United States. In its answer to critics’ charges of support for this radical separatist group, La Raza explains that MEChA is really just a “student organization whose primary objectives are educational” and that their founding charter’s radical goals don’t matter. To make its pathetic case, the group cites, of all things, a passage from a Los Angeles Times article by one Gustavo Arellano that “few [MEChA] members take these dated relics of the 1960s seriously, if they even bothered to read them.” So we’re supposed to take the word of an LA Times reporter as an answer to this serious charge? The first page of MEChA’s Web site states in bold print “The following documents are essential to the philosophy of MEChA. Every MEChista should be familiar with them,” One of these, the MEChA “Constitution” states in its preamble: “Chicano and Chicana students of Aztlan must take upon themselves the responsibilities to promote Chicanismo within the community, politicizing our Raza [race] with an emphasis on indigenous consciousness to continue the struggle for the self-determination of the Chicano people for the purpose of liberating Aztlan (emphasis mine).” Can’t see how members would ignore that. NCLR has also teamed up with other openly radical groups like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) to thwart illegal immigration reform at every turn. To push the current legislation under consideration, they have joined a host of groups under one banner called the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Founded in 2003, this group has received $7 million from Atlantic Philanthropies, a multibillion dollar foundation led by Gare LaMarche, the former vice president and director of U.S. programs for George Soros’ Open Society Institute. The coalition’s objectives, according to Atlantic Philanthropies’ Web site, are “guided by a core set of rights-based immigration principles and priorities, including: a path to permanency for the undocumented, family re-unification and labor protection for future flows.” So much for moderation. La Raza’s Web site has a clean, professional look, and its propaganda carries all the buzzwords designed to make it look moderate, very much like the equally radical Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). La Raza has similarly wrapped itself in the mantle of moderation by cultivating friends in both parties, flattering gullible lawmakers. But is it moderate? No. According to insiders, the National Council of La Raza had “virtual veto power” over the most recent Senate immigration proposal. These are the folks pushing immigration policy in America

Who is La Raza? “La Raza” when translated to English means “the people” or “the race”. It is also interpreted by scholars as “The Hispanic people of the New World.” According to its website, NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. Its main goals include reducing poverty and discrimination and improving opportunities for Hispanics. In order to do this, NCLR performs research, disseminates information through press releases, reports, and its website. NCLR also provides testimony and lobbies for Hispanic causes.[1]

Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, non-profit organization headquartered in Washington D.C. and retains eight regional offices throughout the United States. It has a network of approximately 300 affiliated community-based organizations which reach millions of Hispanics in America. One controversial affiliate of the La Raza network and a recipient of NCLR funds is the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan (MEChA). This group actively advocates the amnesty of illegal aliens, denounces the assimilation of Hispanic immigrants into American culture, and they reject the tenets of American society because MEChA teaches that at the least, western America, belongs to the Hispanic people.[2] According to former U.S. Representative Charlie Norwood, “Members of these radical, anti-American, racist organizations are frequently smoothly polished into public respectability by the National Council of La Raza.[3] Current Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was a former member of MEChA and was officially endorsed by NCLR for mayor. Villaraigosa even received NCLR’s Graciela Olivarez Award. California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is also a former member of MEChA and he delivered NCLR’s keynote address at its 2002 annual convention.[4] Through validating and contributing to members of such radical organizations as MEChA, NCLR is showing its true colors. Anti-American Activists NCLR is an advocate for the elimination of the U.S.-Mexico border and aggressively supports legislation that would award amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants currently dwelling within the U.S. NCLR supports an immigration bill that would create new legal channels for future immigrant workers, create a path to citizenship for the current illegal alien population, and create paths to bring the families of illegal aliens to the United States.[5] Specifically, NCLR promotes the failed 2007 amnesty immigration reform bill, the DREAM Act, AgJobs, and driver’s licenses for immigrants.[6] NCLR is an activist group that advocates amnesty for millions of illegal alien criminals. Congress should not finance any activist group, especially an anti-American and anti-law group such as NCLR. Please contact your Congressman and insist that they oppose the Hope Act of 2007. Is this constitutional? Grassfire’s position is that this bill is inappropriate on several grounds. Our tax dollars should not be used to fund an organization that is working to undermine the current laws of the United States and/or support other organizations undermining our laws. There is also a strong argument to be made that this bill is unconstitutional. First, while the Constitution does grant Congress the power to spend taxpayer money (Article I, Section 9, Clause 7), the appropriations power was designed to support specific legislative purposes, not to direct monies to specific individuals or oganizations.. Throughout a great extent of American history Congress, the president, and state legislatures constitutionally objected to such spending. Federal Power has expanded exponentially during the twentieth century. Earmarking and appropriations grants such as this did not occur in any significant amount until the 1980s. Second, the historical precedent for federal grant program is the open bids process. For example, Congress would fund general grant programs, and allow state and federal agencies select individual recipients through a highly competitive bidding process. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, “The House and Appropriations Committees named specific projects only when they had been vetted and approved by authorizing committees. Members of Congress with local concerns would lobby the president and federal agencies for consideration. The process was aimed at preventing abuse and allocating resources on the basis of merit and need.” [7] Finally, an appropriations bill to an individual or specific organization certainly violates the long-forgotten principles of our founding era. The Constitution specifically prohibits “bills of attainder” -- statutes that specifically target an individual or citizen in a negative or punitive way. The constitutional principle behind the ban on the bill of attainder is that Congress should only write laws that apply to the people generally and not targeted to a specific individual (laws that are fixed, uniform and universal). As can be seen with this bill, the Appropriations Committee members strategically give federal funds to specific recipients for political purposes. “Rank and file” Congressional members, backed by a throng of lobbyists, bypass authorizing committees and lobby appropriators directly for pet projects.[8] In agreement with President Grover Cleveland, “I find no warrant for such appropriation in the Constitution.”[9]

