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Niki Tsongas represents the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts which is made up of twenty-nine cities and towns including the old industrial cities of Haverhill, Methuen, Lawrence and Lowell in the Merrimack Valley, as well as the Boston suburbs of Concord, Acton, Wayland and Sudbury.  A resident of Lowell now serving her third term in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Tsongas was elected to Congress in a Special Election in 2007.

The first woman from Massachusetts elected to Congress in twenty-five years, Tsongas has dedicated herself to strengthening the health of our cities and has made accessibility a hallmark of her Congressional office.  With three offices in Lowell, Lawrence, and Acton, and office hours in Haverhill, she has worked to make it as easy as possible for residents to connect with her about any issue of concern to them or to get assistance with problems they may have when dealing with federal agencies. 

Niki is known for her roots in the Fifth District and her years of public service to the region. The Lowell Sun described Niki Tsongas as having “experience, dedication and deep understanding of the 5th District as a whole.”  Accordingly, she knows that small businesses are the key to economic development and job growth and she works in a variety of ways both at home and in Washington to support the many diverse small businesses located in the Fifth District. She has been the chief advocate for tax credits that encourage businesses to locate and expand their workforce in older industrialized cities. Niki has championed legislation that provides innovative businesses in Massachusetts with tools to hire more workers while increasing our global competitiveness.  She has also introduced bipartisan legislation to provide immediate tax relief to small business owners who were forced to make withdrawals from their 401(k)s and IRAs to keep their businesses going during the small business credit crunch. 

Tsongas serves on the House Armed Services Committee, a position she sought out when first elected.  The Fifth District has a long history of military service which is reflected both in the number of residents who serve in the active duty military as well as in the number veterans who call the Fifth District home.  Tsongas also represents one of the largest concentrations of defense related employers in the country that manufacture the products, develop the technology and create the jobs that keep our nation strong and our servicemembers safe.

As a member of the Armed Services Committee, and serving on the Military Personnel and the Air, Land Subcommittees, Tsongas has pushed for development of lightweight body armor and new measures to better prevent and respond to incidents of sexual assault in the military. 

Tsongas also serves on the Natural Resources Committee which oversees legislation related to domestic energy production, National Parks, rivers, forests, oceans and wilderness areas.  Tsongas serves on the National Parks Subcommittee where she works to support the success of the first urban national park in Lowell and expand this pioneering concept to other urban communities. 

Tsongas grew up the eldest of four sisters in a military family, an experience that would shape much of her approach to life—teaching her the purpose of service and sacrifice, the importance of working for your community, and the value of family.  Her father, Colonel Russell Elmer Sauvage, served as a civil engineer in the United States Air Force and was a survivor of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor.

By the time Niki was 14, her family had been stationed at air bases all across the US and Europe, including California, Texas, Virginia, and Germany, where her father was part of the team that oversaw the build out of Ramstein Air Force Base—the very air base currently used to bring US soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Niki attended an American high school in Japan while her father was stationed at Fuchu Air Force Base and then spent one year at Michigan State before attending Smith College in Northampton, MA.

In 1967, with her father now stationed at the Pentagon, Niki spent the summer between her junior and senior years in Alexandria, Virginia.  It was then that she met Paul Tsongas who was working as an intern for then Fifth District Congressman Brad Morse.

In 1969, Paul and Niki were married and took up permanent residence in Lowell, which she’s described as “the only hometown I've ever known.” 

Paul served the city of Lowell and eventually the entire Commonwealth as a Lowell City Councilor, Middlesex County Commissioner, US Representative, US Senator.  However, in September of 1983 the Tsongas family was forced to rethink all their aspirations and face their toughest challenge when Paul was diagnosed with cancer.

Paul chose not to seek reelection in order to focus on treatment for his illness and spend more time with his young family. Leaving Washington, Niki attended law school and held the family together while pushing Paul to fight the disease. He wrote at the time, “Niki could be a tough battler in ways that her gentleness did not suggest.”

After a bone marrow transplant, Paul beat back the cancer. Five years later, in 1991, he announced his candidacy for President of the United States.  Niki helped her husband run an inspired campaign that many observers say defined the national debate that year.  Sadly, in 1996, Paul faced a second well-known fight this time with complications from cancer treatments, which he lost in 1997.

Inspired by their life together, Niki continued her dedication to public service, building on what she and Paul had accomplished. Prior to being elected to Congress, she was the Dean of External Affairs at Middlesex Community College, the largest community college in the Commonwealth.  As a committed community leader in Lowell, actively serving on the Lowell Civic Stadium and Arena Commission which oversees the Tsongas Arena and the LeLacheur Ballpark, the Lowell Plan and the Merrimack Repertory Theater, Niki continued to work for the revitalization of the city she has called home for 40 years.  And, she's been the member of numerous corporate and non-profit boards because of her strong belief that business must be constructively engaged in the fight for social and environmental justice.  But of all her accomplishments, Niki is most proud of her three daughters, Ashley, Katina and Molly, who like their parents, have also met the call of public service.