Nita Lowey

Nita Lowey

Template:TOCnestleft Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 18th district.

Congresswoman is currently serving her twelfth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and served in the Democratic Leadership in 2001 and 2002 as the first woman and the first New Yorker to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Lowey serves as Ranking Democrat of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee and a senior Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee and the Homeland Security Subcommittee.

Early life

Lowey was born in the Bronx; graduated from the Bronx High School of Science; and received a Bachelor's Degree from Mount Holyoke College. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for the State of New York before being elected to Congress. Nita and Stephen Lowey have been married for more than 45 years.

HR 109 endorser

By February 20 2019 endorsers of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's HR 109 (Green New Deal) included Nita Lowey.

Population Connection Donation

Nita Lowey received a donation from the Population Connection in 2020.

Medicare for All Act

In February 2019 Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced H.R.1384 - Medicare for All Act of 2019. By May 29 she had 110 co-sponsors including Rep. Nita Lowey.

DSA pressure on Yemen Bill

IE DSA - Inland Empire Democratic Socialists of America July 8 2019.

URGENT: Tomorrow, Tuesday 7/9, the House Rules Committee will consider whether to allow a floor vote on Rep. Ro Khanna's legislation to end US participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen (Amendment 339 to the National Defense Authorization Act.) The DSA International Committee urges members to call their reps in support.

The Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121. You can say something like:

“I urge you to co-sponsor, speak out for and vote for the Khanna-Schiff amendment to end all U.S. participation in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen. Yemeni kids' lives are hanging on your vote.”

Key Congress members — If your Rep is on this list, please contact them immediately and urge them to cosponsor Amendment 339:

Pelosi, Hoyer, Engel, Smith, Lieu, Nadler, Lowey, Jim Himes, Ted Deutch, Brad Sherman, Meeks, Bass, Connolly, Susan Davis, Jim McGovern, Langevin, Moulton, Gallego, Houlahan, Cicilline, Slotkin, Mikie Sherrill, Luria, Spanberger, Wild, Malinowski.

2018 State of the Union Address

Several Democrats, including Nita Lowey, brought illegal immigrants to the 2018 State of the Union address:

• Kamala Harris brought Denea Joseph, communications coordinator for the UndocuBlack Network.
• Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden brought Daysi Bedolla.
• Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo brought Adrian Escarate.
• Illinois Rep. Bill Foster brought Ana Campa Castillo.
• Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly brought Nicolle Uria.
• Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer boycotted the event, but sent Aldo Solano.
• Oregon Rep. Jeff Merkley brought Leonardo Reyes.
• Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici brought Miriam Vargas Corona.
• Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader brought Juan Carlos Navarro.
• New York Rep. Nita Lowey brought Hugo Alexander Acosta Mazariego.
• Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth brought Leo Salinas Chacon.
• California Rep. Judy Chu brought Jung Bin Cho.

"Bert and Ernie"

When GOP leaders threatened to eliminate the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the 1990s, Lowey "invited" puppets Bert and Ernie to a Congressional hearing. The resulting worldwide publicity is largely credited with saving the agency. When Republican leaders again targeted PBS for severe budget cuts in 2005, Lowey again successfully restored funding to the program. She has been equally stalwart in her defense of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and served on the prestigious National Council for the Arts in recognition of her leadership.

Pro-Israel

On the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Lowey has also worked to ensure that diplomacy and development remain key pillars of our national security strategy, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Called “one of the engines of pro-Israel activity on Capitol Hill” by the Forward, Lowey has been a leading Congressional proponent of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and the Appropriations Committee's chief advocate of the annual U.S. aid package to Israel.

Anti Clarence Thomas delegation

In October 1991 Patricia Schroeder led a delegation of fellow congresswomen, including Louise Slaughter, Barbara Boxer, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Nita Lowey, Patsy Mink and Jolene Unsoeld to the Senate to urge a delay of the vote on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the supreme court.

Martinez Jobs Bill

In June 1997 George Miller of California and Nita Lowey of New York signed on as co-sponsors of the Communist Party USA inspired Martinez Jobs Bill.

Supported by Council for a Livable World

The Council for a Livable World, founded in 1962 by long-time socialist activist and alleged Soviet agent, Leo Szilard, is a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to "reduce the danger of nuclear weapons and increase national security", primarily through supporting progressive, congressional candidates who support their policies. The Council supported Nita Lowey in her successful House of Representatives run as candidate for New York.

Clinton/Pinochet letter

On October 21, 1998, many Members of Congress wrote a letter to President Bill Clinton, urging him to release information to a Spanish judge investigating former Chilean President Pinochet for alleged crimes committed during and after the overthrow of the Marxist Allende government.

