Pedro Pierluisi
Encyclopedia
Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...

 (PNP) and the United States Democratic Party. He is the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...

 to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, having won the November 4, 2008 general election.

Education and private life

Pierluisi was born in 1959 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

. He attended Colegio Marista
Colegio Marista Guaynabo
Colegio Marista Guaynabo is a Roman Catholic coeducational school in Puerto Rico.-History:In 1963, a group of families interested in having a catholic education for their boys, expressed their interest to the Archbishop of San Juan, Monsignor Jaime Davila for the creation of the school.On...

 of Guaynabo
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Guaynabo is a municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas; south of Cataño; east of Bayamón; and west of San Juan...

, graduating in 1977. In 1981, he received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in American History from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, and later earned a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 (J.D.) degree from George Washington University Law School in 1984. He was President of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, Inc. , based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States...

 chapter at Tulane University. Later, he was President of the George Washington University International Law Society from 1982-1983. During his studies at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

, Pierluisi interned at the congressional office of then Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

 Baltasar Corrada del Rio
Baltasar Corrada del Río
Baltasar Corrada del Río is a former politician from Puerto Rico. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner , Mayor of the capital city of San Juan , Puerto Rico's 15th Secretary of State and...

.

Pierluisi first practiced law as a private attorney in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 from 1984 until 1990. Notably, Mr. Pierluisi was one of the lead attorneys representing the government of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 in its lawsuit against the Hunt brothers for trying to corner the silver market in the late 1970s. The lawsuit resulted in a $180 million damages award for the plaintiff. He then practiced law in Puerto Rico from 1990 until 1993. He is married to María Elena Carrión, president of Multicultural Ventures LLC and has three sons, Anthony, Michael,and Rafael, and one daughter, Jacqueline.

Secretary of Justice

In 1993, recently elected Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...

 Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, M.D., , is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the sixth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001...

 appointed Pierluisi Secretary of Justice (Attorney General) of his new administration. The Senate of Puerto Rico
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...

 unanimously confirmed him. As Secretary, Pierluisi presided over 500 prosecutors and recruited 50 additional prosecutors for the Puerto Rico Department of Justice
Puerto Rico Department of Justice
The Puerto Rico Department of Justice, headed by the Attorney General, has been in existence, in one form or another since Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony...

, increased level of criminal convictions in court, increased prosecution of cases referred by the Office of the Puerto Rico Controller, and increased referrals to the Puerto Rico Special Independent Prosecutor. In 1994, Pierluisi worked with President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

's administration in promoting what eventually became the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, , , was an act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement that became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the US at 356 pages and will provide for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons and...

. Pierluisi's own brother, José Jaime Pierluisi
José Jaime Pierluisi
José Jaime Pierluisi was an economic adviser to Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Rosselló from 1993 until his death during a carjacking on June 7, 1994.A cum laude graduate of Harvard College and the recipient of an M.B.A...

, also an economic productivity advisor to Governor Rosselló, was murdered during a carjacking outside his home on June 7, 1994.

Crime Prevention and Security became the administration's top priority, and Pierluisi intensely lobbied in Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 for specialized funds towards the fight against crime. On November 2, 1994, Pierluisi and the Rosselló Administration achieved Puerto Rico's designation as the United States' seventh High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program is a drug-prohibition enforcement program run by the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy...

 (HIDTA), which enabled Puerto Rico to receive millions of dollars in funding to stem drug trafficking in Puerto Rico. He also served as Vice President of the Interagency Office of HIDTA. He was also active in the National Association of Attorneys General
National Association of Attorneys General
The National Association of Attorneys General is an organization of 56 state and territorial attorneys general in the United States...

 (NAAG) and was elected Chair of the organization's Eastern Region in 1996. Pierluisi served as Secretary of Justice until the end of Governor Rosselló's first term.

Private practice

Pierluisi returned to private practice in 1997 as a partner in the prestigious Puerto Rico law firm O'Neill & Borges. At O'Neill & Borges, Pierluisi's practice concentrated in complex commercial and construction litigation, alternative dispute resolution and legislative and regulatory affairs. In addition, he served as Director of the University of Puerto Rico Foundation (1997–2001) and Director of the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association (1993–2003). Pierluisi also worked as Director of the José Jaime Pierluisi Foundation, dedicated to the memory of his slain brother, and was its president from 2003-2006. He also worked as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association
American Arbitration Association
The American Arbitration Association is a private enterprise in the business of arbitration, and one of several arbitration organizations that administers arbitration proceedings. The AAA also administers mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. It is headquartered in New York...

's International Centre for Dispute Resolution and for the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...

 during this time.

Political career

On May 18, 2007, Pierluisi announced his candidacy for Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

, Puerto Rico's sole delegate to the United States Congress in the November 2008 elections. He accompanied then current Resident Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...

 in the March 9, 2008 NPP primary ticket. Fortuño was a classmate at Colegio Marista, a fellow founding member of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, Inc. , based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States...

 in 1979, and also a fellow cabinet member of Pierluisi's during Governor Rosselló's first term from 1993-1996.

According to the candidate reports filed before the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Pierluisi led the other NPP candidates by a ten-to-one margin in fundraising, having raised over $450,000 in 2007, while opponent Charlie Rodriguez
Charlie Rodríguez
Charles "Charlie" Rodríguez is a New York City-born Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party . He served as the eleventh President of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1997 until 2000.-Early life:...

 had only raised $47,000 and Dr. Miriam Ramírez had not reported any fundraising. He also leads in fundraising among the four candidates to succeed Resident Commissioner Fortuño in the Nov. 4, 2008 general election.

On March 9, 2008, Pierluisi won the primary with 61% of the vote against former Senate President Charlie Rodriguez, who polled 33%, and former Sen. Miriam Ramírez, who obtained 6% of the vote. Pierluisi's runningmate, Luis Fortuño, also won the NPP nomination for governor with nearly 60% of primary votes.

Pedro Pierluisi endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 to the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. He served as co-chair of Obama's campaign in Puerto Rico.

Service in the House of Representatives

On November 4, 2008, he won the post of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years...

 with over 53% of the vote. He was sworn in on January 6, 2009 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...

.

Congressman Pierluisi is a member of the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party
The New Progressive Party is a name used by various political parties:* New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico* New Progressive Party -See also:*Progressive Party *List of political parties by name...

 in Puerto Rico which advocates statehood for the Island territory. He and Governor Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...

, both of the New Progressive Party, obtained the largest margin of victory in Puerto Rico in the past 44 years garnering a mandate of over one million votes. Pedro Pierluisi is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

. He is the sole representative in Congress of the four million American citizens who reside on the Island.

On May 19, 2009, Pierluisi filed HR 2499, a bill to provide for a two-tiered referendum in Puerto Rico to allow Puerto Ricans to express their opinion regarding Puerto Rico's ultimate political status http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-garcia/puerto-ricos-path-to-stat_b_241377.html. The bill's 90 original co-sponsors exceeds the 80 original co-sponsors in HR 900, filed by his predecessor, Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...

. HR 2499 passed the house on April 30, 2010 with a vote of 223-169.

US Congressional Delegation at the 5th Summit of the Americas

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi represented Puerto Rico as part of the US Congressional Delegation at the 5th Summit of the Americas
5th Summit of the Americas
The Fifth Summit of the Americas was held at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobagofrom April 17 to 19, 2009.Organizers planned for the Fifth Summit to focus on a wide-ranging theme: "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental...

. As part of their agenda, the Congressional delegation will hold a meeting with President Barack Obama. Additionally, Congressman Pierluisi also had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "The vast majority of Puerto Ricans cherish their citizenship and their relationship with the United States, they appreciate that I am here as part of the U.S. delegation, and they have no doubts whatsoever that their interests go hand in hand with the interests of their fellow Americans before the international organizations," said Congressman Pierluisi.

In the midst of a hearing attended by the US Congressional Delegation, the Secretary General of the Organization of American
States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza, and about other 50 foreign dignitaries and diplomats, Congressman Pierluisi expressed pride in
being Puerto Rico’s sole representative. The Congressional Delegation, including Congressman Pierluisi, had the opportunity to meet with the presidents of various Latin American Countries. Among the dignitaries with whom they met were the President of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, President-elect of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, and the President of Panama, Martin Torrijos.

Additionally, Congressman Pierluisi held separate meetings with the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet; the President of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez; the President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya; the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa; the President of Haiti, Rene Preval; the President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo; and the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.

Pierluisi also had informal talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom.
On March 21, 2011, it was revealed that Pedro Pierluisi claimed $2.1 million in expenses, topping House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by $257,000, according to a report issued Monday by the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes government transparency.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Ethics
  • Committee on the Judiciary
    United States House Committee on the Judiciary
    The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...

    • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
      United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
      The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee.-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...

    • Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement
  • Committee on Natural Resources
    • Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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