Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress - Softcover

Sánchez, Congresswoman Linda; Sánchez, Congresswoman Loretta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0446508047 ISBN 13: 9780446508049

Verlag: Grand Central Publishing, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Often considered Congress's "Odd Couple," these warm and witty stories from Congresswomen Linda and Loretta Sánchez are perfect for all young women looking to create a brighter future for themselves—with a foreword from Nancy Pelosi!

By sharing moments from their childhood in Southern California, Linda and Loretta pass on the values and traditions they learned from their parents—immigrants from Mexico who, despite not having graduated high school themselves, made sure all seven of their children went on to graduate from college—that enabled them to conquer challenges and make history in Congress.

Speaking frankly about their professional highs and lows, successes, and the scandals that constituted their distinguished careers, the Sánchez sisters are a testament to us all that the key to realizing your dreams is, above all else, always being true to yourself.
 

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Congresswoman Loretta Sánchez has been a Democratic member of the United State House of Representatives since 1997. Previously a Republican, Sánchez changed parties in 1996, feeling that the Republican Party had lost touch with its constituency. She is the second-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee and is a member of the Armed Services Committee. Loretta Sanchez is perhaps most known for her controversial 2007 withdrawal from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, alleging the caucus chairmen treated female members with disrespect. Their very public fight was covered thoroughly in the media, including being parodied on The Colbert Report.

Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representative since 2003, when she joined her older sister Loretta, making them the only sisters to ever serve in Congress. She earned her BA in Spanish at the University of California in Berkley and her JD at UCLA, where she was an editor of the Chicano-Latino Law Review. She was an attorney specializing in labor law prior to her public service career.

She is the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, a member of the US House Committee on Education and Labor, and a member of the US House Committee on International Relations. In 2005 she was appointed Assistant Minority Whip. She is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus. Stephen Colbert interviewed Sánchez for his series, "Better Know a District", on the Colbert Report in 2006. Sánchez delivered the Spanish version of the Democratic Radio Address on May 6, 2006 and in September 2006 Linda won the title "Funniest Celebrity in Washington."

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Dream in Color

How the Snchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress By Linda Snchez Loretta Snchez

Grand Central Publishing

Copyright © 2008 Linda Snchez
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-446-50804-9

Chapter One

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

In 1851, Israel Washburn was elected to Congress. Two years later, Elihu Washburne joined him in the House of Representatives. Perhaps the extra e at the end of Elihu's last name prevented people from realizing it at the time, but these were the first brothers ever to serve in Congress.

About a century later, a young Mexican woman made the decision to head north in pursuit of a better life. If she had been informed during that exhausting journey, when her future was just a giant question mark, that two of her seven yet-to-be-born children would become the first sisters in the American Congress, she would have been incredulous. And yet, that's exactly what happened.

In January 2003, precisely 150 years after the aforementioned brothers' names were written into the history books, Loretta and Linda Snchez, daughters of immigrants Maria Macias and Ignacio Snchez, became the first sisters in Congress. Before this, 1,881 relatives had served in the House, but never sisters. Why did it take so long? And what enabled us to finally break through this most resilient of barriers?

Of course, we're delighted to be the first and, so far, only sisters on Capitol Hill, but we're also disheartened. As we stride down the halls of the Longworth Building, racing to the next vote, why don't we see more faces like our own, female or Latino? Anyone who's glanced at recent U.S. population statistics knows that the word minority is rapidly becoming a misnomer, as 35 million Hispanics certainly don't sound all that minor to us. Okay, so we're the exception. But we shouldn't be. And that's why we want to tell our story - to inspire others to pursue a career in public service, and to ultimately speed up the sluggish transition to a more representative government.

