Clarke, Yvette D. (Yvette Diane), 1964-

<p>Hailing from central Brooklyn, Congresswoman Yvette Diane Clarke feels honored to represent the community that raised her. She is the proud daughter of Jamaican immigrants and takes her passion for her Caribbean heritage to Congress, where she co-chairs the Congressional Caribbean Caucus and works to foster relationships between the United States and the Caribbean Community. Clarke is Chair of the Homeland Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation Subcommittee, under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and was Co-chair of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee during the 116th Congress. Clarke has been a member of the Congressional Black Caucus since coming to Congress in 2007 and today chairs its Immigration Task Force.</p>

<p>As the Representative of the Ninth Congressional District of New York, Congresswoman Clarke has dedicated herself to continuing the legacy of excellence established by the late Honorable Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman and Caribbean American elected to Congress. In the 116th Congress, Congresswoman Clarke introduced landmark legislation, which passed in the House, the Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6). This legislation would give 2.5 million DREAMers, temporary protected status, and deferred enforcement departure recipients a clear citizenship pathway.</p>

<p>Clarke is a leader in the tech and media policy space as co-chair of the Smart Cities Caucus and co-chair of the Multicultural Media Caucus. Congresswoman Clarke believes smart technology will make communities more sustainable, resilient, and livable and works hard to ensure communities of color are not left behind while these technological advancements are made. Clarke formed the Multicultural Media Caucus to address diversity and inclusion issues in the media, telecom, and tech industries. Clarke is one of the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, which develops programs to support the aspirations of Black women of all ages. Congresswoman Clarke is also the co-chair of the Medicare for All Caucus, where she is fighting for the right to universal health care.</p>

<p>Yvette Diane Clarke (born November 21, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 2007, representing New York's 11th congressional district until redistricting. Clarke previously was a member of the New York City Council, representing the 40th district in Brooklyn from 2002 to 2006.</p>

<p>Clarke was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on November 21, 1964, to Lesley Clarke and former city councilwoman Una Clarke, both immigrants from Jamaica. She graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School and earned a scholarship to enroll at Oberlin College in Ohio, which she attended from 1982 to 1986. While studying at Oberlin, she spent a summer interning in the Washington, D.C. office of New York congressman Major Owens, where she told Roll Call that she worked on legislative issues involving Caribbean-American trade.</p>

<p>Before entering politics, Clarke worked as a childcare specialist and trained community residents to care for the children of working parents. Later, Clarke served as an assistant to State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, both of Queens. Clarke also worked as director of business development for the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and was the second director of the Bronx portion of the New York City Empowerment Zone.</p>

<p>Brooklyn's 40th council district elected Clarke to the New York City Council in 2001. She succeeded her mother, former City Council member Una S. T. Clarke, who held the seat for more than a decade, making theirs the first mother-to-daughter succession in city council.</p>

<p>In 2004, Clarke, then still a member of the New York City Council, made her first run for Congress for the 11th district against incumbent Major Owens, for whom she had interned in college. Clarke's run followed an unsuccessful bid by her mother in 2000 against Owens for the same seat. Clarke lost the 2004 Democratic primary against Owens, who won 45.4% of the vote to her 28.9% in a multi-candidate race. Following the 2004 election, Owens indicated his desire to retire from Congress and declined to seek reelection, after which Clarke announced her intention to run again in 2006. Owens later called Clarke and her mother's successive political campaigns against him "[a] stab in the back."</p>

<p>On September 12, 2006, Clarke won the Democratic nomination with a plurality, 31.20%, of the vote in a four-person primary, defeating then-councilman David Yassky, State Senator Carl Andrews, and Major Owens's son, Christopher Owens. In the general election on November 7, Clarke was elected to the House of Representatives with 89% of the vote against Republican Stephen Finger.</p>

CLARKE, Yvette Diane, a Representative from New York; born in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., November 21, 1964; attended Oberlin College, Oberlin, N.Y., 1982-1986; childcare specialist; staff, state senator Velmanette Montgomery, 1989-1991; executive assistant, New York state Workers' Compensation Board, 1992-1993; youth program director; business development director; member of the New York, N.Y., city council, 2002-2007; unsuccessful candidate for nomination for the One Hundred Ninth Congress in 2004; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Tenth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2007-present).