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Fortuño Committee Assignments |
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- Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
- Subcommittee on Europe
- Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
- Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities
- Ranking Member on Subcommittee on Insular Affairs
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Representative Luis G. Fortuño was sworn in to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, as the first Republican elected to Congress representing Puerto Rico, on January 4, 2005. In the 110th Congress, Rep. Fortuño serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs; this is a rarity for a Member who has served only two years to be awarded this distinction. On the House Education and Labor Committee, he serves on the Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities. He has earned the privilege of serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is assigned to the Subcommittees on Western Hemisphere and Europe.
In addition to his Committee assignments, Rep.
Fortuño plays an active role in a number of
caucuses and other influential groups. He was
unanimously elected as Chairman of the Congressional
Hispanic Conference, which serves to promote the
conservative agenda nationwide among the Hispanic
community. He is a founding Co-Chair of the
Congressional Friends of Spain Caucus, which strengthens
the relationship between the United States and Spain and
focuses on political, cultural, economic, commercial,
and educational relations between the two countries.
Rep. Fortuño was recently appointed to the House
Republican Policy Committee. In addition, he was tapped
again to serve on the National Republican Congressional
Committee (NRCC) Executive Committee, which serves a
critical purpose to strengthen fundraising efforts and
increase member participation in the upcoming 2008
electoral cycle. Rep. Fortuño will play a
significant role in advising the NRCC on Hispanic
outreach and other GOP fundraising efforts.
Before coming to Congress, Rep. Fortuño was a
partner at the San Juan law firm of Correa, Collazo,
Herrero, Jiménez & Fortuño
specializing in corporate finance and real estate law.
He entered public service in 1993 after being appointed
by the Governor as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico
Tourism Company and President of the Hotel Development
Corporation. In 1994, he became Puerto Rico’s
first Secretary of the Department of Economic
Development and Commerce.
As Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, Rep.
Fortuño was tasked with the development and
implementation of large-scale reforms of Puerto
Rico’s tax, labor, corporate and commercial codes,
aimed at facilitating business growth and job creation,
reducing bureaucracy, and tax reform. Some of these
initiatives included the adoption of the Uniform
Commercial Code, the revamping of the General
Corporations Law, an aggressive investment package to
jumpstart the tourism industry, and the largest tax cut
in Puerto Rico’s history. At the time of Rep.
Fortuño’s departure from public service,
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate had reached its
lowest level in over a generation.
Born in 1960, Rep. Fortuño was raised in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. He earned a bachelor’s degree
from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown
University and obtained his Juris Doctor (JD) from the
University of Virginia Law School. He is married to
attorney Lucé Vela and has three children.
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