REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT

U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat proudly represents New York’s Thirteenth Congressional District. 

Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill, and the north-west Bronx. 

First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat was sworn into office on January 3, 2017, during the 115th Congress and is serving his fourth term in Congress. 

Representative Espaillat serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and is ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee on the committee. Additionally, Representative Espaillat serves on the House Budget Committee. He is Deputy Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and is Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Representative Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and is a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. Through his committee assignments and caucus leadership positions, Representative Espaillat helps advance and amplify legislative priorities and accomplishments that aim to improve the lives of families around the nation. 

Together with his Democratic colleagues, Representative Espaillat worked to pass more than 900 bills during the 116th Congress, including bipartisan legislation to clean up government, defend access to affordable health care, lower prescription drug costs, respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, invest in our nation’s infrastructure, and support policies for job creation and economic growth. Additionally, during the 116th Congress, Representative Espaillat introduced more than 40 bills and resolutions aimed at improving the lives of constituents, helping small businesses become more competitive and recover from the pandemic, protecting the rights of immigrants, securing funds to complete the Second Avenue Subway’s extension into East Harlem, and helping to secure federal grant funding for New York’s 13th congressional district. 

A steadfast champion for working- and middle-class New Yorkers, Representative Espaillat is a staunch advocate of a fair living wage, immediate and effective investments in affordable housing, meaningful criminal justice reform, infrastructure improvements, expanded youth programs, and better educational opportunities. 

Throughout the tenure of his career in public service, Representative Espaillat has been a vocal advocate for protecting tenants, improving schools, and making serious, smart investments in economic development, job creation, and environmental protection. Prior to coming to Congress, he served as a New York State Senator during which he represented the neighborhoods of Marble Hill, Inwood, Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, West Harlem, the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Clinton, and Chelsea. 

While in the New York State Senate, he served as the Ranking Member of the Senate Housing, Construction, and Community Development Committee; Chairman of the Senate Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus; and as a member of the Environmental Conservation, Economic Development, Codes, Insurance, and Judiciary committees. Prior to his tenure as a state senator, he served in the New York State Assembly, and in 1996 became the first Dominican American elected to a state legislature. In 2002, Espaillat was elected chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. 

Prior to entering elected office, Representative Espaillat served as the Manhattan Court Services Coordinator for the NYC Criminal Justice Agency, a non-profit organization that provides legal services to those in need and works to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention and post-sentence incarceration costs. He later worked as Director of the Washington Heights Victims Services Community Office, an organization offering counseling and other services to families of victims of homicides and other crimes, and as the Director of Project Right Start, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to combat substance abuse by educating the parents of pre-school children. 

Representative Espaillat is a proud father and grandfather and is a member of the historic Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.