Henry Cuellar

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Henry Cuellar

Henry Roberto Cuellar (born September 19, 1955 in Laredo , Texas ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . Since 2005 he has represented the south of the state of Texas in the United States House of Representatives . He is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress.

Family, education and work

Henry Cuellar is the son of the Mexican Americans Odilia and Martin Siller Cuellar, who married in 1953. Both parents did not have a high formal education and spoke poor English . They moved from Texas to Utah , Colorado and Idaho as a seasonal farm worker , and returned to Texas when their father got a job as a gardener and manager of a ranch in Laredo . Henry Cuellar grew up as the oldest of eight siblings in the local Las Lomas district; parents valued education, discipline, and achievement.

He attended Nixon High School and graduated from Laredo Junior College in 1976 summa cum laude . He then studied until 1978 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC , which he completed with a bachelor's degree in the Foreign Service . Cuellar also studied at Texas A&M University until 1982 , where he graduated with a Masters in International Trade. He completed his law degree at the University of Texas in 1981 with a Juris Doctor , and in 1982 he received a Master of Business Administration in international trade from Texas A&M University. In 1998 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas. in Government , his fifth degree overall. He was admitted to the bar and became self-employed in 1981. In 1983 he received a license as a customs agent . From 1982 to 1986 Cuellar worked as a political teacher at his former college and from 1984 to 1986 taught international trade law at Texas A&M University .

The Catholic Cuellar is married and has two daughters. He lives privately in Laredo. His brother, Martin, is the Sheriff of Webb County , and his sister, Rosie, is a municipal judge in Laredo.

Political career

Between 1987 and 2001, Cuellar sat as a member of the 42nd constituency of a large part of Laredo in the Texas House of Representatives and won the biennial primaries and main elections between 1986 and 2000 without opposing candidates. In 2001 he was appointed Republican governor of the state of Texas, Rick Perry , the Secretary of State , the executive officials of the state government. He held this office for eight months.

Cuellar stood for the first time in the 2002 election for the United States House of Representatives in the 23rd Congressional constituency of Texas, which at that time included Laredo and large parts of the Texan rural west along the border river Rio Grande . He lost 47 to 52 percentage points to the long-time Republican mandate holder Henry Bonilla and planned to challenge him again in the 2004 election . By redesigning the constituencies, most of the city of Laredo was added to the 28th congressional electoral district, previously represented by the Democrat Ciro Rodriguez . Both fought a tough argument in the Democratic primary for the 28th district, which Cuellar won by 58 votes after the second count; at the first count, Rodriguez was still ahead with 145 votes. Cuellar won the main election with 59 percent of the vote. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC since January 3, 2005 and, after another minor change in the constituency boundaries, represents a district in southern Texas that extends from the eastern suburbs of San Antonio to the border with Mexico and completely includes the border town of Laredo . In all subsequent elections, most recently re-elected in 2018, his current mandate runs until January 3, 2021. He is or was a member of the Agriculture Committee , the Committee on Internal Security and the Approval Committee and four sub-committees. As the only Democrat on the powerful Grants Committee, Cuellar holds an important position within his faction and channeled a lot of federal funds into his constituency, including a total of $ 100 million for Laredo Airport.

Cuellar improved the initially bad relations with his group colleagues by cultivating personal relationships and strength in fundraising. For example, Cuellar supported the presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the intra-party primary campaign for the 2008 election early in 2007 and held a fundraising event for her that raised more than $ 200,000. In 2018, he was criticized within the party when he raised funds for his re-election at an event held by his Republican colleague on the Grants Committee, John Carter . The Democrats figured their candidate, veteran MJ Hegar , had a chance against Carter in the 31st Congressional constituency of Texas. Cuellar replied to the criticism that he was transferring most of the money from all Texas Democrats to their campaign arm. Cuellar ruled out a change of party, which has repeatedly been speculated about. He has left open a state-wide candidacy - for the United States Senate or as governor .

Positions

Cuellar is considered a conservative democrat. According to Govtrack , he had the second most right-wing voting behavior of all Democrats in the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress after Collin Peterson . In the 2000 presidential election , he spoke out in favor of the Republican George W. Bush and was one of his supporters for a long time in his subsequent administration, while he repeatedly criticized the Democratic President Barack Obama and worked with the Republican Senator John Cornyn . However, Cuellar voted for the Obamacare health care reform, which is also controversial among Democrats . During Donald Trump's presidency , Cuellar voted with the president nearly 69 percent of the time (as of September 2018), despite representing a Democratic-safe constituency that gave Clinton an almost 20 percent lead over Trump in the 2016 presidential election .

When it comes to immigration policy, Cuellar takes a less permissive line than most of his party. As the only Democrat in the House of Representatives, he approved a bill to make it easier to deport minors who have immigrated illegally from Central America. Cuellar justified his decision by saying that one had to take a stand against illegal immigration, but at the same time he advocated comprehensive immigration reform and humanitarian aid for refugees. Cuellar maintains close relationships with some important Mexican politicians such as Enrique Peña Nieto and advocates intensifying relations. One of his political priorities since the 1980s has been improving educational opportunities. He was instrumental in introducing the Texas Grant scholarship program.

A primary school in Laredo is named after Cuellar.

Web links

Commons : Henry Cuellar  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

supporting documents

  1. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014; Mary Mills Heidbrink: Cuellar taught her eight children from the heart. In: My San Antonio , December 22, 2015.
  2. ^ Henry Cuellar's Biography. In: Vote Smart.
  3. ^ Henry Cuellar's Biography. In: Vote Smart.
  4. ^ Mary Mills Heidbrink: Cuellar taught her eight children from the heart. In: My San Antonio , December 22, 2015.
  5. ^ US Rep. Henry Cuellar. In: Texas Tribune ; Cuellar, Henry. In: Our Campaigns.
  6. ↑ See the changed borders of the Texas congressional electoral district in 2003 and 2005 .
  7. ↑ Cuellar, Henry. In: Our Campaigns.
  8. ^ Greg Giroux: Rodriguez's Upset Win in Texas 23 Yields Another Seat for Dems. In: The New York Times , December 12, 2006. See Texas Congressional Constituency Change Boundaries in 2005 and 2007 .
  9. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014.
  10. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014; Abby Livingston: In the US House, Democrat Henry Cuellar raises eyebrows by fundraising for Republican John Carter. In: Texas Tribune , September 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Rep. Henry Cuellar. In: Govtrack.
  12. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014; Abby Livingston: In the US House, Democrat Henry Cuellar raises eyebrows by fundraising for Republican John Carter. In: Texas Tribune , September 11, 2018.
  13. ^ Tracking Congress in the Age of Trump: Henry Cuellar. In: FiveThirtyEight .
  14. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014.
  15. ^ David McCumber: Cuellar: from migrant family to increasing clout in Congress. In: Houston Chronicle , Sept. 28, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Cuellar, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cuellar, Henry Roberto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Democratic Party politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Laredo , Texas