Hope Fund Act of 2007 (Introduced in House) HR 1999 IH 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1999 To authorize appropriations for assistance for the National Council of La Raza and the Raza Development Fund. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 23, 2007 Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself and Mr. RENZI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A BILL To authorize appropriations for assistance for the National Council of La Raza and the Raza Development Fund. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Hope Fund Act of 2007'. SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA AND RAZA DEVELOPMENT FUND. (a) Use- The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, to the extent amounts are made available pursuant to subsection (b), make a grant to the National Council of La Raza for the purpose of providing technical and financial assistance to local non-profit organizations to undertake community development and affordable housing projects and programs serving low- and moderate-income households, particularly through organizations located in neighborhoods with substantial populations of income-disadvantaged households of Hispanic origin. Assistance provided by the Secretary under this section may be used by the National Council of La Raza or the Raza Development Fund to-- (1) provide technical and financial assistance for site acquisition and development, construction financing, and short- and long-term financing for housing, community facilities, and economic development; (2) leverage capital from private entities, including private financial institutions, insurance companies, and private philanthropic organizations; (3) provide technical assistance, training, support, and advice to develop the management, financial, and administrative capabilities of housing development organizations serving low-income households, including Hispanic households; and (4) conduct such other activities as may be determined by the Secretary and the National Council of La Raza. (b) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this section-- (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and (2) $10,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter.

"The Race" Schools: Your Tax Dollars At Work By Michelle Malkin Top White House adviser Karl Rove traveled to Los Angeles this week to pay homage to the anti-immigration enforcement lobbying group for Latinos: the National Council of La Raza. "La Raza" is Spanish for "The Race." It's bad enough the White House lent its prestige to The Race's annual conference. But did you know the Bush administration has forked over millions of federal tax dollars directly to The Race? According to GOP Rep. Charlie Norwood of Georgia, The Race snapped up $15.2 million in federal grants last year alone and more than $30 million since 1996. Undisclosed amounts went to get-out-the-vote efforts supporting La Raza political positions. The U.S. Department of Education funneled nearly $8 million in taxpayer grants to the group for a nationwide charter schools initiative. Among The Race's most infamous government-funded charter schools is La Academia Semillas del Pueblo, the Los Angeles public school that teaches "Aztec math" (ancient dot math is the new math) and the Mexican indigenous language of "Nahuatl." The ethnic separatist principal of the school, Marcos Aguilar, told a sympathetic UCLA interviewer: "We don't want to drink from a White water fountain, we have our own wells and our natural reservoirs and our way of collecting rain in our aqueducts. We don't need a White water fountain. . . . We are not interested in what they have because we have so much more and because the world is so much larger. And ultimately the White way, the American way, the neo liberal, capitalist way of life will eventually lead to our own destruction." That's the tip of the iceberg. I found dozens of other publicly subsidized charter schools sponsored by The Race and funded with our money, including: Aztlan Academy in Tucson, Ariz. According to The Race, the school's success rests on "Aztlan's ability to integrate a meaningful Chicano Studies program into their lives, language, and academics, as a means of developing their intellects as well as their pride and self-esteem." The school's name—a reference to a mythical swath of the vast Southwestern U.S. expanse, which Latino activists claim is their rightful homeland and which they seek to reconquer for Mexico—says it all. Mexicayotl Academy in Nogales, Ariz. Who needs the three R's? At Mexicayotl, it's all about the three M's: me, me, me! The school's program is "structured and developed around the concepts of identity, culture, and language." Second mission: supporting local ethnic lobbying efforts "to right social injustices by educating the community and helping create social change." Under "greatest achievements," the school's website lists its participation in a "Peace & Dignity Run"; its visit from Rigoberta Menchu (the Marxist academic fraud from Guatemala who lied her way to a Nobel Peace Prize); and its sponsorship of the local annual Dia de los Muertos (the Mexican holiday). The Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School in Pueblo, Colo. It's named after the far-Left Latina labor union activist who recently railed that "Republicans hate Latinos," praised illegal alien marchers and screeched that "We didn't cross the borders, the borders crossed us" in a hate-filled tirade before Arizona students. Academia Cesar Chavez Charter School in St. Paul, Minn. Board of Directors member Louis Mendoza, an activist Chicano Studies professor, pushed the school to lobby for the federal DREAM Act (providing in-state tuition discounts to illegal alien students not available to legal non-residents). The school's website features one flag on its front page: the Mexican flag. The White House will tell you that the National Council of The Race is a "moderate," mainstream civil rights group. But there's nothing "moderate" about The Race's advocacy of driver's licenses and in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens. Or its opposition to strengthening security for identity documents and improving cooperation on immigration enforcement between state, local and federal immigration enforcement officials. Or its all-out war on the House GOP's border security and enforcement-first bill passed last December. President Bush pays lip service to immigration enforcement and assimilation, while the White House sends Karl Rove to make nice with the separatist leaders of The Race and the Bush Education Department showers our tax dollars on radical Reconquista schools. It doesn't add up. Unless, of course, you're using Aztec math. Michelle Malkin [email her] is author of Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores. Click here for Peter Brimelow’s review. Click here for Michelle Malkin's website. Michelle Malkin's latest book is "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild."