Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO presented information on the representation of Hispanics in the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) region VIII.

GAO found that: (1) the region's employment of Hispanics exceeded the Hispanic representation in the Rocky Mountain civilian labor force (CLF) in 1991; (2) in September 1991, the region's Hispanic representation was 11.5 percent, excluding Indian Health Service (IHS) employees, which exceeded the regional 1990 CLF rate of 6.5 percent; (3) in 1990, Hispanic women were underrepresented in region VIII professional positions grades 13 through 15, and in 1991, only one Hispanic woman was hired within that grade range; and (4) Hispanic representation increased 25 percent from the end of fiscal year (FY) 1989 to the end of FY 1991.