Joe Baca

:"This page is about Joe Baca, the California Congressman. For his son, see former Assemblyman Joe Baca, Jr."

Infobox_Congressman
name =Joe Baca


date of birth= birth date and age|1947|01|23
place of birth= Belen, New Mexico
occupation= public relations
alma_mater=California State University, Los Angeles
state = California
district = 43rd
term_start =January 6 1999
preceded = George Brown, Jr.
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Democrat
religion = Roman Catholic
spouse = Barbara Baca
children = Joe Baca, Jr.
Jeremy Baca
Natalie Baca
Jennifer Baca
residence = Rialto, California
branch=United States Army
serviceyears=1966-1968
battles=Vietnam War

Jose Baca (born January 23 1947), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing California's 43rd congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ca43_109.gifmap] ).

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. The district 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.

Rep. Baca is the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and also serves as chair of the CHC Corporate America Task Force, which aims to increase Hispanic representation in corporate America.Fact|date=June 2007 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.

Early life

He was born in Belen, New Mexico in 1947, the youngest of 15 childrencite news | url =| title = Former staff accuse Baca of 'forced volunteering' (Culture of Corruption Alert) | publisher = "The Hill" | date = 2006-05-18 | accessdate = 2007-06-20] in a house where little English was spoken.Fact|date=June 2007 His father was a railroad laborer. When Joe was a young boy his family moved to Barstow, California.Fact|date=June 2007 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 until 1968.cite web| title = Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress| publisher = Navy League| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070626235918/http://www.navyleague.org/legislative_affairs/HouseVets.pdf| format = PDF| accessdate = 2007-10-08 ]

Following military service, Joe earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles.Fact|date=June 2007 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.Fact|date=September 2008 He was elected to the State Assembly in 1992, and was elected to the State Senate in 1998.

Personal life

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. Son 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.Fact|date=June 2007

Controversies

According to the "Los Angeles Times", Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, directed Caucus funds from its PACcite news | url = http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1561646.php | title = Sanchez quits caucus | first = Dena | last = Bunis | publisher = "The Orange County Register" | date = 2007-02-01 | accessdate = 2007-06-20] BOLDPAC (Building Our Leadership Diversity)cite news | url = http://www.flashreport.org/commentary0b.php?authID=2006112123195930&postID=2006112903535864&post_offsetP=0 | title = Baca to Chair Congressional Hispanic Caucus Despite Female Members' Misgivings | first = Adam | last = Aleman | publisher = "Flash Report" | date = 2006-11-29 | accessdate = 2007-06-20] to the unsuccessful California campaigns of his sons, Joe Baca, Jr. and Jeremy Baca.cite news | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-baca03feb03,0,7114933.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials | title = Who's a 'whore'? | Editorial | publisher = "Los Angeles Times" | date = 2007-02-03 | accessdate = 2007-06-20] At the time, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and five other members dropped out of the PAC in protest of these actions. They alleged that the funds, meant to elect Hispanic candidates, should not have been used to help Baca's sons run against Hispanic candidates and that in a previous race funded by the PAC, Joe Jr. had run against Hispanic candidates.

Citizens for Ethics has released a report stating that Rep. Baca has paid his daughter $27,000 from campaign funds as a campaign fundraiser and donated more than $20,000 to his sons' political campaigns from his own campaign funds. [cite news | url = http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29117 | title = Watchdog lists 64 in the House paying kin out campaign funds | publisher = Citizens for Ethics | date = 2007-06-19 | accessdate = 2007-06-20] They also report accusations that were made in 2006 by former Washington staff members of Baca's that they were sent to California in 2004 for a staff retreat and pressured to work on Baca's son Joe Baca, Jr.'s campaign for state Assemblyman on their paid time for the senior Baca.

In January 2007, fellow Hispanic Caucus members including Loretta Sanchez, Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Hilda Solis (D-CA) and Sanchez's sister Linda Sanchez (D-CA) wrote a letter to Baca asking for a new election with a secret ballot. They claimed that Baca was elected chair of the Caucus in a public ballot, which is against the Caucus' own rules for electing a chair, which call for a secret ballot election.

On January 31 2007, "The Politico" reported that Rep. Baca had called Loretta Sanchez 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 Latina members in the CHC, Loretta Sanchez resigned from the Caucus along with four other female California members and one female member from Arizona, including Linda Sanchez. Rep. Baca has denied making the insult. [cite news | url = http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0107/2572.html | title = Sanchez Accuses Democrat of Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group | first = Josephine | last = Hearn | publisher = "The Politico" | date = 2007-02-02 | accessdate = 2007-02-08]

Rep. Sanchez and Rep. Solis 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. [cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101416.html | title = Hispanic Caucus Members Toil Over Insult | first = Erica | last = Werner | publisher = The Washington Post | date = 2007-02-01 | accessdate = 2007-02-08] Loretta Sanchez said that Baca confirmed the comments to her sister Linda Sanchez the day before Loretta Sanchez confronted him over the accusation.

Awards

Rep. Baca has received many honors for his public service.Fact|date=June 2007 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.Fact|date=June 2007 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.Fact|date=June 2007

Committee Assignments

*Agriculture Committee
**Subcommittee on Departmental Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry (Chairman)
**Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry
*Financial Services Committee
**Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
**Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
*Natural Resources Committee
**Water and Power Subcommittee
*Congressional Hispanic Caucus (Chairman)
**Corporate America, Technology, Communications and the Arts Task Force (Chairman)
*Blue Dog Coalition

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/baca/ U.S. Congressman Joe Baca] official House site
*CongBio|b001234
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H6CA42099 Federal Election Commission — Joe Baca] campaign finance reports and data
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Joe_Baca.htm On the Issues — Joe Baca] issue positions and quotes
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00007089 OpenSecrets.org — Joe Baca] campaign contributions
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS026231 Project Vote Smart — Representative Joe Baca (CA)] profile
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Baca SourceWatch Congresspedia — Joe Baca] profile
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b001234/ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Joe Baca] voting record
* [http://www.workingjoebaca.com/ Working Joe Baca] official campaign site
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=ajkAP_M4ZAM Explaining his agenda of increasing La Raza]