Current Position: U.S. Representative (since January 1993)
Credit: Alfredo Duarte Pereira/
El Tiempo Latino
Why She Matters
With one of the most liberal voting records in the House, Velazquez, who chairs the House Small Business Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, represents a shift in power in the 111th Congress in favor of the Democratic Party’s more progressive wing.
Currently serving her 17th year in the House, Velazquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, has long been considered an effective advocate for small-business interests and a national leader in the Latino community. She is especially adept at linking the interests of small businesses to those of Hispanics with discussions of minority-owned small businesses and the broader economic benefits of immigration reform.
Velazquez can also be seen as representative of the increasing influence of the New York Congressional delegation, many members of which she has worked closely with in the past. Elected in 1992 in a highly- competitive race with the help of former New York Mayor David Dinkins (D) and his allies, Velazquez has proven to be a winner at the rough-and-tumble game of New York political alliances. Though she split from the local Democratic machine in her early career, Velazquez has since risen to such a powerful position in New York politics that she was once considered the front-runner among the candidates to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate.
Perhaps because of her ability to forge alliances at home and in the House, Velazquez has proven immune to changes that some thought would signal her political decline such as the redrawing of the district’s boundaries in 1997 to include fewer Latinos, and the gradual decline of the Puerto Rican population in New York, among others.
She was elected chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in November 2008. Representing Hispanics in Congress, Velzaquez will function as an important bridge to President Obama, who has not always had a close relationship with the key voting bloc.
At a Glance
Current Position: House Small Business Comittee chairwoman (since January 2007); Chairwoman, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (since January 2009)
Career History: Director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States (1986 to 1992); New York City Council member (1984 to 1985); Special Assistant to Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) (1983)
Birthday: March 28, 1953
Hometown: Yacuboa, Puerto Rico
Alma Mater: University of Puerto Rico, B.A. 1974; New York University, M.A. 1976
Spouse: Paul Bader
Religion: Roman Catholic
Committees: committees...
DC Office: 2466 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20510, 202-225-0327
District Offices: Brooklyn, 718-599-3658; Lower East Side, 212-673-3997; Southwest Brooklyn, 718-222-5819
Email
Website
Path to Power
Velazquez was born in Yabucoa, a small town in Puerto Rico surrounded by sugar-cane fields. One of a family of nine children, she advanced quickly in school and at the age of 16 enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. When she graduated in 1974 with a degree in political science, she became the first member of her family to earn a college diploma.
A graduate-school scholarship at New York University brought Velazquez to New York where she earned an M.A. in 1976 and a few years later taught Puerto Rican studies at City University of New York-Hunter. Her political career began in 1983 with a job working for Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-N.Y.), then a newly-elected member of the U.S. House. A year later, Velazquez became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the New York City Council through an interim appointment.
U.S. House
After several years working for Puerto Rico’s government offices in New York, Velazquez was elected to the House when the majority-Hispanic12th Congressional District was created in 1992.She upset House veteran Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.) and beat out another Hispanic candidate, Elizabeth Colon, to win the Democratic primary.Velazquez’s win was attributed in part to her alliance with Mayor Dinkins, who she had helped to election two years previously, and his supporters, including the influential health-care workers union.
In 1997, New York’s 12th Congressional district was redrawn after federal judges declared it unconstitutional, saying race was the primary factor in its original formation. The redrawing expanded the district in Brooklyn while shrinking it in Queens, with the result that the new district had a smaller Hispanic population – 48 percent as opposed to 58 percent – and there was speculation that Velazquez would face a more competitive election in 1998. But with solid fundraising and grassroots operations in place, Velazquez proved invulnerable.
Small Business Chairwoman
After serving as the ranking minority member on the House Small Business Committee from 1998 to 2007, Velazquez took over as chair when the Democrats regained the majority in the House after the 2006 midterm elections.
The Issues
According to National Journal’s 2008 vote rankings, an annual analysis which classifies members of Congress based on their roll-call votes on economic, social, and foreign affairs issues, Velazquez is one of the 12 most liberal lawmakers in the House. She has voted 99.3 percent of the time with the Democratic Party so far in the 111th Congress.
The Economy and Small Business
Even as the ranking minority member on the Small Business Committee, Velazquez oversaw significant legislative achievements such as the passage of a bill after Sept. 11, 2001, that secured $550 million in Community Development Block Grant aid for New York businesses impacted by the terrorist attacks on the city. She exposed a significant amount of misconduct in which the federal government counted contracts with small divisions of larger companies as “small business” loans. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Velazquez revealed that the Small Business Administration was rejecting more than 80 percent of loan applicants referred by the Federak Emergency Management Agency, a disclosure that resulted in the resignation of SBA Director Hector Barreto.
When she became chair of the Small Business committee in 2007, Velazquez saw the passage of 17 bills aimed at helping small businesses. This is part of the reason US News and World Report named Velazquez one of its top 25 “Influencers” in March 2008 – the most important people, trends and events in the business world for the coming year. Paul Miller, a small-business lobbyist with Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, said, “If you’re looking for a true small-business advocate, Nydia Velázquez is the number-one name.” Her profile should only be raised as the Obama administration looks for ways to help the struggling U.S. economy.
Aside from her work for small businesses, Velazquez has also been active on other economic issues. She voted with the rest of her party for the $800 billion federal stimulus package that passed in February 2009. Of particular interest to her constituents, she also passed a bill in 2008 to extend the eligibility window for able-bodied adults without dependents [ABAWDs] to receive food stamps.
Hispanic Issues and Immigration
Velazquez has also become an important local and national leader for the Hispanic community, often connecting her advocacy for Hispanics with the interests of small businesses. In 2003, Hispanic Business Magazine named her its first “Woman of the Year” for her support of minority small-business owners.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which Velazquez now chairs, met with President Barack Obama in March 2009 to discuss immigration reform. Though it is unclear what specific changes the Caucus will pursue, Velazquez argued that fixing the immigration system will boost the economy. “Bringing our nation’s 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and putting their hard work on the books will increase the tax base across the board. And with nearly 17 percent of all new small businesses owned by immigrants, this hard-working population can help lead our economy out of this recession,” she said.
Velazquez has been a long-time supporter of more lenient immigration laws. In April 2006, she marched in a Brooklyn protest of proposed restrictions on immigration, echoing the chant, “Si se puede!” or “Yes, it can be done!” She added, “We should not be in the business of criminalizing undocumented immigrants.” Velazquez has also often been vocal about issues related to Puerto Rico. While she once favored statehood, she now supports a continuation of the commonwealth status.
The Network
Over the years, Velazquez has become an important (and sometimes unpopular) figure in New York politics, endorsing and supporting many younger Hispanic politicians. She has also remained a close ally of one-time employer Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-N.Y.), now the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In her early years in the House, Velazquez ran afoul of the local Democratic establishment because of endorsements of unsuccessful or controversial candidates.
Along with the other members of the New York congressional delegation, Velazquez enthusiastically supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, and even after Obama had cinched the nomination, she suggested that he would have an easier time winning voting blocs like Hispanics if he named Clinton as his running mate.
After Clinton was tapped by Obama for Secretary of State, Velazquez was at one point considered a leading candidate to replace Clinton in the Senate. In December 2008, however, a month before Gov. David Patterson (D-N.Y.) named conservative Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to the seat, Velazquez withdrew her name from consideration. “While I have been proud and humbled to be considered, I have decided to stay” in the House, she said.
