Government Relations 

As the national Portuguese-American organization, PALCUS has a special relationship with the United States government, as well as with Portuguese governmental entities. 

PALCUS works directly with the community to identify its needs creating plans and implementation strategies to promote its growth and prosperity.

Here are some issues PALCUS has been involved in:

Meeting with Staffers on Capitol Hill

On September 9th Executive Committee member Fernando G. Rosa and Associate Director Paulo Araújo spent a day on the Hill to meet with staffers from the Congressional offices of Devin Nunes (CA-21), Jim Costa (CA-20) and Patrick Kennedy (RI-1). It served to re-introduce the staffers to PALCUS’ activities (including the Gala in California) and to get an update on the Visa Waiver program, deportation issues, and possible immigration law reform. It was also an opportunity to introduce the Associate Director to new staffers. We asked that PALCUS be kept informed on the number of issues that might affect the Portuguese speaking community, while offering an open door to whenever Congress may need help from the organization

AFRICOM

As a result of Director Rosa and Mr. Araujo’s visit to the Hill, Congressman Nunes’ staff brought to our attention the letter that was sent to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates requesting that he consider the base in the Azores as the location for the headquarters of AFRICOM (United States Africa Command). Temporarily located in Germany, it could be moved to the Lajes air base. A possible move to the Azores would not necessarily be a difficult process. PALCUS is writing a letter of support be sent to Congressman Nunes and the Secretary of Defense.

House Resolution 1438

On September 22nd House Resolution 1438 was passed by the Committee on the Judiciary. This resolution was signed commemorating the 50th year of the Azorean Refugee Act of 1958. Congressman Nunes’ office took the lead in the sponsoring and drafting of the resolution. For some months now PALCUS’ Associate Director, Paulo Araújo, had been building up a relationship with that office. Due to that link the PALCUS office was contacted in order to help with research on the issue. As such, a portion of the research effort for this resolution came from PALCUS, further showing the importance of the organization on the Hill. At the time of the signing, a delegation of Portuguese parliamentarians of Azorean descent was present. Heading that delegation was the President of the Portuguese Parliament, Jaime Gama. 

On Tuesday, September 23rd the Portuguese parliamentary delegation had lunch in Congress with a number of U.S. Congressmen. Speeches were given by both sides, and different Congressmen engaged in conversation with the Portuguese delegation about the direct relationship between the two countries. The importance of that relationship was reiterated by both sides, as well as the impact that the Capelinhos catastrophe had on the two countries. At the end of the lunch, gifts were exchanged between the two groups. 

Resolution Between Portugal and California

During a recent visit with the Consul General in San Francisco, we discovered that two years ago a protocol was signed between Portugal and the State of California, however nothing has come of this protocol since then. We are in the process of getting a copy of the resolution and investigating why nothing was ever done with this to better relations between the Portuguese community here in California and Portugal. 

Response to President Bush's Comments: "Portuguese....a wasteful project"

A congressional grant proposed by Congressman Patrick Kennedy for seed money for the newly established Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rhode Island College in Providence was described by President Bush as an example of "a wasteful project". PALCUS published a detailed response defending the project, the value of teaching the Portuguese language and culture and the contributions of Portuguese-Americans in the US. A $93,000 grant was awarded to Rhode Island College in May, 2008 for the Institute due in part to PALCUS' swift response published internationally. Treasurer and former Chair Alda Pettiti represented PALCUS at ceremonies with Kennedy at the President's House at RIC.

Inquiry into loss of minority preference for Portuguese-Americans in RI State contracts

A bill introduced in the RI State Senate that would eliminate the quota of Portuguese-American businesses that could qualify for minority preference in state contracts was picked up by the daily scan of issues in the PALCUS office. PALCUS reached out to the Portuguese Caucus of the RI General Assembly to offer its assistance. The bill was rapidly squashed without need of our intervention, however, our connections with RI state legislators were reinforced.