Padilla, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Urge President Biden to Nominate a Highly Qualified Latino American to the Federal Reserve
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) sent a letter to President Biden urging him to appoint a highly qualified Latino American to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. In the Fed’s 109-year history, a Latino or Latina has never served on the Board of Governors. In their letter, the lawmakers urge President Biden to take this historic moment and recognize the fastest-growing demographic with a $2.8 trillion economic output.
The lawmakers also highlighted that only five percent of the Fed’s overall workforce identifies as Hispanic or Latino. While diversity among Class C directors appointed by the Board of Governors has increased in recent years, Class A Directors remain 80 percent white and 64 percent male, and Class B is 53 percent male and 61 percent white, with only a single Latino.
“As you consider nominees to fill the vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, we strongly urge the Administration to nominate a qualified Latino candidate to fill this position,” wrote the group of 34 Latino lawmakers. “Despite being the United States’ largest and fastest-growing minority population, Latinos have been persistently underrepresented at the Federal Reserve.”
“The current leadership of the Federal Reserve System does not reflect the country that it serves, and failure to nominate a Latino to the Board of Governors in light of this new vacancy will only perpetuate this continued injustice,” the lawmakers continued. “We cannot continue to overlook opportunities to give the over 62 million Latinos in our country – who account for $2.8 trillion of GDP – a voice in the Federal Reserve.”
Senator Padilla is committed to supporting a new generation of outstanding, qualified, and professionally diverse leaders. As a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Senator Padilla is dedicated to confirming not only a diverse federal judiciary, but a more diverse Board of Governors.
Along with Senator Padilla, the letter is also signed by Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and by Representatives. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.-33), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.-07), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas-20), Sylvia García (D-Texas-29), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.-13), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-Ill.-04), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.-03), Henry Cuellar D-Texas-28), Delia Ramírez (D-Ill.-03), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.-08), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.-44), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas-34), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.-29), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.-15), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.-07), Darren Soto (D-Fla.-09), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas-16), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.-34), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.-31), Norma Torres (D-Calif.-35), Robert García (D-Calif.-42), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.-38), Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-Calif.-25), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.-03), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Jim Costa (D-Calif.-21), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.-03), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.-06), and Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.-08).
Full text of the letter is available here and below.
Dear President Biden,
As you consider nominees to fill the vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, we strongly urge the Administration to nominate a qualified Latino candidate to fill this position.
Despite being the United States’ largest and fastest-growing minority population, Latinos have been persistently underrepresented at the Federal Reserve. Only five percent of the Fed’s overall workforce identifies as Hispanic or Latino. The underrepresentation of Latinos is particularly stark in the Federal Reserve’s leadership; since its founding in 1913, the Federal Reserve has never had a Latino on its Board of Governors or a Latino regional bank president. The appointment of a qualified Latino candidate to the Board of Governors would be a critical step in bringing diverse perspectives to our nation’s central bank.
In the past two years, there have been four opportunities to appoint qualified Latino candidates to the Board of Governors. Unfortunately, at each of these opportunities, Latinos have been denied a seat at the table where critical economic decisions are made. The current leadership of the Federal Reserve System does not reflect the country that it serves, and failure to nominate a Latino to the Board of Governors in light of this new vacancy will only perpetuate this continued injustice.
We cannot continue to overlook opportunities to give the over 62 million Latinos in our country —who account for $2.8 trillion of GDP— a voice in the Federal Reserve. As members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we strongly urge you to take advantage of this historic opportunity to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Governors with a qualified Latino.
Sincerely,
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