Obama Administration Meets with Bay Area Hispanics

The Obama Administration made a stop in Tampa to meet with the Latino community on Friday, Feb. 3.

was held at the ’s Vaughn Center and was part of a series of 17 summits with Hispanic communities across the country, with the purpose of getting feedback on important issues, such as health care and immigration.

“It’s great to be back home,” said Tampa native Francisco Sanchez, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. “We heard a lot, and I think we can all agree the biggest challenge that we have is with the economy, and the Latino community in particular has suffered greatly.”

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, members of the Hispanic community have lost as much as 66 percent of their net worth from 2005-09, while Hispanic unemployment has been higher of the national average.

“Unemployment figures came out toady and unemployment overall came down to 8.3 percent,” said Sanchez. “And I am happy to report that the unemployment rate in the Hispanic community also came down from 11 percent to 10.5 percent.”

The summit between the senior Administration officials and local Hispanic leaders, business owners, and educators covered a range of topics, including housing, affordable health care, small business assistance, education, immigration and jobs.

Sanchez said that President Obama has outlined a blueprint for an economy that is built to last.

“Tampa is uniquely placed to take advantage of this blueprint,” he said. “Tampa has great entrepreneurs, and the Hispanic community of Tampa in particular has great entrepreneurs who can focus on some of the President’s plans, in particularly his tax proposals that can benefit American businesses, specifically in manufacturing.”

The White House Hispanic Community Action Summit will make its next stop in Elyria, OH, this month.

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