Speakers
Mr. Ray Suarez
Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Ray Suarez is a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. His career has spanned positions in broadcast television and radio and his articles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune. In 2006 Rayo/HarperCollins published his second book, The Holy Vote, which examines the tightening relationship between religion and politics in America.
The Honorable "Mel" Martinez
U.S. Senator, R-Florida
Melquiades Rafael "Mel" Martinez emigrated from Cuba at the age of 15 and is the first Cuban-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. He has served as the Chairman (Mayor) of Orange County, Florida and as the nation's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He co-authored the Hagel-Martinez compromise in response to the immigration issues being debated in the Senate. The legislation was passed in 2007.
His Eminence, Roger Cardinal Michael Mahony, D.D.
Archbishop, Los Angeles
Roger Cardinal Michael Mahony was appointed Archbishop of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II in 1985 and created cardinal in 1991. Born in Hollywood, he is the first native Angeleno and the third Archbishop of Los Angeles to be created a cardinal. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Tamascani and Auxiliary to the Bishop of Fresno in 1975 and Bishop of Stockton in 1980.
The Honorable Janet A. Napolitano
Governor, Arizona
Janet Napolitano is the current governor of the U.S. State of Arizona, originally elected in 2002, and re-elected in 2006. She is Arizona's third female governor, and the first female to win re-election. In November 2005, Time magazine named her one of the five best governors in the U.S.
Governor Napolitano is the past chair of the Western Governors’ Association and also of the National Governors Association, the first female governor and first governor of Arizona ever to serve in that position.
The Honorable Louis J. Barletta
Mayor, Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Louis J. Barletta is currently mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a post he has held since 2000. Under his direction, the Hazleton City Council passed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which imposes harsh fines on landlords renting to undocumented immigrants, revokes the business licenses of employers who hire these immigrants, declares English to be the official language of Hazleton, and restricts translation of official documents into other languages.
