In 1993, this Democratic Party politician was elected to the United States House of Representatives for New York's twelfth district. She served in this capacity for twenty years and, in 2013, was re-elected to Congress as a representative of her state's seventh district. After graduating in her mid teens from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, she earned her master's degree in political science from New York University. In 1983, she began her political career as a member of the New York City Council.
