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VP Joe Biden Speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Swearing-In, Says Latino Voters Are “Center of Nation’s Future”

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joe bidenVice President Joe Biden appeared at a ceremonial swearing-in for Latino lawmakers sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute yesterday, and used the opportunity to express his confidence that immigration reform could and would pass through Congress.

“It’s your time,” he told the audience of Latino elected officials, according to ABC News.

In Biden’s other quotes, he highlighted the story of the Latino vote in the 2012 election and how that has led to a sudden Republican “epiphany” on immigration:

In one sense, we have a long way to go, bringing 11 million Hispanics out of the shadows and into the light of day.  What’s different today is that the rest of the nation, the rest of America, recognizes it’s time. It’s your time…

Have you ever seen a time when the Republicans had a more rapid epiphany about immigration than the one they had in this past election? All of the sudden — we’ve got a lot more work to do — but the point is the American people know what their leaders are only figuring out, the awesome potential [of the Latino community]….

[Latino voters are] the center of our nation’s future…if you ignore the needs of the Hispanic people, you will not win.

Later this month, Biden will be sworn in for his second term as Vice President by Sonia Sotomayor, the first-ever Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  In the upcoming Congress, 36 Latinos will serve in the House and Senate—a record-breaking number.