PALCUS was founded with the objective of serving as the singular national voice for the Portuguese-American community in Washington, DC. Through its intervention, PALCUS was instrumental in the establishment of the Portuguese-American Caucus in the House of Representatives and the Friends of Portugal in the Senate.

Portuguese-American Caucus in the House of Representatives:

The Portuguese-American Caucus was established in 1995 with 38 congressmen.  It was founded by Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (RI1-D) and co-chaired with Congressman Richard Pombo (CA11-R) until Pombo left office in 2007.

The Caucus has been continuously active since 1995 shown by the numerous initiatives it has championed; for example, the Dual Taxation Agreement (1996), the Visa Waiver Program (1999), sanctions against Indonesia regarding the violence in East Timor (1999), numerous Portuguese language initiatives including the attempt to add Portuguese to the College Board’s SAT-II and Advanced Placement Curriculum (2005), the Portuguese Village at the Concordia Language Village in Minnesota (2008) and the fight on the House floor for the congressional grant supporting the new Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rhode Island College (2007).

With Congressman Kennedy’s retirement from office in January, 2011, PALCUS worked to renew the registration of the Caucus under the leadership of Congressmen Dennis Cardoza and Congressman Jim Costa of California as well as with Congressional representation from East Coast districts.

Through its research efforts, PALCUS continues to work to identify congressmen serving districts with high Portuguese-American populations

Friends of Portugal in the Senate

Friends of Portugal was created to serve as the parallel body of supporters of Portuguese-American issues in the U.S. Senate. Co-chaired by Senator Ben Nighthourse Campbell (CO-R) until 2005 and Senator Jack Reed (RI-D), the Friends have traditionally represented the most populous Portuguese-American states of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Contact your congressman or senator

PALCUS encourages you to make your voice heard on issues important to you. Use the links below to contact your representative in the House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate.

House of Representatives: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

U.S. Senate:  http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm