Xavier Becerra

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Xavier Becerra
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 31st district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Edward R. Roybal
Born	January 26, 1958 (1958-01-26) (age 50) Sacramento, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Carolina Reyes
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Alma mater	Stanford University
Occupation	attorney, political assistant
Religion	Roman Catholic

Xavier Becerra (born January 26, 1958) is an American politician who has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing California's 31st congressional district (map), which is based in Los Angeles.

Becaerra was born in Sacramento, California, the son of working-class immigrants. He earned his B.A. in economics from Stanford University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He was initially a lawyer, working on cases involving individuals with mental impairment. He was also a staff member for California State Senator Art Torres and the Deputy Attorney-General of California. Becerra was a one-term member of the California State Assembly before entering the House.

Becerra ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. He finished with 6 percent of the primary vote, finishing behind businessman Steve Soboroff, Councilman Joel Wachs, former California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, and the eventual winner, then-City Attorney James Hahn.

He is the only member of Congress from Southern California on the Committee on Ways and Means. Becerra is also a prominate member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which he served as chairman during the 105th Congress.

Rep. Becerra is a frequent guest on Kudlow & Company. He was featured on The Colbert Report's Better Know a District on August 17, 2006.

Rep. Becerra is assistant to the Speaker in the 110th United States Congress. He considered running for the position of Democratic Caucus Vice chairman, but deferred to the incumbent, John Larson after Rahm Emanuel chose to run for caucus chair, which is the position Larson had been running for.^[1] He was also mentioned as a possible DCCC chairman.^[2] He delivered the Democratic Response to President Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address in English and Spanish.^[3]

On January 27, 2008, Becerra formally endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama for President.^[4] Becerra is married to physician Carolina Reyes and has three children.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Ways and Means Committee
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Social Security
• House Committee on Budget
• Vice Chair of the U.S.-Korea Interparliamentary Exchange
• Co-Chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain Caucus

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra official House site
• Xavier Becerra at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Xavier Becerra campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Xavier Becerra issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Xavier Becerra campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Xavier Becerra (CA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Xavier Becerra profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Xavier Becerra voting record

v • d • e Chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Roybal • García • Richardson • Martínez • Torres • Bustamante • Fuster • de la Garza • Ortiz • Serrano • Pastor • Becerra • Roybal-Allard • Reyes • Rodriguez • Napolitano • Baca