Nydia Velázquez

Political Party: Democratic Party

District: New York's 7th Congressional District

Biography

Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano was born on March 28, 1953, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, a small town in the sugar-cane fields. She was one of nine children born to Don Benito Velázquez, a sugarcane cutter, and Doña Serrano Velázquez. Her parents worked multiple jobs to support the family, including selling Puerto Rican pasteles to field workers and operating a cinder block manufacturing business. Velázquez was the first member of her family to receive a college diploma.

Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress. She made additional history in 1998 when she became the first Hispanic woman to serve as Ranking Member of a full House committee, and in 2006 when she became the first Latina to chair a full Congressional committee.

Education

Velázquez started school early and skipped several grades. She entered the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras at age 16 and graduated magna cum laude in 1974 with a degree in political science. She then earned a master's degree on scholarship from New York University.

Political Experience

After earning her master's degree, Velázquez taught Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College in New York City beginning in 1981. In 1983, she was appointed Special Assistant to Congressman Edolphus Towns. One year later, in 1984, she became the first Latina appointed to serve on the New York City Council.

From 1986 to 1989, Velázquez served as the national director of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources' Migration Division Office. In 1989, the Puerto Rico governor named her director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States. During this role, she pioneered the Atrévete program , one of the most successful Latino empowerment and voter registration initiatives in the nation's history.

In 1992, Velázquez was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and has been re-elected consistently by margins of 80 percent or more. She previously represented New York's 12th Congressional District from 1993 to 2013, prior to redistricting. She currently serves as Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee and is a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and the House Committee on Natural Resources. She also chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 2009 to 2011.