Nanette Diaz Barragán was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2016, becoming the first Latina ever to represent California’s 44th Congressional district.
Born in Harbor City and growing up in its surrounding harbor communities, Nanette’s humble beginnings shaped her interest in issues that matter locally: environmental and health justice, immigration reform, strengthening the economy and affordable and accessible education.
As the youngest of eleven children raised by immigrant parents from Mexico, Nanette knows about the challenges that many low-income minority families face firsthand. Her father, a local tv repairman, instilled in her a strong work ethic and influenced her love for baseball (in particular, for the Los Angeles Dodgers). Her mother, who only completed the third grade, cleaned homes, cared for others and worked in factories to make ends meet. Nanette learned from her parents the values of hard work, and obtained her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her Juris Doctor from USC Gould School of Law.
I am dedicated to ensuring that everyone in my district has access to affordable housing. At a time when the stock of affordable housing is in decline, families spend an increasing amount of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. It is essential that Congress take actions to support, preserve, and build affordable housing. As a strong advocate for public housing residents, I support efforts that combine housing market-driven solutions, federal support and state and local initiatives.
I support legislation to protect seniors from foreclosures, make Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance more affordable, and I back a sense of the Congress that homelessness in America should be eliminated.
The City of Los Angeles has the nation’s largest population of chronically homeless people. This is unacceptable. I introduced the Housing Homeless Veterans Act to address our veteran homeless problem by directing housing vouchers for homeless veterans to areas of the country where they are needed most. As a member of the Congressional Homelessness Caucus I will continue to work to address this growing problem.