Congressional Hispanic Conference

The Congressional Hispanic Conference (CHC) is a Republican Party-controlled caucus in the United States Congress. Currently with 13 members, the CHC was formed in 2003, with the stated goal of promoting policy outcomes of importance to Americans of Hispanic or Latino and Portuguese descent. These priorities included support of the following: then-President George W. Bush and American troops in the war against terrorism; the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA); tax relief to families and the over two million Hispanic- and Portuguese-owned small businesses; support for faith based initiatives; and, educational choice for all. The impetus behind the Conference's creation was the debate surrounding the nomination of conservative lawyer Miguel Estrada to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The Congressional Hispanic Conference should not be confused with the older Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is another congressional organization populated by Democratic congress members.

In the mid to late 1990s, the Republican members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – Mexican-American Henry Bonilla of Texas and Cuban-Americans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida – left the Caucus in protest over its support for improved relations with Cuba. While Ros-Lehtinen remained an active member of the CHC's public outreach arm, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Caucus has since been composed solely of Democratic and Democratic-caucusing independent legislators.

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