David Rivera (R-FL-25)

David Rivera Congressman Florida District 25

David Rivera Biography from House.gov

Biography of David Rivera

Congressman David Rivera (R-FL) was elected to represent Florida’s 25th Congressional District in 2010, becoming only the second person to represent the district.

Florida’s Congressional District 25 includes western Miami-Dade County and portions of Collier and Monroe counties in Southern Florida.    Rivera has been appointed to serve on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Rivera’s legislative career began in 2002 when he was elected to represent District 112 in the Florida House of Representatives.  He was subsequently re-elected three times.  During the 2010 legislative session, Rivera served as the Chairman of the House Full Appropriations Committee that oversees the state of Florida’s budget in areas such as education, transportation, housing and economic development.  As a State Representative he worked to balance Florida’s budget eight times.  He also served as the Chairman of the Rules Committee during his tenure in the Florida House.

Aside from his work on budgetary issues, Rivera brought much-needed insurance reform to Florida in the wake of several catastrophic hurricanes.  He helped overhaul the property tax system by easing the tax burden on Florida’s taxpayers.  Rivera also helped strengthen laws against child predators by imposing stiffer penalties on these offenders.

Before being elected to the Florida House, Rivera worked in the U.S. Information Agency, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department.  Rivera primarily worked in the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which is responsible for administrative management and oversight of Radio and TV Martí, the official government broadcast services to Cuba. Before joining the U.S. Information Agency, Rivera worked as the Public Affairs Director for the Washington-based Valladares Foundation; an international human rights watch-dog group headed by the former U.S. Ambassador to the United National Human Rights Commission, Armando Valladares.

Prior to joining the Valladares Foundation, Rivera served as a writer and researcher with the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) in Washington, D.C.  He focused on issues such as human rights, terrorism, political-economy, Soviet-Cuba relations and international trade.  Rivera came to the CANF after serving as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Connie Mack and as the Senator’s Political Director in Miami-Dade County during his successful 1988 campaign.

Rivera graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration.  He has served as an adjunct professor in FIU’s School of Policy and Management.  His articles on U.S.-Cuba relations have been published in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald.  Rivera was born in New York, N.Y., in 1965 and moved to Miami, Florida more than 35 years ago.

Biography from David Rivera for U.S. Congress

On November 5, 2002, David Rivera was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Miami-Dade County representing District 112; a position to which he has subsequently been re-elected three times. Currently, Representative Rivera serves as the Chairman of the House Full Appropriations Committee. This committee oversees the state of Florida’s budget in areas such as education, transportation, housing and economic development. As a representative he helped balance the State of Florida’s budget eight times.

As a member of the Florida House, Representative Rivera helped secure long sought after medical and law schools for his alma mater, Florida International University. Rep. Rivera also brought much-needed insurance reform to the state, in the wake of a number of catastrophic hurricanes. Rep. Rivera also helped overhaul the property tax system in Florida, easing the burden on hard-working Florida taxpayers. Rep. Rivera helped strengthen the laws against child predators and gave greater protection to these innocent victims. Rep. Rivera also gave our working families a much-needed sales tax holiday for back-to-school shopping.

Prior to being elected to the Florida House, Representative Rivera worked with Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB). OCB was managed under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and was responsible for administrative and management oversight of Radio and TV Marti, the official U.S. government broadcast services to Cuba. Previous to his services at the U.S. Information Agency, Mr. Rivera worked as Public Affairs Director for the Washington-based Valladares Foundation. The Valladares Foundation, an international human rights watch-group, was headed by Ambassador Armando Valladares, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC).

Prior to his work with Ambassador Valladares, Representative Rivera served as a writer and researcher with the Washington D.C. offices of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF). While with CANF, Representative Rivera researched and wrote on such issues as human rights, terrorism, political-economy, Soviet-Cuban relations, and international trade. He came to the CANF after serving as a legislative assistant to United States Senator Connie Mack and as Political Director for Miami-Dade County, Florida, during Senator Mack’s successful 1988 campaign. Previously, Representative Rivera was South Florida Political Director for Jack Kemp’s 1988 presidential campaign. In 1996 he served as the Dole-Kemp campaign manager for the southern region of Florida

Representative Rivera  has also served as a public affairs, legislative, marketing and management consultant for various political and business organizations.  He is currently the chairman of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County.

Representative Rivera graduated with honors from Florida International University (FIU) with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration. He has served as an adjunct professor in FIU’s School of Policy and Management. His articles on US-Cuba relations have been published in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Representative Rivera has appeared before organizations and the media to provide commentary on issues of concern to the South Florida community.

Born in New York, N.Y., Representative Rivera has resided in Miami, Florida for 35 years. He is a member of several civic, community and professional organizations, including the Association of Hispanic Public Administrators. Representative Rivera is fluent in the Spanish language and during his tenure at the U.S. State Department he held a Top Secret National Security Clearance from the U.S. government.

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