Congressional Archive – The Lucile & Edward R Roybal Foundation

Edward R. Roybal

In his 30 industrious years on Capitol Hill, Edward R. Roybal rose to power by shaping legislation on behalf of the underprivileged. Serving the sick and the elderly, nonprofits, and non-native English speakers, Roybal never seemed to waver from the progressive course he first set as a member of the Los Angeles city council. A co-founder of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and its first chairman, Roybal was among the country’s most influential Hispanic politicians. Later, as chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee, he underwrote many of the most important federal programs, making him one of the most influential Members of the House. “If we don’t invest in the Hispanic population today,” he cautioned in 1987, “we will pay the consequences tomorrow.”¹Learn more

^{Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives}

_{¹George Ramos, “Edward R. Roybal, 1916–2005: Pioneer in Latino Politics in Los Angeles,” 26 October 2005, Los Angeles Times: A1.}