Biography
May 2002
Rep. José E. Serrano (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on
Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary of the exclusive and powerful
House Appropriations Committee, represents the Sixteenth Congressional
District in the Bronx. This year, Serrano, who also serves in the
influential House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation,
celebrates his 28th year in the public service. Serrano has been in
Congress for seven terms.
Congressman Serrano was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico on October 24,
1943, but when he was seven years-old his family moved to the South Bronx,
where he attended public schools and completed courses at Lehman College,
City University of New York. The most senior member of the three stateside
Puerto Ricans in Congress, he served in the 172nd Support Battalion, Fort
Wainright, Alaska, in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
Before being elected to the United States Congress, Serrano had a
distinguished sixteen year career in the New York State Assembly,
including six years as chairman of the Education Committee. He was elected
to the State Assembly in 1974, and was re-elected and continued to
represent the same Bronx communities until his election to the U.S.
Congress.
In 1983, Serrano was appointed Chairman of the Assembly's Committee on
Education. He authored legislation that doubled state funding for
bilingual education programs in 125 languages and provided $50 million in
funding for New York City to combat school drop-out crisis. Working to
better the future of children has been very satisfying for Serrano.
Elected by an overwhelming majority to represent New York's 18th
Congressional District by a special ballot, Serrano was sworn in as a
member of the U.S. House of Representatives in March 1990. Serrano was
re-elected to serve a full term in November 1990. In 1992 he was reelected
to represent the newly drawn 16th Congressional District as well as in
1994, 1996, 1998 and again in 2000 each time receiving wide margins of
support.
The first bill of which Serrano was a prime sponsor (P.L. 101 600)
provides funding for successful school drop out prevention programs. It
was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on November 16, 1990.
His most recent legislative proposal enacted into law (H.R. 2897) followed
the September 11th terrorists attacks on New York City and Washington,
D.C. This bill was incorporated into a larger bill and signed into law at
the end of 2001. It granted posthumous citizenship to non-citizens who
died as a result of the September 11th attacks and who had already started
the petition process to become U.S. citizens.
During his time in Congress, Serrano has co-sponsored a number of major
bills including the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act,
the Higher Education Act, the Brady gun control bill, and the César Chávez
Workplace Fairness Act.
During the 102nd Congress, Serrano sponsored the Voting Rights
Improvement Act, mandating bilingual registration and voting, and the
Classroom Safety Act, to provide funds for programs to discourage violence
and protect students and teachers. Through his first full term,
Congressman Serrano served on the Committee on Education and Labor and the
Committee on Small Business.
In 1992, Serrano was appointed to the prestigious Appropriations
Committee, an exclusive committee -because Members serve solely on that
committee- responsible for approving the expenditure of federal funds and
for applying fiscal discipline to the federal budget process.
Serrano served then on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services and Education, and on the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, and
on Subcommittees on the Legislative Branch and on Agriculture.
Congressman Serrano was instrumental in the allocation of $7.5 billion
for child nutrition programs and $28 billion for food stamps, $3.3 billion
for Head Start, $543.2 million for AIDS prevention and $111.5 million for
tuberculosis control grants.
In addition, in 1992, Serrano was elected by his colleagues to serve a
two-year term as Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and chaired
its administrative branch, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
Continuing as a member of the Hispanic Caucus, Congressman Serrano now
serves on the Civil Rights and Census Task Force. During the 107th
Congress, he has led the caucus's fight to assure that issues crucial to
Hispanics and immigrants are not disregarded.
In the legislative caucus, his vigorous leadership was responsible for
passage of several bills of special interest to Hispanics and other
minorities. The caucus was also credited with defeat of a number of bills
whose purposes have been described as "immigrant-bashing" and also
successfully opposed efforts to make English the nation's official
language, a measure which some see as intolerant of cultural diversity in
our society.
In 1994, Serrano sponsored the Bilingual Education Act, parts of which
were incorporated in the Elementary and Secondary School Act, and the
Minority Health Opportunity Enhancement Act, which would amend the Public
Health Service Act to provide improved access to health care services for
individuals lacking proficiency in English.
Also, Serrano co-sponsored the School-To-Work Act, which will help
students move from high school into the workforce. The Act encourages
schools and local businesses to develop partnerships that will expose
students to new work experiences and career opportunities. The
Appropriations Committee provided an increase of $180 million in funds for
the School-to-Work program.
Serrano also supported increases of $260 million in women, infants, and
children supplemental feeding, $334 million for elementary and secondary
education, $283 million for the Goals 2000 Education Reform, $210 million
for Head Start, $178 million in dislocated worker assistance, $297 million
in homeless assistance, and $1.3 million in rental assistance.
In 1995, Serrano was appointed to the prestigious Judiciary Committee,
and, of special importance, the Subcommittee on the Constitution. As part
of the Democratic Leadership Team, he was also named Vice Chairman of the
Democratic Steering Committee, and re-appointed in 1996. The Steering
Committee assigns all Democrat members to committees.
The House Democratic Caucus re-appointed Congressman Serrano to the
Appropriations Committee in March of 1996, and he resigned from the House
Judiciary Committee to accept the new committee seat.
Together with the Democratic leadership, Serrano led the approval of
legislation which would raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 by July
of 1997. And, during the 104th Congress, Serrano also supported the
passage of the Prevention of Sexual Crimes Against Children Act and the
Housing for Older Persons Act, both also signed by President Clinton into
law.
Serrano is the architect of the "English-Plus" Resolution, which
expresses the sense of Congress that the Government should pursue policies
to encourage the use and learning of various languages to protect national
interests and civil rights. In 1996, Serrano introduced the resolution as
a substitute to an English-only measure on the House floor, for which he
won support of 178 members. He has submitted this bill again for the 107th
Congress.
The "English Plus Resolution" encourages residents of the United States
to become fully proficient in English, conserve and develop the Nation's
linguistic resources by encouraging all residents to learn or maintain
skills in a language other than English. The "English Plus Resolution"
also resolves to continue to provide services in languages other than
English to facilitate access to essential functions of government, promote
public health and safety, protect rights and promote equal educational
opportunity.
During the first session of the 105th Congress, Serrano became Ranking
Democrat on the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Legislative
Branch and third ranking Democratic member on its Subcommittee on
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related
Agencies. On the first day of the 105th Congress, Serrano introduced 16
pieces of legislation on education, nutrition, crime prevention, and other
issues.
Serrano fought vehemently against measures proposed by Republicans
which would balance the budget on the backs of poor working families,
children, the ill, the elderly, and immigrants. Serrano then argued, among
other things, that the bill provided $91 billion in tax breaks, while it
cuts $115 billion in Medicare payments to hospitals and health care
providers.
Also during the 105th Congress, Serrano sponsored a bill to provide
demonstration grants to establish clearing houses for the distribution of
information on youth crime prevention to community-based organizations.
Serrano sponsored a measure that would create a United States Library
Trust Fund to provide the financial support to buy books for public
libraries and public school libraries.
Congressman Serrano presented a bill to amend the Higher Education Act
of 1965 to apply to Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education the
same student loan default rate limitations applicable to historically
Black colleges and universities.
He also authored a legislation entitled "The Cuban Reconciliation Act,"
which would repeal the Cuban embargo and the sanctions imposed by the
Helms-Burton Act. On January 8, 1997, Serrano reintroduced "The Cuban
Baseball Diplomacy Act", which would enable Cuban nationals to play
organized professional baseball in the United States.
In the days following his swearing for his seventh term in the House of
Representatives for the 107th Congress, Serrano introduced several bills
to address various concerns. The proposed legislation by Congressman
Serrano during the current Congress would:
- require the labeling of food products grown on land on which sewage
sludge has been applied;
- permit Members of the House to direct donation of their used
computer equipment to public elementary and secondary schools;
- enact a Constitutional amendment to repeal the limit on Presidential
terms;
- provide incentives for use of clean-fuel vehicles in empowerment
zones and enterprise communities;
- promote a policy of "English Plus";
- authorize the printing of a revised and updated version of the House
document entitled "Hispanic Americans in Congress";
- propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to
repeal the twenty second amendment, thereby removing the limitation on
the number of terms an individual may serve as President;
- waive certain prohibitions with respect to nationals of Cuba coming
to the United States to play organized professional baseball;
- amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure that veterans of
the United States Armed Forces are eligible for discretionary relief
from detention, deportation, exclusion, and removal, and for other
purposes;
- amend the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000
to allow for the financing of agricultural sales to Cuba;
- lift the trade embargo on Cuba;
- amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for designation
of overpayments and contributions to the United States Library Trust
Fund;
- provide the people of Cuba with access to food and medicines from
the United States, to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba, to provide
scholarships for certain Cuban nationals;
- establish the Elie Wiesel Youth Leadership Congressional Fellowship
Program in the House of Representatives;
- provide for the granting of posthumous citizenship to certain aliens
lawfully admitted for permanent residence who died as a result of the
hijackings of 4 commercial aircraft, the attacks on the World Trade
Center, or the attack on the Pentagon, on September 11, 2001;
Today, Congressman Serrano serves as the Ranking Democrat on the
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary. He
also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, which
makes recommendations on funding to continue investments in the Nation's
infrastructure. As Ranking Democrat on the CJSJ Subcommittee, he has
jurisdiction over the following agencies:
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Justice.
- Department of State (Except International Narcotics Control;
International Organizations and Programs (voluntary contributions);
Migration and Refugee Assistance; Non proliferation, Anti terrorism,
Demining and Related Programs; Peacekeeping Operations (voluntary
contributions); U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund).
- Department of Transportation: Maritime Administration.
- The Judiciary
- Related Agencies:
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.
Commission on Civil Rights.
Commission on Immigration Reform.
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Competitiveness Policy Council.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
Federal Communications Commission.
Federal Maritime
Commission.
Federal Trade Commission.
International Trade
Commission.
Japan United States Friendship Commission.
Legal
Services Corporation.
Marine Mammal Commission.
National
Bankruptcy Review Commission.
National Gambling Impact Study
Commission.
Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Ounce of Prevention Council.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Small Business Administration.
State Justice Institute.
United States Information Agency.
Throughout his 28 years of public career, Serrano has consistently
pursued a legislative program that reflects his political philosophy. He
believes the primary role of government is to provide a climate in which
all citizens are treated equally and compete based entirely on their
ability, in an economy in which employment, housing and health care
facilities are available; a government that cares for those in need,
especially our most vulnerable, the elderly, the disabled and our
children.
Serrano deplores bigotry and prejudice in any form, especially in
government, and he endorses a foreign policy in which every possible
diplomatic means is exhausted in the search for a peaceful resolution of
all differences. | ![[House Seal]](gif00329.gif)
![[Main Page]](gif00330.gif)
![[Profiles]](gif00331.gif)
![[Committee Assignments]](gif00332.gif)
![[Contacting Congressman Serrano]](gif00333.gif)
![[Constituent Services]](gif00334.gif)
![[Serrano's Views]](gif00335.gif)
![[Legislation]](gif00336.gif)
![[Government Links]](gif00337.gif)
![[New York Links]](gif00338.gif)
![[Interesting Web Sites]](gif00339.gif)
![[Photo Album]](gif00340.gif)
