Pierluisi, Pedro, 1959-

PIERLUISI, Pedro, a Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; born in San Juan, P.R., April 26, 1959; B.A., Tulane University, New Orleans, La., 1981; J.D., George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1984; lawyer, private practice; staff, Resident Commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Rio of Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico secretary of justice, 1993-1996; elected as a New Progressive to the One Hundred Eleventh Congress to a four-year term in 2008 and reelected to the succeeding four-year term in 2012 (January 3, 2009-January 3, 2017); caucused with the Democratic Party; was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, but was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for Governor of Puerto Rico in 2016; Governor of Puerto Rico, 2021-present.

<p>Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican attorney, lobbyist, and politician who serves as the 14th Governor of Puerto Rico since January 2, 2021.</p>

<p>He has previously served as Secretary of Justice (1993–1997), Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the United States House of Representatives (2009–2017), and as Acting Secretary of State. Pierluisi was positioned as de facto governor of Puerto Rico from August 2 to August 7, 2019, when the territory's Supreme Court ruled his assumption of office was unconstitutional.</p>

<p>Pierluisi was born on April 26, 1959 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His parents are Jorge Pierluisi Díaz and Doris Urrutia. He attended Colegio Marista Guaynabo in Guaynabo, graduating in 1977. In 1981, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from Tulane University, and later earned a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School in 1984. He was President of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association chapter at Tulane University. Later, he was President of the George Washington University International Law Society from 1982–1983. During his studies at George Washington University, Pierluisi interned at the congressional office of then-Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Baltasar Corrada del Río.</p>

<p>“Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States is as close as it is complex,” the island’s former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi said early in the 111th Congress (2009–2011). “But like so many American stories,” he continued, “this is a chronicle of progress and a determined march towards a more perfect union. For me, as for millions of my constituents, the pride we feel in being Puerto Rican is matched by the pride we feel in being American citizens.”</p>

<p>Pedro R. Pierluisi was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 26, 1959, one of five children of Jorge Pierluisi, a former Puerto Rican housing secretary and a prominent member of the statehood movement, and Doris Urrutia, a stay-at-home mom. After completing his early studies, Pierluisi attended Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in American history in 1981. He moved to the nation’s capital to attend law school at George Washington University, earning a JD in 1984. He remained in Washington, DC, and worked as an aide to then-Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Rio before joining a DC law firm. He married Maria Elena Carriόn, a former investment banker who founded a consulting company to advise firms on Wall Street. They raised four children.</p>

<p>After six years as a litigator, Pierluisi moved back to Puerto Rico and, in 1993, was appointed the island’s secretary of justice (otherwise known as the attorney general). In his three years as Puerto Rico’s top lawyer, Pierluisi worked to uncover and end corruption in the insular government. He also built a reputation for his efforts to fight violent crime. The issue was deeply personal: his younger brother was murdered during a carjacking near their parents’ San Juan home in 1994. Later, Pierluisi worked with officials in Congress to strengthen national crime prevention policies before returning to private law practice in 1996.</p>