Condensed Bio

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey is currently serving her fifteenth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988.

Lowey has been described as “courageous” by The New York Times, “terrific” by Newsday, and one of “New York's key Members of Congress” by the New York Daily News. The Journal News called Congresswoman Lowey “one of the most influential Members of Congress.”  And Congressional Quarterly cited her as one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress, saying she “maneuvers skillfully through the appropriations process.”

At the beginning of the 113th Congress, Congresswoman Lowey was selected by her colleagues to be the Ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She is the first woman to lead either party on the House Appropriations Committee.

Few members of Congress have taken key leadership roles on so many vital public policy issues. Lowey has led the effort to make our nation more secure by improving first responders’ preparedness and equipment and preparing for a possible avian flu pandemic. She has worked to increase health care access and biomedical research and spearheaded the effort to more than double funding for breast cancer research. A strong proponent of education, she has successfully fought efforts to cut funding for public broadcasting and has supported fully funding the federal government’s commitment to education at all levels. Because she understands that instability abroad undermines security at home, she is a fierce advocate for increasing developmental assistance abroad on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

Lowey served in the House Democratic Leadership in 2001 and 2002 as the first woman and first New Yorker to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lowey was born in the Bronx; graduated from the Bronx High School of Science; and received a Bachelor's Degree from Mount Holyoke College. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for the State of New York before being elected to Congress. Nita and Stephen Lowey have been married for 50 years and have three grown children and eight grandchildren.