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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