Nominee's Background:
Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez has made history several times during her tenure in Congress. In 1992, she was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In February of 1998, she was named Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee, making her the first Hispanic woman to serve as Chair or Ranking Member of a full committee in the history of the House.
Given her achievements, her roots are humble. She was born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico - a small town of sugar-cane fields - in 1953, and was one of nine children. Velázquez started school early, skipped several grades, and became the first person in her family to receive a college diploma. At the age of 16, she entered the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. She graduated magna cum laude in 1974 with a degree in political science. After earning a master's on scholarship from N.Y.U., Congresswoman Velázquez taught Puerto Rican studies at C.U.N.Y's Hunter College in 1981.
But her passion for politics soon took hold. In 1983, Velázquez was appointed Special Assistant to Congressman Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn). One year later, she became the first Latina appointed to serve on the New York City Council.
By 1986, Velázquez served as the Director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the U.S. During that time, she initiated one of the most successful Latino empowerment programs in the nation's history - "Atrevete" (Dare to Go for It!).
In 1992, after months of running a grassroots political campaign, she was elected to the House of Representatives to represent New York's 12th District. Her district, which encompasses parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Lower East Side of Manhattan is the only tri-borough district in the New York City congressional delegation. Encompassing many diverse neighborhoods, it is home to a large Latino population, with pockets of Polish communities, and parts of Chinatown.
As a fighter for equal rights of the underepresented and a proponent of economic opportunity for the working class and poor, Congresswoman Velázquez combines sensibility and compassion as she works to encourage economic development, protect community health and the environment, combat crime and worker abuses, and secure access to affordable housing, quality education and health care for all New York City families.
As the Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, which oversees federal programs and contracts totaling $200 billion annually, Congresswoman Velázquez has been a vocal advocate of American small business and entrepreneurship. She has established numerous small business legislative priorities, encompassing the areas of tax regulations, access to capital, federal contracting opportunities, trade, technology, health care and pension reform, among others. Congresswoman Velázquez was recently named as the inaugural "Woman of the Year" by Hispanic Business Magazine in recognition of her national influence in both the political and business sectors and for her longtime support of minority enterprise.
Although her work on the Small Business Committee and the House Financial Services Committee (where she is second in seniority on its Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity) keeps her busy, Representative Velázquez can often be found close to home, working for the residents of her district.
Nominating Speech:
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Progressive Criteria:
The Department of Commerce will:
Promote commerce to enhance citizens' lives, not simply to enrich investors;
Promote decent, well-paying, environmentally sustainable jobs;
Take the initiative in developing a Genuine Progress Indicator to replace GDP which does not adequately distinguish between good growth and destructive trends; Work to provide new guarantees for pension security;
Support very small businesses, minority and women-owned businesses;
Direct and manage the patent and trademark system to promote the common good by promoting valuable inventions, research and intellectual exchangee, as a higher priority than protecting corporate profits.
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