Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter is one of the most powerful and unique figures in the House of Representatives. The only microbiologist in Congress, Rep. Slaughter was first elected in 1986 and is now serving her 14th term in Congress.

Representing the 25th Congressional District of New York State, she works tirelessly on behalf of the district and her constituents know her as a fighter for increased economic development across Western New York.

Over the years, Rep. Slaughter has earned a reputation for her dedication to constituent service while simultaneously being a strong progressive voice on a host of national issues, from the war in Afghanistan and global trade to government reform and genetics.

Congresswoman Slaughter is a member of the House Democratic Leadership. In 2007, she became the first woman to serve as Chairwoman of the influential House Committee on Rules, a position that allowed her to influence nearly every single piece of legislation that comes to the House floor for a vote. She held that position from 2007 until 2011.  She is currently Ranking Member of the House Committee on Rules.

Congresswoman Slaughter also serves on the prestigious Democratic Steering & Policy Committee, and is Chair of two congressional caucuses: the Congressional Arts Caucus and the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, of which she was a founding member.

As the only microbiologist in Congress - with a master's degree in public health - Rep. Slaughter has long played a role in the major health and science issues of our time.

Rep. Slaughter, who was first elected to Congress in 1986, holds a Bachelor of Science degree (1951) in Microbiology and a Master of Science degree (1953) in Public Health from the University of Kentucky. Prior to entering Congress, she served in the New York State Assembly (1982-86) and the Monroe County (N.Y.) Legislature (1976-79); and as regional coordinator to then-Secretary of State Mario Cuomo (1976-78) and to then-Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo (1979-82).

A native of Harlan County, Kentucky, Congresswoman Slaughter has lived most of her life in Rochester's suburb of Fairport. She is married to Robert Slaughter and has three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Accomplishments

As the only microbiologist in Congress, Rep. Slaughter has long played a leading role in addressing the major health and science issues of our time. Rep. Slaughter played a leading role in crafting and passing the Affordable Care Act, consistently fighting to make sure the bill was fully paid for and would not contribute to the deficit. Recently, she has received broad support for her authorship of PAMTA, a bill that would preserve seven types of antibiotics from overuse by farm livestock. She is also a leading Congressional expert on genetics issues, and wrote cutting-edge legislation to protect Americans from genetic discrimination, which has now become law. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prevents discrimination by health insurance providers and employers based on genetic makeup. GINA passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush in May 2008. The bill has been called "the first civil rights legislation for the 21st century."

A tireless promoter of economic development, Rep. Slaughter has emerged as the leading proponent in New York for federal investment in high speed rail. She was instrumental in winning federal grants for the first tier of rail investments across Western New York in 2010.

As one of the leading advocates in Congress for women's rights, Rep. Slaughter is consistently engaged in legislation and advocacy on both a local and national level. She previously served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues in the 108th Congress, and continues to serve as co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus.

Along with Vice President Joe Biden and others Slaughter co-authored the historic Violence Against Women Act in 1994 and wrote legislation to make permanent the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women Office.

She is leading the fight against sexual assault in the military, and organized a hearing on the issue in March 2004 that garnered national attention. Rep. Slaughter authored an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill in FY05 to require the Pentagon to put in place comprehensive policies and procedures to deal with sexual assault in the military.

In November 2004, she introduced landmark legislation to make further changes to end sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking in the military. She has continued to reintroduce this bill each Congress.

Rep. Slaughter has won historic increases in funding for women's health. As a member of the House Budget Committee in the early 1990s, she secured the first $500 million earmarked by Congress for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She fought for legislation guaranteeing that women and minorities are included in all federal health trials and establishing an Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) at NIH and was later honored with its "Visionary for Women's Health Research" award, on the ORWH's tenth anniversary. She has also introduced a bill to direct NIH to fund up to six centers nationwide to focus on women's health and the environment, as well as a bill to increase research on the impact of hormone disruptors on women's health.

Representative Office: www.Louise.House.gov