Step into our world, both political and personal, and take a behind-the-scenes look at our joint and individual experiences. After all, despite sharing the same background and many similar views, we're also two very distinct individuals: Loretta the businesswoman, Linda the lawyer; Loretta the neat freak, Linda the leave-it-where-it-drops specialist; Loretta the exercise-conscious early riser, Linda the late stop-out who's returning home just as her big sister is getting up. It would make for some engaging interaction if we shared a home together in Washington, D.C.

LORETTA

To a certain extent we grew up together, but in many ways we didn't. I'm the second among seven kids, Linda's number six, and the older siblings usually stayed together and the younger ones played together. However, the older ones also had to take care of the younger ones, so from changing Linda's diapers when she was a baby to watching over her and our youngest brother, Michael, when our mom had to work or run errands, I served as a sort of surrogate mother.

LINDA

She always had her soapbox and was preaching about eating the right food, doing chores, and taking care of ourselves to the point where sometimes I felt like I might as well be living in a convent. She was not only a caregiver, but a disciplinarian as well. While our parents were stricter with the older siblings and more lenient by the time they got around to us, it was the older siblings who were super strict with the younger. Still, I don't think I ever consciously thought about defying them. In Latino families, there's a lot of deference given by younger kids to older siblings, because you're supposed to respect authority. So, while Loretta might recall me disobeying her, I didn't ever purposely resist what she told me to do.

LORETTA

I'd agree with that. When there are seven kids, you have to keep control or chaos will ensue, and so there was a lot of discipline in our home. Having been raised strictly myself, I was the same with the younger set when I was in charge. I was responsible for them, and I tried to use the same parenting techniques that I saw my mom use. I think Linda used to call me the Witch.

LINDA

Actually, it was the Warden. While Henry was the firstborn among the siblings, for all intents and purposes Loretta was the eldest. She was the one who took charge.

LORETTA

That's largely because Henry is an artist and a dreamer. As the head guy he always took the brunt of our parents' discipline. He was expected to do everything right, and for the most part he did. But at the same time, being a dreamer, he didn't want to be in control of the younger kids, so he handed that responsibility to me.

LINDA

On Saturdays we had to get up and do chores. I think our parents' philosophy was that if we were busy we'd be too tired to get into trouble. So, they pushed us to study, to be involved in sports, and, on Saturday mornings, to do chores around the house. Mom would go into the kitchen at some ungodly hour and quite literally rattle the pots and pans as an alarm clock, and then Loretta would act as the overseer, checking to make sure we weren't goofing off, then reporting back on our performance! That's why she was the Warden.

LORETTA

I was the one with white gloves. I did my own chores, but I also had to make sure everyone else stayed in line.

LINDA

We didn't actually rebel, but revenge was sometimes exacted on her. We knew, for example, that Loretta was deathly afraid of June bugs, so we'd place them on her face while she was asleep or tangle them in her hair, and then watch as she screamed and Dad held her down, trying to pull each of them out.

LORETTA

Initially, my role was to help prevent chaos, account for everybody, and keep the home orderly, because my mother had so many things to do. But eventually, as I began experiencing things that our parents had never experienced, I turned into a sort of advance scout for the younger siblings.

For example, right from the start our parents wanted all of their kids to go to college, but when I had to decide which college to attend, Dad said it should be USC, where Henry was already going. The reason? "They have a good football team!" He had no idea about choosing a college based on our interests and what classes were being offered. He could only relate to it in the way that he knew. I didn't know much either, because my school counselors hardly acknowledged that I'd even make it to college.

There was no one to advise me which place would be best suited to what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it, whereas by the time Linda got to that same point and was thinking of applying to Cal State Fullerton, I said, "What are you talking about? You can go to Cal Berkeley, you can go to Brown University, you can go to Harvard." She said, "But I'm not smart enough to get into those colleges," to which I rolled my eyes and responded, "You're smart enough to get into all of those colleges! It's just a matter of what you want to study." I asked her what she liked about school, and after that, I gave her a list of about ten...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Grand Central Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0446508047
• ISBN 13: 9780446508049
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland