{"id":64,"date":"2009-05-03T19:34:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-04T00:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=64"},"modified":"2009-05-03T19:34:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-04T00:34:00","slug":"u-s-congresswoman-nydia-velazquez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez is a Latina of many firsts. She has been a member of Congress<\/a> since 1992. She is the first Puerto Rican woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. The Congresswoman, who represents sections of Brooklyn, Queens, and Lower Manhattan, was also the first Latina to hold a seat on the New York City Council. Vel\u00e1zquez is Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus<\/a> and was named Chair of the House Small Business Committee, making her the first Latina to chair a full Congressional committee. <\/p>\n

As Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus she is setting an agenda to ensure that Latinos are leading the way “Towards 2030,” when the Latino population will make up 25 percent of the U.S. population. U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez is the subject of a recent political biography<\/a> written for EL BORICUA<\/a>, an electronic monthly cultural publication for Puerto Ricans. I will be writing future articles on Puerto Rican island politics for EL BORICUA. If you have a topic you would like to read about please feel free to contact me via email or leave a comment on my blog. <\/p>\n

EL BORICUA’s website and monthly magazine are dedicated to Puerto Rican descendants – where ever they might be – so that they can remember our culture, learn about their roots and history, and be proud to call themselves Boricuas<\/span> and Puertorrique\u00f1os<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(Photo courtesy of Sourcewatch.org<\/span>.)<\/p>\n