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Ted is sworn-in as a
Member of Congress.
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Congressman Ted Deutch, 46, represents Florida's 19th district in the U.S. House of Representatives. His priorities in the 112th Congress include strengthening the health and financial security of America's retirees, creating economic opportunity for South Florida families, and advancing the security interests of the United States, Israel, and our international allies. Ted first won election to Congress in a special election held on April 13, 2010 and was then elected to serve a full term on November 4, 2010.
An Assistant Whip to Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, he has been highlighted by the Washington newspaper Roll Call as a young, rising voice in the House Democratic Caucus, and was named one of America's top Jewish politicians to watch by the Forward newspaper.
Despite his relatively short tenure in Congress, Ted has hit the ground running with several prominent legislative initiatives. His plan to protect Social Security and improve retirement benefits for all Americans, the Preserving Our Promise to Seniors Act, has been highlighted by The New York Times for its comprehensive approach to strengthening our nation's most successful domestic program. As a member of the House Democratic Seniors Task Force, Ted has fought efforts to privatize Medicare, shift costs to seniors, and balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable and elderly citizens. His work advocating for federally-funded stem cell research, affordable health care for all Americans, and support for Americans with disabilities has been recognized by the American Cancer Society, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and other national organizations.
Ted also gained national recognition for authoring the Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Amendment, the most widely supported constitutional amendment introduced in the 112th Congress to overturn the Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United v. FEC decision. He has worked closely with a coalition of national advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, People for the American Way, Communications Workers of America, Move to Amend, and the Center for Media and Democracy, to support the growing grassroots movement of Americans determined to get money out of politics.
As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a lifelong activist in the pro-Israel community, Ted is an established leader on issues surrounding Iran's illicit nuclear weapons program. Two pieces of legislation he sponsored during the 112th Congress, the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act and the Iran Human Rights and Democracy Promotion Act, earned strong bipartisan support and were later adopted into a larger package of sanctions on Iran. Most recently, he introduced the Iranian Energy Sector and Proliferation Sanctions Act, a bill that aims to stop the Iranian regime from using the nation's vast energy sector as a financial pipeline for its nuclear ambitions.
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Ted with his wife, Jill, and
their three children.
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Ted and his wife of 20 years, Jill Deutch, have lived in South Florida since 1998. They live in the community of West Boca Raton with their three children, each of whom attend Palm Beach County public schools. Born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Ted is the youngest son of Jean and the late Bernard Deutch, a World War II veteran who earned a Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School, Ted's passion for public service earned him the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
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