It is my hope that the proposed Committee on Opportunities for Spanishspeaking People will help assure that the benefits of Federal programs reach the communities of our Spanishspeaking citizens and will assist these communities in surmounting the difficulties they face. Much of the Puerto Rican community of New York State. especially in New York City. is acutely poverty impacted. suffering from low income. widespread unemployment. inferior education. dilapidated housing. and inadequate health facilities. Additional burdens of discrimination. immigrant status. and a foreign native tongue merely add to their plight. In 1960. 18.7 percent of all those living in poverty in New York City were Puerto Rican. while only 7.9 percent of the total population of the city were Puerto Rican. According to a 1969 report of the New York State Division of Human Rights entitled "Puerto Ricans in New York State." in 1966 the estimated median family income for all families in New York City was $6.684. but for Puerto Rican families it was only $3.839.
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immigrant