Romney Campaign Press Release - Mitt Romney Announces Hispanic Steering Committee

Mitt Romney today announced his national Hispanic Steering Committee.

"President Obama's policies have been especially devastating to Hispanic families. Over 2.5 million Hispanics are unemployed today, with the unemployment rate at 11% for Hispanics," said Mitt Romney. "President Obama does not understand that what makes our country great is our people, not the government. These leaders understand that for our economy to recover, we must free the entrepreneurial spirit that made this the greatest nation in the history of the Earth."

Announcing the Hispanic Steering Committee, former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said, "Throughout his life, Mitt Romney has demonstrated the values that we are looking for in our next President. Whether as a business leader, head of the Olympics or governor, Mitt Romney has used conservative principles to turn around tough situations. We need a president who can do the same for our economy and country." 

"The next election is the most important in decades," said former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez. "Whether we replace President Obama with a true conservative will have ramifications perhaps for generations. Mitt Romney's strategy for a 'Smaller, Simpler, Smarter' government will help get government out of the way of the private sector and allow for small businesses to do what they do best: create jobs."

Members of Mitt Romney's National Hispanic Steering Committee:

Sec. Carlos Gutierrez (Honorary Co-Chair) —Served As Secretary Of Commerce From 2005 To 2009; Served as Co-Chair of the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba; President and CEO of the Kellogg Company.

Sen. Mel Martinez (Honorary Co-Chair) —Represented Florida In The U.S. Senate From 2005 To 2009; Served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Prior to his election to the Senate, Martinez was Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President George W. Bush. Previously, he practiced law in Florida.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Co-Chair) — Represents Florida's 18th district and is currently the Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee; Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is the most senior Republican woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Co-Chair) — Represents Florida's 21st District in the U.S. Congress; Founding members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Served in both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He was elected in 2002.

Former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (Co-Chair) —Represented Florida's 21st District In The U.S. Congress From 1993 Until 2011; Vice-Chairman of the House Rules Committee; Currently the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. 

Jose Fuentes (Co-Chair) — Former Attorney General of Puerto Rico; Former Surrogate and Co-Chair Bush-Cheney 2000 and 2004; Chairman, Eastport Strategies LLC.

Hector Barreto (Co-Chair) — Chairman of the Board of The Latino Coalition; President/CEO of Barreto Associates; Former Administrator of the United States Small Business Administration 2001-2006.

Zoraida Fonalledas — National Committeewoman, Republican Party of Puerto Rico; Chair, Romney Campaign in Puerto Rico; Bush-Cheney '00-'04 Co-Chair; RNC Budget Committee '00-'06; Order of Malta (2000).

Bertica Cabrera Morris — Native of Cuba, has been in Orlando since 1978; Owner of Bertica Cabrera Morris Consulting, a business and governmental relations company; Chairman, Marco Rubio I-4 corridor campaign; Senior Advisor to Mitt Romney campaign.

Jorge Arrizurieta —President of Arrizurieta and Associates; Past president of Florida Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA);  Appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the United States Alternate Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank; Served as an appointee of Governor Jeb Bush to the State of Florida's Board of Governors.

R. Alexander Acosta —Presently Dean of the College of Law at FIU in Miami, formerly U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (2005-2009), Assistant Attorney General (2004-2005) and Member, National Labor Relations Board (2003-2004).

Anna Escobedo Cabral — Anna Escobedo Cabral - Served as the 42nd Treasurer of the United States, Executive Staff Director for the United States Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs, Deputy Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, President and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility and Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Latino Initiatives.  Ms. Cabral received a BA in political science from the University of California, Davis, a Master's Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in International Trade and Finance from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Law Degree from George Mason University. 

Remedios Diaz Oliver — President of All American Containers, Inc;  Former member of the Board of Directors of Avon Products, Inc., and Barnett Bank (Bank of America); Member of the Board of Directors of The Round Table, American Cancer Society, Cuban Liberty Council, U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC, The Florida Council of 100 and Emeritus Director of U.S. West Inc in Denver; Appointed in 1988 as a member of the Advisory Board Trade Policy, Negotiations and International Policy for the President of the United States and reappointed in 1992. 

Rafael Elias Linero — Active member of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), a registered Republican, and the Founder of Political Analysis and Economic Studies, LLC;  Holds a Masters Degree in Public and Private Management (MPPM 1995) from Yale University and has worked as a financial, economic and political analyst in firms such as Credit Suisse, ING, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and currently Credit Agricole CIB.

Rudy Fernandez — Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, The White House 2005-2007; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation 2005; Regional Political Director for Southwestern states, Bush-Cheney 04; Director of Grassroots Development for the Republican National Committee 2002-03.

Sharon Castillo — Managing Director, CLS & Associates (2005-Present); Director of Specialty Media & Spokesperson, Bush-Cheney '04 (2003-2004); RNC Deputy Director of Communications (2001-2003); Washington, DC Bureau Manager, Telemundo Network (1998-2001).

Sal Gomez — Owner of Source One Management; awarded the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the National Society of Hispanic MBA's ; received a lifetime achievement award from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and in 2009; Founded the National Business Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) in 2005; Co-Founder of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Michael Barrera — Attorney with over 30 years of business, legal, non-profit and government experience; Served as President of the Business Information Clearinghouse; served as President and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Allen Gutierrez — Founder of The MCA Group based out of Southern California;  Former Chief Operating Officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Senior Advisor to the Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration as well as the Senior Advisor to the Office of International Trade.

Steve Galvan — Principal at Galvan and Associates, LLC an Illinois firm; received five presidential appointments to the Executive Office of the President at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and then at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

James Campos —Director of Government Relations & Renewable Energy Initiatives for the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) July 2009 to September; Formerly the Commissioner of the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division.

Jeanette Prenger —President and Owner of ECCO Select, an IT consulting and human capital firm and one of the top 500 Hispanic Businesses in the United States; Appointee of the governor to the Missouri Workforce Investment Board; Commissioner for Mayor James on the Citizens Commission on Revenue.

Aner Iglesias — Operator of chain of supermarkets; member of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, the Unified

Grocers Committee, the Mexican-American Grocers Association and the  American Grocers Association; past board of director of the Ronald McDonald House of Los Angeles

Jerry Natividad —Founder and CEO of American Facility Services Group;  Former chair of the Colorado Republican Hispanic Assembly; Former board member of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and has served on the board of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Hector Barajas —Communications director for the California Senate Republican Leader and Caucus, the California Victory 2008 campaign, Spanish media spokesman for the Republican National Committee, the McCain/Palin '08, and Bush/Cheney '04 presidential campaigns.  Today, Hector is the Director of Communications for Revolvis Consulting and is a political analyst for Univision and Telemundo. 

Michael Zajur —  Founder, VAHCC Foundation to provide education, information and resources to the Community;  Chair of the Virginia Latino Advisory Board; Recipient, National Conference of Community Justices Humanitarian Award, the Minority Small Business Champion Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Cici Rojas — Former President and CEO of the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Former President and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Alfonso Pino, M.D. — Founded an anesthesiology group which currently serves eleven Dallas area hospitals and surgery centers and cares for over 8000 patients annually; Founder and President of a management and investment company; Founded a medical practice management consulting company, a convenience care clinic company, a preventive medicine clinic and, most recently, Nucleus Healthcare Group, an anesthesiology outsourcing company;  Served in local business organizations, including serving as Vice Chairman of the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.