Laredo student participates in Congressional Internaship Program

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the nation's premier Hispanic youth leadership development and educational organization, is hosting Eduardo Gonzalez of Laredo, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, along with 29 other university students from across the United States for its nationally recognized and highly competitive Congressional Internship Program.

The CHCI interns are assigned to Congressional offices on Capitol Hill for eight weeks from June to August to learn first-hand about the nation's legislative process and issues pending before the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

"As a journalism student, this internship allows me to understand how the American political system works," Gonzalez said, CHCI GE Hispanic Forum Intern. "I consistently write stories about how the implementation of certain laws may affect the population, but now I will have the opportunity to actually partake in the process of legislation."

Gonzalez is majoring in journalism and Latin American studies and is currently placed with the Office of Congressman Henry Cuellar.

The 2010 class of CHCI summer interns represents 12 different Hispanic ethnic backgrounds and is pursuing 16 different fields of study for their bachelor's degrees.

"This year's summer interns represent the most diverse class we've ever had at CHCII," said Esther Aguilera, CHCI president and CEO. "CHCI is committed to providing unmatched public policy experience and leadership training for Hispanic youth to develop and strengthen the civic dedication of talented Hispanic professionals and our nation’s future leaders."

Interns are responsible for conducting extensive legislative research, monitoring day-to-day hearings, managing constituent communications and assisting with general policy matters. Additionally, interns participate in weekly CHCI leadership development sessions, engage in policy discussions and meet with corporate representatives, national elected officials and foreign dignitaries.

CHCI's internship program provides all participants with housing, roundtrip transportation to and from Washington, D.C. and a $2,500 stipend. All of this is possible through longstanding support from Comcast Foundation, AstraZeneca, Time Warner Cable, PepsiCo Foundation, Hyundai Motor America, David Bohnett Foundation, General Electric Hispanic Forum and Southwest Airlines - the official airline of the Congressional Internship Program.

To complete the program, participants are also required to work on a collaborative community service project that serves the local Washington, D.C. ,metropolitan area. For this year's community service project, interns helped build a new home for low-income residents in partnership with Hyundai Motor America and Habitat for Humanity.