NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ
12th Congressional District
New York State

Congresswoman Nydia M. velazquez, the daughter of sugar cane worker
Don Benito Velazquez and Dona Carmen Serrano, her mother, became
the first Puerto Rican woman ever elected to serve in the United
State House of Representatives this past November.

This dynamic Latina, a professor by trade, overcame enormous
financial obstacles and conventional wisdom when she easily
defeated long-term incumbent, Stephen Solarz in the hotly contested
congressional race last year.

Her vision, commitment and leadership have made her one of the most
beloved spokepersons of the Puerto Rican community today. In
Congress, she continues to lead the struggle for the
disenfranchised groups who need to gain access to services, to be
respected, and to be able to lead a dignified life, regardless of
their race, creed, or ethnic origin.

Ms. Velazquez currently sits on the House Banking, Finance and
Urban Affairs Committee and on the Small Business Committee. Her
assignments on the Banking Committee include the Housing, Economic
Policy, Consumer Credit, and Oversight subcommittees. The
Congresswoman is a member of the Democratic Caucus, the Hispanic
Caucus, the Women's Issues Caucus, and the Progressive caucus.

In her district, Congresswoman Velazquez maintains an extremely
active district office. In addition to the Williamsburg main
office, in which a team of professionally trained caseworkers
handle individual constituent problems, community hours and
neighborhood outreach programs are available to the community.

Comprising three of the City's five boroughs, the 12th
Congressional district is one of the poorest districts of the
Country. Including the communities of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst,
Bushwick, East New York, Williamsburg, Sunset Park, Redhook,
Maspeth, Lower East Side and Chinatown, this district is, however,
a beautiful mosaic of New York and its people.

Prior to her election to Congress, Ms. Velazquez was the director
of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United
States. In that capacity she was an ardent advocate for the Puerto
Rican community residing on the mainland and on the island. Under
her leadership, this department established an unparalleled
ombudsman program tailored to meet the unique needs of the
community and initiated one of the most successful community
empowerment programs in this country -- Atrevete.

This comprehensive voter registration project has registered more
than 150,000 new voters since its creation in 1987. Atrevete is
directly responsible for the political empowerment and voice this
community now has at all levels of government.

During her tenure at the helm of that agency, she also created a
project in response to the growing epidemic of AIDS in the Puerto
Rican community called Unidos Contra El SIDA (United Against AIDS).
Unidos Contra El SIDA is a non-profit corporation that raises funds
for agencies providing services to Puerto Ricans with AIDS in the
United States and in Puerto Rico, as well as advocates for research
and the development of strategies for the prevention of AIDS.

Prior to her appointment as Director of the Department of Puerto
Rican Community Affairs in the United States, Ms. Velazquez was the
National Director of the Migration Division Office of the
Department of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico. In 1984,
she was the first Puerto Rican woman to serve on the City Council
of New York City, representing the 27th District. Ms. Velazquez was
appointed to the staff of Congressman Ed Towns in the 11th
Congressional District in Brooklyn and served as Special Assistant
in 1983.

Ms. Velazquez was born in the Limones Ward of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico,
on March 23, 1953. Her formative years were spent in this rural
community, attending the public schools, eventually going on to
attend the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, where she
graduated Magna cum Laude in 1974 and received a Masters Degree in
Political Science in 1976.

From 1976 to 1981, Ms. Velazquez was a member of the faculty of the
University of Puerto Rico, Humacao Campus, in the Social Science
Department where she became the youngest chair of the department in
1977. She also worked as an adjunct professor at Hunter College of
the City University of New York in the Black and Puerto Rican
Studies Department.