Ranking Member Nita M. Lowey

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) is currently serving her thirteenth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and served in the Democratic Leadership in 2001 and 2002 as the first woman and the first New Yorker to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  She is also the first woman to lead either party on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

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 Lowey “one of the most influential Members of Congress.”

At the beginning of the 113th Congress, Lowey was selected by her colleagues to be the Ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Lowey is an extremely effective, committed legislator with a substantial record. Congressional Quarterly called her one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress, saying she “maneuvers skillfully through the appropriations process,” and Newsday said she “delivers for New York.”

Few members of Congress have taken key leadership roles on so many vital public policy issues. Lowey is a leading Congressional proponent of educational opportunity, health care quality and biomedical research, improved homeland security preparedness, stricter public safety laws, environmental protection, women's issues, a leading international role for the United States, and national security.

Also serving as the Ranking Member on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Lowey has also worked to ensure that diplomacy and development remain key pillars of our national security strategy, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Called “one of the engines of pro-Israel activity on Capitol Hill” by the Forward, Lowey has been a leading Congressional proponent of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and the Appropriations Committee's chief advocate of the annual U.S. aid package to Israel. In 2007, she was chosen by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve as a member of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, recommended by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission to coordinate classified programs and funding.

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.