Torres, Esteban E. (Esteban Edward), 1930-

Esteban Edward Torres (born January 27, 1930) is a U.S. labor activist, diplomat, and politician. He notably served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing California's 34th congressional district from 1983 to 1999.

Born in Miami, Arizona, he moved with his family to East Los Angeles where he attended public schools, ultimately graduating from James A. Garfield High School. From 1949 to 1953, Torres served in the U.S. Army, fought in the Korean War, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant first class. Torres used his benefits from the GI Bill to study at the Los Angeles Art Center in 1953. Over the next decade, he took courses at East Los Angeles College and California State University at Los Angeles. He took graduate-level courses, at the University of Maryland in economics and at American University in Washington, D.C., in international relations. He was employed as an auto worker, becoming active in the local branch of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union. UAW President Walter Reuther tapped Torres to be a UAW international representative in Washington, D.C., and from 1964 to 1968 he served as the union’s director of the Inter-American Bureau for Caribbean and Latin American Affairs. In 1968 Torres returned to Los Angeles, founding The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU), a community action organization that grew under his stewardship into one of the nation’s largest antipoverty agencies. While serving as TELACU’s chief executive officer, Torres also was active in other local organizations, such as the Los Angeles County Commission on Economic Development, the Mexican-American Commission on Education, and the Plaza la Raza Cultural Center.

After losing a 1974 bid for the U.S. House, he was appointed as a delegate to the International Metalworkers Federation Central Committee meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. When President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977, Torres was considered for Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, but instead he served from 1977 through 1979 as Carter’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The person who filled the position, whose rank was comparable to that of an ambassador, was required to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Torres served as a White House aide from 1979 through 1981.

In 1982, Torres was elected from California's newly-created 34th congressional district. When Torres took his seat in the House in January 1983, he won assignments on the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee (later renamed Banking and Financial Services) and the Small Business Committee. He chaired two subcommittees during his tenure: In the 102nd Congress (1991–1993), he chaired the Banking panel’s Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage, and in the 101st Congress (1989–1991), he chaired the Small Business Subcommittee on Environment and Labor. At the start of the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), Torres lobbied for and won a seat on the exclusive Appropriations Committee, leaving his other assignments. He served on the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Subcommittee and eventually gained a seat on the Transportation Subcommittee.

In early March 1998, days before the filing deadline for the fall elections, Torres announced that he would retire from the House at the end of the 105th Congress. In retirement, Torres has pursued his passion for sculpting and painting.