Henry Cuellar for Congress | Proven Leadership for Texas

Experience Serving Texas 

Congressman Henry Cuellar has over two decades of public service to Texas, since beginning his public service career in 1987 when he was sworn in to the Texas State House of Representatives. He served in this capacity for 14 years before being appointed the 102nd Texas Secretary of State. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 28^th District of Texas and took the Oath of Office in January 2005. He is now serving his third term in Congress and is widely regarded as a leading centrist in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Because of his efforts, the Wall Street Journal has called him, "A pro-growth Member in the John F. Kennedy mold," and he is known as one of the "Seven Best Legislators" says the Dallas Morning News.  A favorite son of Laredo, the city has honored him as "Laredoan of the Year," "Distinguished Citizen of the Year," and "Humanitarian of the Year."  And the San Antonio Express-News says, "Cuellar has worked hard and demonstrated an independent nonpartisan mind-set..." noting that "Cuellar's willingness to place his district ahead of his political party is refreshing." 

In 2010, the Ft. Worth Star Telegram wrote "How does he do it?" noting that Congressman Cuellar has the kind of days "that make him one of the most hard-working lawmakers on Capitol Hill."

Trusted Voice for Texas 

Congressman Cuellar is a respected voice in Washington when it comes to serving his district and the country. As a member of three House Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and the House Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, Congressman Cuellar has become a national leader on issues of homeland security, border security and trade. 

As the founder of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Trade Caucus, Congressman Cuellar has been a dedicated advocate for building consensus in Washington to advance policy that makes sense for Texas and the nation. As a Texas State Legislator for 14 years and former Secretary of State, Cuellar has been a statewide influential leader who served in leadership positions in the most powerful Texas House committees, including Appropriations and Higher Education.

During his 14 years in the Texas State House, he championed some of the nation's most landmark budgeting reform legislation known as performance-based budgeting measures. For these reasons, Texas is at the forefront of better budgeting provisions and the Texas Legislative Budget Board reports that this is why 38 foreign delegations have travelled to Austin to learn more about how Texas maintains the state's budget. 

That's why when Cuellar came to Washington, he authored similar legislation that would apply at the federal level, to reform the nation's federal agencies and make them more efficient, effective and accountable. Congressman Cuellar's legislation would audit federal programs and provide this critical information to the public and to Congress to ensure the federal government operates in the most effective way. This legislation has been praised in Washington and by Texas budget experts. This year, the fiscally-conservative Blue Dog Coalition, of which Henry is a proud member, included this bill in its landmark Blueprint for Fiscal Reform. 

Working for Families

As a former small business owner, Congressman Cuellar understands how these smaller employers operate on a budget and how Americans rely on the millions of jobs they provide.

This is why he believes in supporting small businesses with real, tangible tax cuts that help them keep their doors open and hire more employees. In 2009 and 2010, Congressman Cuellar helped pass in Congress some of the most landmark small business tax cuts in history, including tax cuts within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, HIRE Act and health care reform. In fact, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped provide 95% of all hard-working Americans and their families tax cuts. While serving at the state level, Cuellar also co-sponsored the largest tax cut in Texas history that included the three-day tax holiday for consumers and small businesses. 

As an advocate for higher education, Congressman Cuellar has taken significant action in Texas and in Washington to help millions of students and their families afford college. In the Texas Legislature, he authored the TEXAS Grant Program-the largest in Texas history-that today gives thousands of students the opportunity to achieve a college education. In Washington, he helped pass a landmark bill which increased Pell Grants and other federal student loan programs to unprecedented new levels, while reducing interest rates on federal student loans to the lowest they've been in decades. These efforts, will make it affordable for millions of Americans and Texans to go to college. 

As an advocate for healthcare, while in the Texas State House, Cuellar authored the pilot program which became the state's Children's Health Insurance Program, now providing millions of kids with much needed health insurance. This program is vitally important to Texas families who would otherwise be unable to provide their children with access to health care. In 2010, Congressman Cuellar helped pass health care reform legislation in Congress to provide millions of Texans, of all ages, access to health care and state-based health insurance exchanges. Texas, as the most uninsured state in the nation, stands to benefit greatly from this legislation, especially in the face of rising premiums which have doubled in Texas over the past decade. 

Working Together

As an advocate for bipartisanship, Congressman Cuellar has longed believe that working together yields results. That's why in 2010, the non-partisan national news periodical National Journal, named Cuellar one of the leading Centrists in Congress after reviewing the most critical votes in the U.S. House of Representatives. This independent annual analysis is a trusted report and Congressman Cuellar is proud to pull together ideas from both sides of the aisle in order to build consensus and pass meaningful legislation.

While serving as the Texas Secretary of State, he served alongside members of both parties, after being appointed by a republican governor, in order to get things done for Texas. 

In fact, as Texas Secretary of State, Congressman Cuellar 'redefined' the office by working to make state agencies more customer-friendly and results-oriented through the implementation of new technology. He was known for cutting "red tape" in government programs and he's long held the view that less redundancy makes programs more efficient and better for Texans and the American people.

Priorities 

Congressman Cuellar's top priorities are accessibility to constituents, education, healthcare, supporting veterans, serving seniors, providing for small businesses, enhancing homeland security, ensuring border security, advancing trade and taking any other action that supports hard-working families and individuals.  

In this Congress, Congressman Cuellar is a proud member of the U.S. House Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Government Oversight and Reform Committees. He is the former Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response. And he is the proud Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism. Congressman Cuellar is also a Senior Whip of the U.S. House and a member of the fiscally-conservative Blue Dog Coalition.

In building a productive and successful life, Cuellar has always credited education as the single most important tool in his life.  He earned an Associate's Degree from Laredo Community College in his hometown of Laredo, a Bachelor's Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington D.C., a Master's Degree in International Trade from then Laredo State University, now Texas A&M International University, and a law degree and Ph.D. in government from the University of Texas.  Today, Congressman Cuellar is the most degreed member of Congress.  

He and his wife Imelda reside in Laredo with their two daughters, Christy and Catie.