Joe Baca

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This page is about Joe Baca, the California Congressman. For his son, Joe Baca Jr., please go to Joe Baca, Jr.

Joe Baca

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 43rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 1999–
Preceded by	George Brown, Jr.
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	January 23, 1947 (age 60) Belen, New Mexico
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Barbara Baca
Religion	Roman Catholic

Joseph "Joe" Baca (born January 23, 1947), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the California's 43rd congressional district (map).

Rep. Joe Baca has served in Congress since winning a special election in 1999 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative George Brown. Rep. Baca represents California's 43rd congressional district, which includes the cities of Colton, Fontana, Rialto, Ontario and San Bernardino, as well as the areas of Bloomington and Muscoy.

He serves on the exclusive House Financial Services Committee, where he is a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Rep. Baca also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, where he is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Departmental Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry. As Ranking Member, and even prior to taking that post, Rep. Baca had excelled at expanding anti-hunger and nutrition programs. Most recently, he helped make a pilot to finally serve fresh fruits and vegetables in school cafeterias into a nationwide program, prevented Bush administration proposals to gut the Food Stamp Program, and prevented the elimination of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

Rep. Baca is the First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and serves as chair of the CHC Corporate America Task Force, which aims to increase Hispanic representation in corporate America. He created and co-chairs the Congressional Sex and Violence in the Media Caucus. Other caucus memberships include the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the Military/ Veterans Caucus, the Native American Caucus and the U.S.-Mexico Caucus.

1 Personal History
2 Awards
3 Elections
4 Controversy
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Personal History

Baca was born in Belen, New Mexico, in 1947, the youngest of 15 children in a house where little English was spoken. His father was a railroad laborer. When Joe was a young boy his family moved to Barstow, California. Baca worked shining shoes at age 10, delivered newspapers, and later worked as a laborer for the Santa Fe Railroad until he was drafted in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper with both the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Divisions from.

Following military service, Joe earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles. He worked for 15 years in community relations with General Telephone and Electric. In 1979, he was the first Latino elected to the Board of Trustees for the San Bernardino Valley College District. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1992, where he became the first Latino Speaker pro tempore, and was elected to the State Senate in 1998.

Baca and his wife, Barbara, began their own business, Interstate World Travel, in San Bernardino in 1989. They have four children: Joe Jr., Jeremy, Natalie and Jennifer. The Hon. Joe Baca, Jr. served one term as state assemblyman for California's 62nd district, marking the first time a father and son have served alongside from the same district.

[edit] Awards

Rep. Baca has received many honors for his public service. Recent awards include the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President's Achievement Award, the 2006 California Hunger Fighter Award (first time awarded to a Member of Congress), and the National Farmers Union Presidential Award for Leadership. He has also had two local parks named after him: the Joe Baca Senior Field at the Empire Center in Fontana and the Joe Baca Field at the Rialto Boys and Girls Club.

[edit] Elections

Baca was reelected in 2004 with 66.4% of the vote, the same percentage as his 2002 vote.^[1] ^[2] Scott Folkens, a U.S. Government and History teacher, ran unsuccessfully against Baca in the 2006 election.

[edit] Controversy

This section documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

On January 31, 2007, The Politico reported that Rep. Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, had called Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) a "whore." Citing Baca's alleged insult and the perceived impropriety in Baca's election to chairman of the CHC, as well as Baca's treatment of women in the CHC, Sanchez resigned from the Caucus. Rep. Baca has denied making the insult. ^[3]

Rep. Sanchez and Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) alleged that Rep. Baca made the remark in the summer of 2006. The two Congresswomen state that they heard the remark from unnamed sources, although The Politico identified California State Assemblyman Fabian Núñez as one of those who heard the insult firsthand and told Sanchez. ^[4]

[edit] References

^ http://vote2004.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4300.htm] 2004 California State Election Results
^ http://vote2002.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4300.htm 2002 California State Election Results
^ Hearn, Josephine. "Sanchez Accuses Democrat of Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group", The Politico, 2007-02-02. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ Werner, Erica. "Hispanic Caucus Members Toil Over Insult", Washington Post, 2007-02-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.

[edit] External links

U.S. Congressman Joe Baca official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Joe Baca campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - Joe Baca issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Joe Baca campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative Joe Baca (CA) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Joe Baca profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Joe Baca voting record
Working Joe Baca official campaign site

Preceded by Gerry Eaves	California State Assembly, 62nd District 1992 – 1998	Succeeded by John Longville
Preceded by Ruben Ayala	California State Senate, 32nd District 1998 – 1999	Succeeded by Nell Soto
Preceded by George Brown, Jr.	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 42nd congressional district 1999 – 2003	Succeeded by Gary Miller
Preceded by Ken Calvert	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 43rd congressional district 2003 – present	Incumbent