Luis Gutiérrez
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Luis Vicente Gutiérrez (born December 10, 1953) is an American politician. He served as the
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
for from 1993 to 2019. From 1986 until his election to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, he served as a member of the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
representing the 26th ward. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the progressive faction of the Democratic Party. " e Congressional Progressive Caucus, ...
during his tenure in the House. In the 113th Congress, with his 20 years of service, Gutiérrez became, along with
Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist, and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter ...
, the longest serving member of the Illinois House delegation, and so was occasionally referred to as the unofficial "dean" of the delegation. Of Puerto Rican descent, he is a current''Hopes for DC, Puerto Rico statehood rise.''
Marty Johnson and Rafael Bernal. The Hill. 24 September 2020. Accessed 10 November 2020.
supporter of Puerto Rican independence, and the Vieques movement. Gutiérrez is also an outspoken advocate of
workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...
,
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
,
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
, and other liberal and progressive causes. In 2010, Frank Sharry of America's Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group, said of Gutiérrez: "He's as close as the Latino community has to a Martin Luther King figure." His supporters have given him the nickname ''El Gallito'' – the little fighting rooster – in reference to his fiery oratory and political prowess. His district, the 4th congressional district, was featured by ''
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'' as one of the most strangely drawn and gerrymandered congressional districts in the country and has been nicknamed "earmuffs" due to its shape. It was created to
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two majority Hispanic parts of Chicago into one district, thereby creating a majority Hispanic district. In November 2017, Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
at the end of his current term, and not seek re-election in
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. As of 2021, Gutiérrez lives in Puerto Rico.


Early life, education, and early career

Gutiérrez was born and raised in the
Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...
neighborhood of Chicago, then an immigrant and working-class community. His mother was an assembly-line worker, and his father was a cab driver. After his freshman year at St. Michael's High School, his parents moved the family to their hometown of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. Gutiérrez, who had never before visited the island, reluctantly followed his parents; there, he learned to speak Spanish. Gutiérrez said of his experience moving from Chicago to Puerto Rico: "In Lincoln Park, I had been called a spic, then, all of a sudden, I land on the island and everyone calls me ''gringo'' and ''Americanito''. I learned to speak Spanish well." In 1974, Gutiérrez returned to Chicago and enrolled at
Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. NEIU serves approximately 5,000 students in the region and is both a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Nat ...
. He got involved in student activism and
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
issues, writing for the student publication ''Que Ondee Sola'' and serving as the president of the Union for Puerto Rican Students. In 1976, while a senior at Northeastern Illinois, he began driving a cab in order to raise enough funds to visit his long-time girlfriend, Soraida, in Puerto Rico. In 1977, after graduating from Northeastern Illinois University with a degree in English, he returned to Puerto Rico and married Soraida. The couple returned to Chicago in 1978, and, unable to find other work, Gutiérrez took up taxi driving full-time. Gutiérrez eventually found work as a
Chicago Public School Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
teacher and later a
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
caseworker with the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services.


Early political career


Campaign for 32nd ward Democratic committeeman

In 1983, Gutiérrez left his job with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to run against incumbent
Dan Rostenkowski Daniel David Rostenkowski (January 2, 1928 – August 11, 2010) was a United States Representative from Chicago, serving for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Congress, especially in matters of t ...
for 32nd ward Democratic committeeman in the March 1984 primary election. To fund his campaign, Gutiérrez returned to driving a cab seven days a week, 14 hours a day. Gutiérrez's work as a taxi driver grew his campaign fund to $6,000, against which Rostenkowski had hundreds of thousands of dollars. Reporting on Gutiérrez's early political career, Jorge Casuso and Ben Joravsky of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' wrote: "Gutiérrez thought he could win.
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
's 1983 victory – the first local race Gutiérrez had voted in – had left him wildly optimistic. Before that, he didn't think blacks, Hispanics and poor people could win a legitimate voice in local government." Relying on his family and friends as campaign staff, Gutiérrez opened up his campaign office on North California Ave in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. Gutiérrez collected over three-fourths of the 2,200 signatures he needed to qualify for the ballot on his own. Rostenkowski, then a twelve-term Congressman and Chair of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee soundly defeated Gutiérrez, with 76% of the vote.


