Nydia Velázquez
| Nydia Velázquez | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 7th district |
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Assumed office January 3, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph Crowley |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th district |
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In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Major R. Owens |
| Succeeded by | Carolyn Maloney |
| Chair of the House Small Business Committee | |
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In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Don Manzullo |
| Succeeded by | Sam Graves |
| Member of the New York City Council from the 27th district |
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In office 1984–1985 |
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| Preceded by | Luis Olmedo |
| Succeeded by | Victor Robles |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Nydia Margarita Velázquez March 28, 1953 Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Bader |
| Education |
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (BA) New York University (MA) |
Nydia Margarita Velázquez (born March 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican politician who has served in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. Velázquez, a Democrat from New York, is the first Puerto Rican woman to be elected to Congress, and she was the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her district, located in New York City, was numbered the 12th district from 1993 to 2013 and has been numbered the 7th district since 2013.
Velázquez was born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico on March 28, 1953. She grew up in Yabucoa in a small house on the Río Limón, one of nine children. Her father Don Benito Velazquez was a poor worker in the sugarcane fields who became a self-taught political activist and the founder of a local political party. Political conversations at the dinner table focused on workers' rights. Her mother was Dona Carmen Luisa Serrano.
Velázquez attended public schools and skipped three grades as a child. She became the first in her family to graduate high school. She became a student at University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras at age 16. In 1974, she received a degree in political science, magna cum laude, and became a teacher. While in college, Velázquez was a supporter of Puerto Rican independence; by the time she ran for Congress in 1992, Velázquez no longer addressed the issue, "saying that it must be left up the Puerto Rican people."
In 1976, Velázquez received an M.A. in political science from New York University. Velázquez then returned to Puerto Rico to teach, serving as a professor of political science at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao 1976 to 1981.
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