Whereas from September 15, 2018, through October 15, 2018, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month; Whereas the Bureau of the Census estimates the Hispanic population living in the continental United States at over 57,000,000, plus an additional 3,500,000 living in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, making Hispanic Americans almost 18 percent of the total population of the United States and the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the United States; Whereas, in 2016, there were close to 1,000,000 or more Latino residents in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and in each of the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington; Whereas, between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016, Latinos grew the United States population by approximately 1,131,766 individuals, accounting for 1/2 of the total population growth during that period; Whereas, by 2060, the Latino population in the United States is projected to grow to 119,000,000, and the Latino population will comprise more than 28.6 percent of the total United States population; Whereas the Latino population in the United States is currently the third-largest worldwide, exceeding the size of the population in every Latin American and Caribbean country except Mexico and Brazil; Whereas, in 2016, there were more than 18,345,742 Latino children under the age of 18 in the United States, which represents approximately 1/3 of the total Latino population in the United States; Whereas more than 1 in 4 public school students in the United States are Latino, and the ratio of Latino students is expected to rise to nearly 30 percent by 2027; Whereas 19 percent of all college students between the ages of 18 and 24 are Latino, making Latinos the largest racial or ethnic minority group on college campuses in the United States, including 2-year community colleges and 4-year colleges and universities