Adviser to Harold Washington

Following Gutiérrez's loss to Dan Rostenkowski, he helped found the
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
Coalition for New Politics in spring of 1984. The coalition was meant to be a grass-roots, independent, and multiracial counterweight to the
Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and ...
. Gutiérrez's political activism and role as a rising leader in Chicago's burgeoning Latino community caught the attention of Chicago's first African-American Mayor – Harold Washington – who appointed him in August 1984 to the position of deputy superintendent in the Department of Streets and Sanitation. Gutiérrez served as a deputy superintendent in the Washington administration and as an administrative assistant to the Mayor – serving on the Mayor's committee on infrastructure. In October 1984, a
Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...
came crashing through the front living room window of Gutiérrez's home. For a period of three months following the firebombing, his family lived in hotel rooms. The offenders were never identified, but Gutiérrez attributed the attack to "culprits from the right ... opposed to reform and Mayor Washington". In July 1985, in an effort to support Washington's political reform movement, Gutiérrez founded the West Town-26th Ward Independent Political Organization (IPO). Like the Cook County Coalition for New Politics, the organization aimed to bring together residents of all races in support of progressive reform in Chicago. The Mayor attended the organization's kick-off event, at which 100 names were added to the mailing list and $5,000 was raised.


1986 Aldermanic election

In December 1985, as a result of a November 1985 ward remap, district court judge Charles Norgle ordered a special election for March 18, 1986, in seven wards, including the 26th. The incumbent alderman of the 26th ward, Michael Nardulli, an Italian-American, chose not to seek re-election in the newly drawn majority Latino district. Gutiérrez declared his candidacy for alderman of the 26th ward and soon received the endorsement of Mayor Harold Washington. At the time of the election, opponents to Washington's administration, led by Ed Vrdolyak of the 10th ward, controlled the City Council. This divide within city government was dubbed by the Chicago media as Council Wars. The 1986 special elections gave Washington the opportunity to take control of the city council. Because the six other special elections were all but decided, control of the council came down to the race in the 26th ward. Manuel Torres, then a member of the Democratic machine and Cook County Commissioner, also entered the race for 26th ward Alderman. Torres was endorsed by Vrdolyak, former mayor
Jane Byrne Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 50th mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April 29, 1983. Prior to her tenure as mayor, Byrne served as Chicago's commissioner of ...
, future mayor and then State's Attorney
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
, and machine Alderman Ed Burke and Dick Mell. Gutiérrez's campaign volunteers were primarily women, "ex-hippies and ... community activists-black, white and Hispanic". With the campaign theme: "Church, Family, Community", support from Mayor Harold Washington – who donated $12,000 to Gutiérrez – and the now 250 members of the West Town-26th Ward Independent Political Organization as volunteers, Gutiérrez bested Torres by 22 votes, a margin not large enough to avoid a run-off against Torres. On the eve of the Gutiérrez-Torres run-off, Spanish language television aired the candidates' final debate. Gutiérrez, who spoke Spanish during the debate, outperformed Torres, who chose to speak entirely in English. Gutiérrez's use of Spanish and his grass-roots organizing are credited for his 53%–47% victory over Torres. Gutiérrez is reported to have said during the election: "My supporters could give a damn about the Democratic Party. They're ready to work on whatever it is that moves socioeconomic justice ahead."


Chicago City Council

Upon entering the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
, Gutiérrez, representing the 26th Ward, became Mayor Harold Washington's unofficial floor leader, and leader of the Latinos in the council. Gutiérrez said of his role as unofficial Washington spokesman: "There are only six or seven of us of the twenty-five ro-Washington aldermanthat say anything. You could say there's only six or seven that have big mouths and want to talk all the time. But I figured it out-there's only six or seven of us that Eddie Vrdolyak doesn't have anything on, that Eddie Vrdolyak hasn't done a favor for, that Eddie Vrdolyak hasn't taken care of some problem, that Eddie Vrdolyak doesn't have some dirt on. So, when you want to get up and take Eddie on, you got to be clean." As a member of the city council, Gutiérrez was a key backer of the 1986 gay rights ordinance – which sought to ban discrimination based upon gender & sexual orientation. He was also a proponent of local economic development and construction of affordable housing. He was referred to as a "workhorse in the city council" by political author Marable Manning. In the 1987 municipal elections, Gutiérrez faced five opponents and was re-elected to the City Council with 66% of the vote. Following Washington's death and the battle over who would succeed the deceased Mayor, Gutiérrez voted for African-American Alderman Timothy C. Evans over machine-backed Alderman
Eugene Sawyer Eugene Sawyer Jr. (September 3, 1934January 19, 2008) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Sawyer was selected by the Chicago City Council as the 53rd Mayor of Chicago, Illinois after the sudden death of then–mayor Harold Was ...
. In the 1989 Mayoral election, Gutiérrez endorsed State's Attorney
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
for Mayor, stating: "I will have a great influence in determining the thrust and tone of the Daley administration`s progressive and liberal agendas." Under Daley's administration, Gutiérrez served as Chair of the Committee on Housing, Land Acquisition, Disposition, and Leases and Council President
pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...
, presiding over meetings in the Mayor's absence.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections

;Election (1992) In 1990, a court order created a new " earmuff-shaped" majority Latino congressional district, with two main sections in Chicago connected by a thin corridor in the suburbs. Four candidates announced their intention to run in the 1992 Democratic primary: Gutiérrez, Alderman Dick Mell of the 33rd ward, then Cook County Board of Appeals Commissioner
Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is an American Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County, Illinois, as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. H ...
, and Juan Soliz, former Alderman of 25th ward. Mell, the only white candidate, entered the race out of his "personal dislike for Gutiérrez". Gutiérrez received the endorsement of Mayor Richard M. Daley, and all but one of his opponents, Juan Soliz, dropped out of the race. Despite the district's majority
Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
population and Soliz's highly negative campaign, Gutiérrez won the Democratic primary 60%-40%. At his election night victory party, Gutiérrez stated: "If a Puerto Rican kid from Humboldt Park can go to the Congress of the United States, it shows the American dream is possible." Billy Ocasio was later tapped to replace Gutierrez in the Chicago City Council in January 1993. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Hildegarde Rodriguez-Schieman 78%-22%. However, the 4th is a heavily Democratic district, and Gutiérrez had effectively clinched a seat in Congress with his primary win. ;Re-elections (1994-2010) In 1994, Gutierrez defeated Soliz in the primary by an even larger margin 64%-36%, and won re-election to a second term in the general election with 75% of the vote. It would prove to be the lowest winning percentage in a general election in his career. From 1996 to 2008, Gutiérrez won re-election seven times, each time with more than 80% of the vote. In 2010, he won re-election to his tenth term with 77% of the vote. Gutierrez pulled his petition for re-election in the 2018 race on November 27, 2017, effectively ending his congressional career. The next day Gutierrez held a press conference, he endorsed Cook County Commissioner Jesús "Chuy" García for the position. He did not rule out running for a future office.


Tenure


Party leadership and caucus membership

In 2009,
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
appointed Gutiérrez Chair of the Democratic Caucus
Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
Task Force. He continued to serve as the Chair of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fo ...
Immigration Task Force until he left Congress. In these roles, he served as the Congress's "leading strategist and spokesperson on immigration issues".


Constituent services

Within his district, he ran workshops which helped more than 50,000 people begin the process of becoming US citizens, as well as programs to support education and English language learning among immigrants. Gutiérrez's district office was the first congressional office to seek and receive community organization designation as a result of the depth and breadth of constituent services it provides.


Consumer rights

In February 2009, Gutiérrez introduced H.R. 1214, the "Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009", co-sponsored by other members of the House of Representatives, including members of the House leadership. H.R. 1214 would cap the
annual percentage rate The term annual percentage rate of charge (APR), corresponding sometimes to a nominal APR and sometimes to an effective APR (EAPR), is the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mort ...
(APR) for
payday loan A payday loan (also called a payday advance, salary loan, payroll loan, small dollar loan, short term, or cash advance loan) is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates. These loans are typically designed to cover ...
s at 391 percent in the 23 states where it is now allowed to exceed 391 percent. Gutiérrez also introduced an amendment to the Dodd-Frank bill that created the
United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday ...
changing the formula by which banks were assessed to support the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bailout fund. The change made assessments based on total assets instead of total deposits, adding $1.4 billion in increased FDIC payments in its first year in force while reducing the cost to smaller community banks.


