|
| Affiliation | Democratic |
|
| Name | Cruz M. Bustamante |
| Address |
San Joaquin, California , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | http://www.ltg.ca.gov/ |
| Born |
January 04, 1953
(71 years)
|
| Contributor | *crickets chirp* |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Dec 18, 2023 12:14am |
| Tags |
Hispanic - Catholic -
|
| Info | Cruz M. Bustamante is the eldest of the six children raised by Cruz and Dominga Bustamante in the small Central Valley town of San Joaquin, California. "My mother made sure we understood how to behave," Cruz says, "and my father taught us the value of hard work as he held down two jobs, sometimes three, to keep us clothed, fed and in school. My wife, Arcelia, and I have followed what we learned from our parents to raise our own three children."
Cruz went to school, worked in the fields and studied to be a butcher. He dreamed about becoming a doctor. But a summer internship in Washington D.C., working for a Congressman, changed the direction of his life. "I was given a stack of letters from constituents, instructed to answer their questions and find solutions to their problems," Cruz recalls. "As I did the research and fought with federal agencies on behalf of the people back home, I knew I had found my calling. I loved helping to make government work for people. I found out I was a lot better at cutting red tape than I was at cutting meat."
Cruz's rise from the fields of California's Central Valley to his elections as an Assemblyman, Speaker of the Assembly and then California's Lieutenant Governor was, "…the direct result of the lessons I learned about work, honesty and loyalty from my family and my community. I worked hard. I took advantage of opportunity when it came my way. And I benefited immensely from all of those who preceded me in the constant struggle for fairness, equality and opportunity that has allowed working-class kids like me to pursue the American dream."
In the Legislature and the Lieutenant Governor's office, Cruz has focused on education, the environment, health care and consumer protection issues. He worked with Republicans and Democrats to reduce class sizes in California schools, to enact a $1.7 billion middle-class tax cut, to reform welfare and to lower student fees at state universities and colleges.
Cruz wrote the law that provided $1 billion to put updated textbooks into California classrooms. When the state's Attorney General refused to participate in the multi-state litigation efforts against tobacco companies, Cruz wrote the law that forced him to join those cases. While others argued over what to do about the energy crisis, Cruz sued the energy companies that were gouging California consumers and sponsored legislation to make their activities a crime. As Chair of the State Lands Commission, Cruz used his authority to shut down an offshore oil operation that threatened California's coast.
At his first press conference as the first Latino Speaker in California, a reporter asked Cruz if he had a ". . . radical ethnic agenda."
"I told him that, although we come from different backgrounds, we all have the same agenda:
* Good schools so our kids can grow up to be anything they want;
* Safe and clean neighborhoods so our kids can walk to school or play in the front yard without fear of crime or hazards to their health;
* Decent jobs so we can take care of our families; and
* An opportunity for every person to make the most of their God-given talents.
That's not an ethnic agenda. . . that's an American agenda!"
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