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September 21, 2011

 

 

Congressional Portuguese American Caucus Members

Send Letter to Secretary of State Clinton

In Opposition to Closing the  

American Consulate in Ponta Delgada

 

 

Congressional Portuguese American Caucus Members Rep. Dennis Cardoza (Co-Chair), Rep. David Cicilline, Rep. Jim Costa (Co-Chair), Rep. Barney Frank, and Rep. James Langevin were joined by Rep. Stephen Lynch on a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in opposition to closing the American Consulate in Ponta Delgada, on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.

 

Important Points Included in the Letter

  • There is a large Portuguese American population, composed largely of people of Azorean descent, stretching from Southeastern Massachusetts through Rhode Island and into Connecticut. There is also a very significant population of Portuguese Americans, including many of Azorean heritage, in California, especially in the Central Valley. Economic, cultural and personal ties between this very large group of Portuguese Americans and the Azores are very strong, reinforced by the presence of one of the U.S.' most important American military installations, the Air Base at Lajes on the Island of Terceira.
  • It is important to economize, but closing the consulate in Ponta Delgada, given the great distance that exists between the Azores and the rest of Portugal, would be an enormous hardship for the hundreds of thousands of Portuguese Americans who rely on the consulate as an important part of their communication with the country to which they feel a very strong attachment. The Azorean Consulate is 1,000 miles away from the Portuguese mainland, so shutting this consulate down would be a great loss felt deeply by people of Portuguese American descent who live in the U.S.
  • The Consulate in Ponta Delgada performs other vital functions besides visa programs - specifically improving economic ties between the U.S. and the Azores, to the mutual benefit of both entities. It is also the case that the legislation adopted in 1996, providing for a great increase in deportations, has led there to be a large number of people with families in America who were sent to the Azores and for whom the consulate is an important contact point for those families seeking to stay in touch with loved ones.

Please contact your Representative and Senators and let them know of your opposition to closing the American Consulate in Ponta Delgada. If your Member of Congress is one of the six who signed the letter to Secretary of State Clinton, please call/email to thank them for their efforts.

 

US Senate Contact Information:    

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm  

 

House of Representatives Contact Information:    

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml  


Sign-on Letter 


If you would like a PDF of the letter, please contact NOPA and info@nopa-us.org, and we can email the document to you.

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If you have any questions about federal policy and proposed legislation, please contact NOPA's Government Affairs Team at info@nopa-us.org or 703-389-3512.

 

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