• Democratic Member of Congress
• Member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Defended the Marxist dictatorship in Nicaragua during the 1980s
• Former executive director of EMILY’s List

See also:  Congressional Progressive Caucus


Rosa DeLauro is a Democratic Member of Congress who represents the Third District of Connecticut, centered on the city of New Haven.

Born in March 1943 in Wooster Square, Connecticut, DeLauro grew up in a political family; both her parents were New Haven aldermen. She attended the London School of Economics in 1962-63, graduated from Marymount College (in New York State) in 1964 with a degree in history and political science, and earned a master’s degree in international politics from Columbia University in 1966.


In the 1960s DeLauro worked as a community organizer for President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. In 1976-77 she served as executive assistant to New Haven mayor Frank Logue. From 1981-87 she was chief of staff for Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, at a time when Dodd was a leading opponent of the Contras and other anti-Communist forces in Central America.
 And in 1987-88, DeLauro served as executive director of "Countdown '87," a lobbying organization dedicated to ending U.S. military aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.

In 1989-1990, DeLauro was executive director of the political fundraising organization EMILY's List. When her local congressman ran for Governor of Connecticut in 1990, DeLauro entered the race for his vacated seat in the House of Representatives. With the connections that EMILY's List gave her to celebrity money and political favors, she raised $957,000 for her campaign and won the election by a 52-to-48 percent margin. She has been re-elected every two years since then. A leading financial backer of her numerous political campaigns has been the American Association for Justice, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. DeLauro also has drawn strong support from the members and political action committees of powerful labor unions like the American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, UNITE HERE!, the National Education Association, and the Service Employees International Union.

In 2003 DeLauro served on the advisory committee of the Progressive Majority, a political networking group dedicated to electing leftist candidates to public office.

In 2004 DeLauro, who is a supporter of the organization Catholic Democrats, spoke out against the Catholic Church when it threatened to deny the sacrament of communion to lawmakers who favored abortion rights.

In May 2007 DeLauro was a guest speaker at an event sponsored by the Agenda for Shared Prosperity -- a project of the Economic Policy Institute.

From May 27 to June 1, 2007, DeLauro toured Havana, Cuba "to examine the transition that is occurring in Cuba and the impact of that transition on U.S. policy, as well as to examine agriculture and trade with the island." Accompanying her on the trip were such notables as former Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.  A few days later, DeLauro urged an end to U.S. trade and travel sanctions against Cuba.

In 2009 it was learned that for the previous five years, DeLauro had allowed multi-millionaire congressman Rahm Emanuel to live rent-free in her Capitol Hill townhouse. Emanuel had failed to report this arrangement on any of his financial-disclosure forms, as congressional ethics rules require.

DeLauro is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives. According to Americans for Democratic Action, she votes with the Left 95 to 100 percent of the time. For an overview of DeLauro's voting record on particularly significant legislation, click here.

DeLauro is married to Stanley Greenberg, who served as a pollster for President Bill Clinton from 1991-1994, and for Senators Al Gore and John Kerry in 2000 and 2004, respectively.

For additional information on Rosa DeLauro, click here.