Marie Watteau
(202) 785-1670
Luke A. Dickinson
(202) 261-2866

Jan 25, 2008

Washington, DC – On Thursday, January 31 at 9:30 a.m., the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) will hold a press conference at the National Press Club to discuss a documented surge in hate speech and violence that surrounds the immigration debate. Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO, will call for an “intervention,” challenging candidates and the media to end rhetoric that demonizes immigrants and Hispanic Americans.

Murguía will share specific examples of how cable television networks have “aided and abetted” the promotion of hate groups through their programming and how media commentators themselves have parroted hate speech over the airwaves. She will address how hate speech has infiltrated the presidential primary debate and call on all candidates and those covering them to distance themselves from hate groups and the hate speech they propagate.

Her comments will also address the impact that hate speech is having on Latino voters and the potential consequence this may have on the 2008 presidential elections and beyond.

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:	NCLR press conference to call for intervention to take hate speech out of the immigration debate
WHO:	Janet Murguía – NCLR President and CEO Cecilia Muñoz – NCLR Senior Vice President
WHERE:	National Press Club – First Amendment Lounge 529 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20045
WHEN:	Thursday, January 31, 2008 9:30-11:00 a.m.
CONTACT:	For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Marie Watteau at (202) 785-1670 (mwatteau@nclr.org) or Luke A. Dickinson at (202) 261-2866 (luke.dickinson@mslpr.com).

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BIOS

Janet Murguía – President and CEO
National Council of La Raza

Janet Murguía has emerged as a key figure among the next generation of leaders in the Latino community. Since January 1, 2005, she has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.

Murguía began her career in Washington, DC as legislative counsel to former Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery, serving for seven years. She then worked at the White House from 1994 to 2000, ultimately serving as deputy assistant to President Clinton, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president on key issues. She served as deputy director of legislative affairs, managing the legislative staff and acting as a senior White House liaison to Congress.

She then served as deputy campaign manager and director of constituency outreach for the Gore/Lieberman presidential campaign. In that role, she was the primary liaison between former Vice President Gore and national constituency groups. She also served as a spokesperson for the campaign, working with radio, print, and TV media outlets.

In 2001, Murguía joined the University of Kansas (KU) as Executive Vice Chancellor for University Relations, overseeing KU’s internal and external relations with the public, including governmental and public affairs. Murguía coordinated the university's strategic planning and marketing efforts at the four KU campuses with those of the Alumni Association, the Athletics Corporation, and the Endowment Association.

Murguía has served on NCLR’s Board of Directors and on the Kauffman Foundation Youth Development Board. She is currently a board member of the Independent Sector, a coalition of leading nonprofits, foundations, and corporations committed to connecting, informing, and advocating on behalf of the nonprofit and philanthropic community. She also sits on the Board of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. In addition, Murguía is an executive committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and a member of the Merrill Lynch Diversity & Inclusion Council.

In 2007, Murguía was named to Poder magazine’s “The Poderosos 100,” Latino Leaders

magazine’s “101 Top Leaders of the Hispanic Community,” and Hispanic magazine’s “Powerful Latinos 2007.” In 2006, Murguía was name to Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington,” The NonProfit Times’ “Power and Influence Top 50” leaders, and People En Español’s “100 Most Influential Hispanics 2006.” Hispanic Business magazine named Murguía as a finalist for its 2005 “Woman of the Year Award,” and in 2004, Hispanic magazine chose her for its annual list of "100 Top Latinas" and Hispanic Business magazine selected her as one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics."

Janet Murguía grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. She received three degrees from KU: a B.S. degree in journalism (1982), a B.A. degree in Spanish (1982), and a J.D. degree (1985) from the School of Law.

Cecilia Muñoz
Senior Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation
National Council of La Raza

Cecilia Muñoz is Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation, National Council of La Raza (NCLR). She supervises all legislative and advocacy activities conducted by NCLR policy staff covering a variety of issues of importance to Latinos, including civil rights, employment, poverty, farmworker issues, education, housing, and immigration. Her particular area of expertise is immigration policy; she started at NCLR as a Senior Immigration Policy Analyst in 1988.

Ms. Muñoz represents NCLR before the media, Congress, and policy-makers in Washington. She has testified numerous times before Congress and appears regularly in the Spanish- and English-language media. Her media credits include the Today Show, Good Morning America, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Dateline NBC, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, and National Public Radio.

Ms. Muñoz serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Appleseed Foundation. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Center for Community Change.

Ms. Muñoz is the daughter of immigrants from Bolivia and was born in Detroit, Michigan. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. In June 2000, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in recognition of her work on immigration and civil rights. In 2007, she served as the Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She has received numerous other awards and recognitions from various sources, including the government of Mexico, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Ayuda (a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization), Farmworker Justice, and CARECEN of Long Island.