Silvestre Reyes, Democratic Candidate For U.S. Rep. Dist. 16

Silvestre Reyes is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Representative Dist. 16.

His Website is www.reyesforcongress.com.

About: Congressman Silvestre Reyes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, becoming the first Hispanic to represent El Paso in Congress. Ten years later, on January 3, 2007, as Democrats took back control of Congress, Reyes assumed the Chairmanship of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the influential committee that oversees the nation’s intelligence community. He is one of two Hispanic Members of Congress to chair full committees. In his first year in charge, Reyes has worked to protect your security and personal freedoms. Moreover, after the nation was misled into an ill-advised war on the back of flawed intelligence, he has reestablished effective and responsible Congressional oversight of the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies.

Reyes was born and raised in the community of Canutillo in El Paso’s Upper Valley. One of nine children of Rafael and Estela Reyes, Reyes has been married to his beautiful wife Carolina for 39 years. Together they have three children and four grandchildren. He is known as “Silver” by his friends and colleagues.

After serving his country in Vietnam, Reyes decided to commit his life to public service, beginning his 26 years of service in the U.S. Border Patrol in 1969. After his tenure as an agent, he was tapped as Assistant Regional Commissioner in Dallas, where he administered $100 million in programs over a 13 state area before being promoted to Sector Chief. From 1984 to 1995, Reyes led Border Patrol efforts in McAllen and then El Paso, two of the agency’s busiest and most important sectors.

As a chief, he quickly became known as one of the government’s strongest, most effective, and most innovative border policy leaders. In McAllen and El Paso, Reyes initiated forward-thinking programs such as the Border Patrol’s National Anti-Drug School Education Program, the Border Patrol’s Canine Program, and Operation Hold the Line. Operation Hold the Line continues as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection strategy for the entire Southwest border and earned Reyes recognition from the White House, Congress, Department of Justice, and Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as numerous local, state, national and international organizations.

Reyes came to Congress to give the border region a broader focus in Washington. During his six terms on the job, he has emerged as a leader on intelligence, immigration and border, military, and veterans issues, often authoring key components of big pieces of legislation. His seats on the Armed Services, Intelligence, and Veterans Affairs Committees have allowed him the opportunity to make this country more secure, provide needed oversight over executive intelligence programs, and do what’s right by our troops and this nation’s veterans.

Much of Reyes’ hard work in Washington has culminated in from the Pentagon that Fort Bliss would expand by 300 percent due to Base Realignment and Closure moves, overseas rebasing, and the Army’s Grow the Force initiative. The total military population in the region will exceed 40,000 once the Fort Bliss moves are completed and a new brigade combat team is establishe at White Sands Missile Range. Additionally, the military is developing and testing the innovative Future Combat Systems (FCS) at Fort Bliss. This new Evaluation Task Force and the Army’s new Future Force Integration Directorate at Fort Bliss, which Congressman Reyes and community leaders fought to bring to El Paso, will generate hundreds of high-tech jobs for the community – and hopefully start what could in the future be a center of high-tech contracting work, meaning thousands more jobs.

In addition, Reyes is proud of his accomplishments for El Paso, the border, and the country in other fields, such as immigration and border security, border commerce, small business, education, water and flood control, and healthcare, among others. He has focused on reducing wait times at El Paso’s international bridges; legislated to broaden opportunities for El Paso small businesses; fought to bring good teachers to high-need areas like El Paso and millions of dollars to Hispanic Serving Institutions like UTEP and EPCC; secured tens of millions of dollars for El Paso water, wastewater, storm water, and flood control infrastructure; and advocated for doctors and patients and healthcare along the border.

Reyes is a past Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), was appointed Vice Chair of the Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security by the House Democratic Leadership, and serves on the Democratic Faith Working Group and the Democratic Whip Team. He is also a founding member of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus, the Congressional USO Caucus, and the Diversity and Innovation Caucus, and serves on a variety of other caucuses and coalitions. In addition, he is an active member of the U.S.-Mexico Inter-parliamentary Group.

Reyes has been honored many times by organizations such as the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Mexican-American Bar Association, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, the Pan American Health Organization, and the National Parks Conservation Association, among many others. He was El Paso Inc.’s 2006 “El Pasoan of the Year.”

Congressman Reyes lives in El Paso with his wife Carolina and works in Washington to represent you.

Source: Silvestre Reyes campaign Website.