Hispanic (Spanish: hispano, hispánico; Portuguese: hispânico, hispano, Catalan: hispà, hispànic) is an ethnonym that denotes a relationship to Spain or to ancient Hispania, which comprised Andorra, Portugal, Spain and the territory of Gibraltar. Today, organizations in the United States use the term Hispanic to either denote a relationship to Spain or to Spain and Portugal. Some organizations intend to encapsulate only the Spanish-speaking population, limiting the definition to that subset.
The term is also used to denote the culture and people of Spanish colonization of the Americas countries formerly ruled by the Crown of Castile.
Cultural elements (Spanish names, the Spanish language, Spanish customs, etc.), and people known as Hispanic in the United States, can also be found in other areas that were formerly part of the Spanish Empire, such as in Equatorial Guinea in Africa, or the Philippines in Asia-Pacific.
The term Hispanic is derived from Hispanicus, which derived from Hispania) Hispania may in turn derive from Latin Hispanicus, or from Greek Ισπανία Hispania and Ισπανός Hispanos, probably from Celtiberian or from Basque Ezpanna. In English the word is attested from the 16th century (and in late 19th century in American English).
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) comprises 21 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic descent. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States and Puerto Rico. The CHC was founded in December 1976 as a legislative service organization of the United States House of Representatives. Today, the CHC is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus aims to address national and international issues and the impact these policies have on the Hispanic community. The function of the Caucus is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic and other Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda. In addition to covering legislative action, the CHC also monitors Executive and Judicial issues.
CHC legislative priorities cover all areas that have a direct impact on the Hispanic or Latino community. In order to best address these diverse issues, members work in smaller task forces that draw on their expertise and develop priority legislation within each area. The CHC is currently composed entirely of Democrats, although it had been a bipartisan organization since its founding. The Republican members left in the late 1990s over policy differences and, in 2003, formed their own group, the Congressional Hispanic Conference. Senator Bob Menendez, a Cuban American Democrat from New Jersey, is currently the only member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from the Senate.
María Elena Salinas (born August 1954) is the co-anchor of Noticiero Univision with Jorge Ramos, the most watched newscast by American Hispanics. She is considered one of the most recognized and influential female Hispanic journalists in the United States.
Her parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1940s. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
After a humble beginning as news reader at Radio Xpress XEPRS, a radio station broadcasting to Baja California, Mexico, and Southern California, USA, she promptly jumped into the ranks of KMEX Channel 34 in Los Angeles, California as TV news reporter.
Salinas has interviewed some of the world's most politically influential figures, ranging from U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Mexican President Vicente Fox, Zapatista Army of National Liberation spokesman Subcomandante Marcos and U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Salinas is one of the founders of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She sponsors the Maria Elena Salinas Scholarship for college students interested in Spanish news broadcasting. She also was inducted into the association's Hall of Fame in 2006.