Nydia M. Velázquez

Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano ( , ; born March 28, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 7th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented New York's 12th congressional district from 1993 to 2013, prior to redistricting. She chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 2009 to 2011. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress.

Early life, education and career

Velázquez was born in Limones, in the municipality of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, on March 28, 1953. She grew up in a small house on the Río Limones with eight siblings. Her mother was Carmen Luisa Serrano Medina. Political discussions in the Velázquez household often centered on workers' rights.

Velázquez attended public schools and skipped three grades as a child.

In 1976, Velázquez received an M.A. in political science from New York University. named Velázquez to fill a vacant seat on the New York City Council, making her the first Hispanic woman to serve on the council.

Puerto Rico Velázquez has been an advocate for human and civil rights of the Puerto Rican people.

In the late 1990s and the 2000s, she was a leader in the Vieques movement, which sought to stop the United States military from using the inhabited island as a bomb testing ground. In May 2000, Velázquez was one of nearly 200 people arrested (including fellow Representative Luis Gutiérrez) for refusing to leave the natural habitat the US military wished to continue using as a bombing range.

Velázquez was ultimately successful: in May 2003, the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility on Vieques Island was closed, and in May 2004, the U.S. Navy's last remaining base on Puerto Rico, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station – which employed 1,000 local contractors and contributed $300 million to the local economy – was closed.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections 1992

Velázquez ran for Congress in the 1992 election, seeking a seat in the New York's newly drawn 12th congressional district, which was drawn as a majority-Hispanic district.

2012

Velázquez, who was redistricted into the 7th congressional district, defeated her challengers to win the Democratic nomination. Her top contributors included Goldman Sachs, the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Tenure

On September 29, 2008, Velázquez voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. On November 19, 2008, she was elected by her peers in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to lead the group in the 111th Congress.

Among Velázquez's firsts are: the first Hispanic woman to serve on the New York City Council; the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress; and the first woman Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee in 1998. She became the first woman to chair the United States House Committee on Small Business in January 2007 as well as the first Hispanic woman to chair a House standing committee.

In September 2024, Velázquez presented a federal bill called the "Mel Law," which guarantees posthumous degrees to students who die before completing their mandatory studies.

In April 2024, Velázquez and nearly 20 other congresspeople voted against supplying offensive weapons that could result in killings of civilians to Israel.

Committee assignments Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit; Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity; Committee on Small Business (Ranking Member) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

Caucus memberships Black Maternal Health Caucus Congressional Equality Caucus Congressional Hispanic Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus Women's Issues Caucus Urban Caucus House Baltic Caucus Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Climate Solutions Caucus Medicare for All Caucus Blue Collar Caucus Rare Disease Caucus United States–China Working Group

Velázquez was formerly a member of the Congressional Out of Iraq Caucus.

Electoral history

Personal life Velázquez, also known as "la luchadora", married Brooklyn-based printer Paul Bader in 2000. It was her second marriage. In 2010, Velázquez and Bader were in the process of divorce.

In October 1992, during her first campaign for the House, an unknown person at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan anonymously faxed to the press Velázquez's hospital records pertaining to a suicide attempt in 1991. At a subsequent press conference, Velázquez acknowledged that she had attempted suicide that year while suffering from clinical depression. The lawsuit was settled in 1997.

Velázquez is Catholic.