GOP Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, was one of Thursday’s CPAC 2011 speakers. Here’s a summary of his speech.

Fortuño said his electoral victories proved that the GOP could win over Hispanic voters. He stated that the GOP must act positive and optimistic, to show that “our brightest days are ahead.” Fortuño holds the distinction of being the first Republican to be elected Governor of Puerto Rico since 1969.

Fortuño discussed some of his impressive accomplishments. He had inherited a $3.3 billion budget deficit as Governor, but he has managed to cut Puerto Rican government spending by 20% in the past two years. He froze public salaries and cut his own salary by 10%. He reduced the number of government agencies. He doesn’t want government red tape to get in the way of entrepreneurship and job creation. Thanks to Fortuño’s efforts, Puerto Rico’s bond ratings are now their highest in 35 years. Naturally, he was proud of how he has reformed Puerto Rico’s government.

Fortuño has pushed the largest tax cuts in PR history. He believes a dollar in your hand will be spent more wisely than your dollar in the government’s hands. His advice to the new GOP majorities in Congress is “to make the tough cuts early and stick to them with courage”.

He asserted that Hispanics are actually conservative; that they’re Republican but just don’t know it.

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