Dear Mr. President:

The October 17 arrest of General Augusto Pinochet in London is a good example of how the goals you outlined in your anti-terrorism speech at the United Nations can be put into practice. Indeed, when the rule oflaw is applied to combat international lawlessness,humanity's agenda gains...we call upon you to ensure that the U.S. government provides Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon material related to Pinochet's role in international terrorism -- material and testimony that the U.S. government has thus far withheld.

Signatories included Rep. Nita Lowey.

Colombia Support Network letter

In 2002, the Colombia Support Network organized a :dear colleague" letter to President Andres Pastrana Arango, of Colombia, through Ned Steiner, a staffer in Rep. Sam Farr's office.

The letter called on President Pastrana to end a military blockade on the Colombian town of San Jose de Apartado, a sister community of Madison Wisconsin, where the Colombia Support Network is based.

We write to you to bring your attention to the humanitarian crisis facing the civilian population of the Peace Community San Jose de Apartadó and its outlying settlements.

We urge the appropriate authorities of your government to dismantle the paramilitary checkpoint on the road between San Jose and Apartadó, ensure the continued safety of the road, and fully investigate recent threats and attacks on the Peace Community.

The Peace Community San Jose de Apartadó and its settlements, including the village of La Union, receive the permanent accompaniment of international organizations.

These include Peace Brigades International (PBI), as well as the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), which currently has two US citizens in La Union. We support the work of these two respected organizations as well as the Peace Community in its effort to build a non-violent alternative to the conflict.

Representatives who signed the Colombia Support Network inspired letter in 2001 included Nita Lowey.

2006 letter to Condoleezza Rice on Colombia

Alleged Colombian Army killings prompted Fellowship of Reconciliation to work with Representative Sam Farr to forge a response that would impact the 17th Brigade, the unit allegedly responsible for the violence against San José de Apartadó and communities throughout northwestern Colombia.

As a result, Reps. Sam Farr and Jim McGovern, wrote a letter to their colleagues in Congress urging them to join in calling on Secretary Condoleezza Rice to cut funding for the Colombian military.

Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

(Deadline for Congressional representatives to sign: February 22)

We applaud the decision, noted in your certification letter of August 2005, that the US "will not consider providing assistance to the 17th Brigade until all significant human rights allegations involving the unit have been credibly addressed." Because the Brigade is a component of the Colombian Armed Forces' command structure and has been implicated in the above referenced human rights violations, we implore you to abide by both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law by withholding human rights certification for Colombia until the following conditions are met:

Signatories included Nita Lowey.

Supported by SEIU

Lowey received $54,000 from the Service Employees International Union in lobbying funds.

Anti-Fracking legislation endorser

On March 14, 2013, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) have introduced the Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effect (BREATHE) Act, and the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydraulic Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act, in order to ensure that the hydraulic fracking industry follows the same rules that other industries do in preserving our natural resources. This legislation is focused on ensuring the safety and the health of the communities where the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process is already taking place.

The BREATHE Act would ensure that we close the oil and gas industry’s loophole to the Clean Air Act’s aggregation provision, in addition to adding hydrogen sulfide—a chemical associated with nausea, vomiting, headaches, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat—to the Clean Air Act’s federal list of hazardous air pollutants.

The BREATHE Act has the following original co-sponsors including: Reps. Rush Holt, Jr., Raul Grijalva, John Sarbanes, James Moran, Michael Quigley, Earl Blumenauer, Gerry Connolly,Zoe Lofgren, Michael Honda, Paul Tonko, Barbara Lee, David Price, Carolyn Maloney, Michael Capuano, Mark Pocan, Jim McDermott, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Alcee Hastings, Keith Ellison, Niki Tsongas, William Keating, Adam Smith, Jim Langevin, Chellie Pingree, Judy Chu, Louise Slaughter, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Meng, Jan Schakowsky, Nita Lowey, Jared Huffman, Gary Peters and Alan Lowenthal.

The following organizations have endorsed this legislation and are actively working to garner support within Congress and throughout the country: Physicians for Social Responsibility, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Sierra Club, Earthworks, Breast Cancer Action, Clean Water Action, Environment America, Greenpeace, Nature Abounds, Oil Change International, Citizens for a Healthy Community, Citizens for Huerfano County, Clean Water Action Colorado, Erie Rising, Grassroots Energy Activist Network, Holy Terror Farm, San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, SOS Foundation, Western Colorado Congress of Mesa County, Western Slope Conservation Center and Wilderness Workshop.

Working Families Party

The Working Families Party backed Lowey in 2014.

ARA PAF endorsement, 2014

The Alliance for Retired Americans Political Action Fund endorsed Nita Lowey in 2014, also 2012.

Abortion

Planned Parenthood

Lowey received $1,000 in lobbying funds from Planned Parenthood in 2008.

EMILY's List

Lowey has been supported by EMILY's List during her campaigning.

External links

• Lowey's official website with the House
• Lowey's campaign website

References

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