Immigration reform and immigrant rights

Gutiérrez has been called the "Moses of the Latinos" due to his many years advocating for immigrant rights. In his continued efforts to reform immigration, Gutiérrez has participated in two acts of non-violent civil disobedience outside of the White House. The first took place on May 1, 2010, where, following a speech delivered to hundreds at Lafayette Park, Gutiérrez marched with protesters to the White House and refused to leave until Presidential action was taken on immigration reform or he was arrested. Many of the protesters who joined Gutiérrez had signs that called for a Presidential moratorium on deportation and criticized recent anti-immigrant legislation passed in Arizona – SB 1070. Gutiérrez also joined the protesters in criticizing Arizona Governor
Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...
's decision to sign the measure allowing racial profiling in the state-level enforcement of immigration laws. On July 26, 2011, in response to a record-breaking one-million deportations under President Obama, and the President's continued refusal to stop deportations of DREAM Act eligible youth, Gutiérrez and eleven labor, faith, and civil rights leaders were arrested outside the White House. A crowd of 2,500 came to support Gutiérrez and the eleven other leaders. A day before the arrest, President Obama sent a letter to Gutiérrez in which he stated that he would continue his administration's deportation policy. In 2009, and again in 2011, Gutiérrez went on a nationwide tour in support of comprehensive immigration reform and a moratorium on the deportation of families. The tours received widespread media attention and helped revive the nationwide discussion on immigration reform. Gutiérrez was the main speaker at the historic March 21, 2010, March for America rally at the capitol mall attended by over 200,000 people. Gutiérrez was the first elected official to sponsor a version of the
DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, for illegal immigrants who entered the Unite ...
– legislation to allow undocumented youth brought to the United States as minors a pathway to citizenship – in 2001. In 2009 Gutiérrez introduced CIR-ASAP – Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act – a bill to create a pathway to citizenship for non-criminal undocumented immigrants and improve border security. The bill received over 100 co-sponsors and was endorsed by members of the business community and
organized labor The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
unions, including the
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
,
United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a trade union, labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufa ...
, and the
Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...
. He described the bill before a Washington DC rally: Following CIR-ASAP's defeat in the Congress, Gutiérrez has been a main backer of the DREAM Act in the House. Gutiérrez called former Maryland Governor
Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the 17th commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was th ...
a "champion" of immigration in 2014 when the two were working to oppose the White House's deportation policy.


Veterans' access to health care

While Gutiérrez was a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the House passed legislation introduced by Gutiérrez that made treatment and counseling available to
veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...
who have been victims of sexual trauma. Gutiérrez also successfully expanded healthcare coverage to those exposed to
Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...
and high levels of
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...
during military service. Gutiérrez's assistance was pivotal in securing $92 million in additional healthcare and
prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
funding for veterans.


Puerto Rico

Gutiérrez has been an advocate for human and civil rights of the Puerto Rican people. In the late 1990s and the 2000s, he was a leader in the Vieques movement, which sought to stop the
United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
from using the inhabited island as a bomb testing ground. In May 2000, Gutiérrez was one of nearly two hundred people arrested (including fellow congresswoman
Nydia Velázquez Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano ( , ; born March 28, 1953) is an American politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until Janua ...
) for refusing to leave the natural habitat the US military wished to continue using as a bombing range. Gutierrez was ultimately successful: in May 2003, the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility on Vieques Island was closed; and in May 2004, the U.S. Navy's last remaining base on Puerto Rico, the
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, nicknamed Rosy Roads, is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport. History In 1919, future US Preside ...
- which employed 1,000 local contractors and contributed $300 million to the local economy - was closed. In 2011, Gutiérrez came out against human rights abuses occurring on the island – specifically
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
perpetrated against
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
students critical of the island's government and a law passed by the Fortuño government that sought to limit student's
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
. Gutiérrez also spoke out against a proposed pipeline which would degrade the island's lush tropical habitat and potentially put residents living near the proposed pipeline in danger.


Workers' rights

Gutiérrez is a close ally of organized labor and has voted repeatedly to protect and expand
workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...
. In 2008, Gutiérrez was one of the principal elected officials that assisted workers of the Chicago-based Republic Windows and Doors during their successful sit-in. The workers had lost their jobs without advance notice, allegedly due to a refusal of credit from Bank of America after the bailout of the financial system. He met with workers and helped them broker a deal with
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
. Gutiérrez views his advocacy for workers' rights and immigrant rights as invariably related. He is frequently invited to speak and present before labor unions.


North American Free Trade Agreement

In 1994 Gutiérrez was a vocal opponent of
NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...
and ultimately voted against the measure because of the legislation's failure to provide for worker retraining, protect against American job loss, and protect Mexican workers'
collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...
rights. He criticized the role of
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
in particular for the deficiencies.


Public transportation

When the
Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...
(CTA) declared its plan to close down the
Douglas Branch The Cermak branch, formerly known as the Douglas branch, is a long section of the Pink Line of the Chicago "L" system in Chicago, Illinois. It was built by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated west of the Loop. As of February 2013, it serves an ...
of the then Blue Line – which serves primarily working-class Latino communities – Gutiérrez successfully secured $320 million in federal funding to reconstruct Blue Line stops and pressed the CTA to re-instate full service. The Douglas Branch is now known as the Pink Line.


Use of civil disobedience

With a background as a community activist and organizer, Gutiérrez often uses non-violent
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...
when pushing political causes and legislation. He was arrested in May 2000 in protest of the US military using the inhabited Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a bombing range, and again in May 2010 in protest of presidential inaction on immigration reform. In 2010 and 2011, he was arrested protesting presidential inaction on immigration reform and a record-breaking one-million deportations under President Obama.


Criticism

Gutiérrez's progressive political stances are often challenged by political commentators. Since 2008, Gutiérrez has been the subject of several critical stories in the
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
and
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
, detailing his relationship with former Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...
, and the real estate dealings of Gutierrez and his family.


Committee assignments

Upon arriving to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, Gutiérrez attempted to organize the 63 incoming Democratic freshmen to support a reform agenda. He sent each one a copy of the book ''Adventures in Porkland: How Washington Wastes Your Money and Why They Won't Stop''. As a result of his attempts to organize the freshmen class, Gutiérrez was passed up by the House leadership for his first choice of the
Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...
, and his second choice of the Education Committee; instead, he was assigned to the Banking Committee and
Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...
. In response to being bypassed for his top committee choices as result of his reform advocacy, Gutiérrez charged that then- House Speaker Tom Foley was "not a reformer in any sense". Congressman Gutiérrez sat on the following House Committees: * Committee on the Judiciary ** Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Border Security, ** Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations; Gutiérrez was a member of the Judiciary Committee during the 110th and 111th Congress, serving on the Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee. During that same period of time, he was the Chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit of the Financial Services Committee. Gutiérrez was a member of the House Baltic Caucus, the Congressional Arts Caucus and the
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advan ...
.


Mayoral candidacy speculation

Gutiérrez' name has often been mentioned as a potential candidate for
Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...
. In 2006, he explored running for mayor of Chicago against incumbent
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
, but announced in November that he would remain in Congress. After Daley declared his retirement in 2011, Gutiérrez' name was once again floated as a potential mayoral candidate. In an effort to draft the Congressman into the race, students formed chapters of "Students for Luis Gutiérrez" at six colleges and two Chicago public high schools; but in October, Gutiérrez removed his name from consideration, stating, "I have an obligation not to give up on the fight I've already begun. I have unfinished business to complete", in reference to his work on immigration reform in the United States Congress. After mayor
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
dropped out of the 2019 mayoral election in early September 2018, Gutiérrez stated that he was considering either running himself, or having Jesús "Chuy" García (the 2015 mayoral runner-up who was, at the time, running as the Democratic nominee to succeed Gutiérrez in congress) run for mayor. Ultimately, on September 12 (a week after declaring interest), he opted against running, and publicly called for Garcia to run. By the start of October, Garcia had declared that he would not be running either.


Personal life

Gutiérrez has been married to Soraida Arocho Gutiérrez since 1977. Together, they have two daughters – Omaira and Jessica. Jessica's middle name – Washington – comes from the late Mayor
Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...
, a close friend and mentor of Gutiérrez. Soraida battled and survived cancer in the 2000s.
Roberto Maldonado Roberto Maldonado is an American politician who served as the alderman of the 26th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois from 2009 to 2023. Early life, education, and early career, Children Maldonado earned both his undergraduate and his mast ...
, 26th ward alderman and former Cook County Commissioner, is Gutiérrez' former brother-in-law. Gutiérrez is an avid golfer.


Electoral history


See also

* List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress


References


External links

* * ;Articles
BuzzFlash Interviews: Congressman Luis Gutierrez
June 20, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Luis 1953 births Puerto Rican people in Illinois politics Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Living people Northeastern Illinois University alumni Politicians from Chicago American taxi drivers American politicians of Puerto Rican descent 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives