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BIOGRAPHY

Brief Biography Click to read Mike's detailed bio

Representative Michael E. Capuano
 

Michael Everett Capuano is serving his seventh term as a Representative in Congress for Massachusetts' Eighth District, which includes Cambridge, Chelsea, Somerville and approximately 70% of Boston. He is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Financial Services. In November of 2006, Mike was appointed to head the Transition by then Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi as Democrats prepared for a majority role in the 110th Congress. In January of 2007, Speaker Pelosi appointed Mike to chair the Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement. In March of 2008, a resolution establishing an Office of Congressional Ethics was passed, involving non-Members of the House in ethics matters for the first time in history.

Mike works for his constituents on local, national and international levels. On the local level, as Massachusetts' only Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, he fought to protect Massachusetts' share of federal transportation dollars. Through his efforts, Massachusetts received more than $5 billion over six years. As a Member of the Financial Services Committee, Mike succeeded in providing assistance for the development of new intergenerational housing for grandparents raising their grandchildren and he significantly expanded the number of Massachusetts citizens eligible for affordable home loans.

On the national level, moved by the story of a young man forced out of school and into hiding after telling authorities of a crime he witnessed, Mike filed the "Young Witness Assistance Act" to create a grant program at the Department of Justice for locally developed juvenile witness assistance initiatives. Mike also succeeded in passing a law to require Medicare coverage for vision rehabilitation services. These services help restore safety and independence to seniors who suffer from vision loss.

On the international level, Mike co-founded and co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Sudan. He has emerged as a leading Congressional voice, fighting the ongoing atrocities and genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. He even secured an additional $50 million in funding for the African Union Mission in Sudan.

Prior to serving in Congress, Mike was the Mayor of Somerville, MA from January of 1990 through December of 1998. He was born in Somerville in 1952 to Andrew Capuano of Somerville and Rita Garvey Capuano of Allston-Brighton and Dorchester. He graduated from Somerville High School, received a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College in 1973, and a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1977. He passed the Massachusetts Bar in 1977.

Mike is married to Barbara Teebagy Capuano. Barbara also graduated from Somerville High School, received her B.S. from Boston State College in 1974 and earned her MBA from Babson College in 1976. Barbara became a Certified Public Accountant in 1978. They have two sons, Michael and Joseph. Both graduated from Massachusetts colleges and are currently working in the Commonwealth.

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