The Weekly Issue/El Semanario is pleased to strongly endorse U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for another term as United States Senator representing Colorado. Senator Bennet has a lengthy history supporting and advocating for current issues and social concerns important to the Latina/o community.
Senator Bennet has a lengthy history supporting and advocating for current issues and social concerns important to the Latina/o community.
It surprises some younger voters that he was Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, serving from 2005 until 2009, at which time he became a Senator appointed by then-Governor Bill Ritter. Before service as Superintendent, Michael Bennet had a distinguished business record of turning around failing businesses and making them successful, a track record leading to his selection by the DPS School Board. Despite that DPS was the largest school district in Colorado, it was suffering at the time from a drastic loss of students and, attendant fiscal problems. Mr. Bennet helped resolve these and other issues, including through involving community representatives, leading to additional improvements vastly increased stability, including substantial increases in student enrollment.
Senator Bennet’s very positive history in education gives him excellent background to support Latinos’ need for improvements in education. His service as DPS Superintendent provided him with first-hand knowledge of the breadth and complexity of the Latino community and how best to assist them.
After serving just a few years as Senator, he embarked on the impressive task of joining more senior Senators in the “Gang of Eight,” a remarkably bipartisan group of four Republican and four Democratic senators to propose meaningful immigration reform in Congress. One of the Republicans was the esteemed, late Senator John McCain. Senator Bennet’s documentation notes he and the Gang of Eight “met with a diverse coalition of business, labor, farm worker, faith, and Latino leaders” to draft such legislation, which would include worker protections and create a path to citizenship for immigrants. Remarkably, in 2013 the Senate passed the bill with bipartisan support, but the Republican House has stalled such legislation. Additionally, Senator Bennet has strongly supported DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and has continued to try to find solutions to support the young DREAMers who rely on DACA.
The Weekly Issue/El Semanario endorses Senator Bennet for another term because of his proven successes for Colorado. The recent Congressional approval of the Infrastructure Bill will provide $121 million to improve Colorado’s water infrastructure to provide clean water to our families. Of special interest to Latinos, is his support for the Child Tax Credit, which unfortunately has lapsed, but Senator Bennet is active in attempting to extend it because it was and is successful in helping reduce child poverty.
As an influential member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Senator Bennet has advanced important issues for Colorado farmers, with extensive listening tours throughout Colorado to learn details about how to assist and promote agriculture. As part of this effort, with funding from the USDA, he has helped connect rural communities with high-speed broadband, important especially for children’s education. Learn more about Senator Michael Bennet here.
For the above reasons and more, we urge you to Vote for Senator Michael Bennet!
The Weekly Issue/El Semanario Editorial Board
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