Solomon P. Ortiz

U.S. Representative

The child of a migrant family, Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz was born in Robstown, Texas.

He was elected to Congress in 1982 and has since served South Texas in the U.S. Congress. He has enduring memories of his family's life from his early childhood, an experience that often leads him to view the questions of poverty, budget and health care before Congress through a prism of personal experience. He is a Democrat, conservative on social issues and progressive on fiscal policy

At age 16, Ortiz' father died and he dropped out of school to help his mother pay the bills for their family. Shortly after that, Ortiz joined the Army because, as he put it, "It was the one place that would give me free room and board and let me send my check back home to my Mother." It was in the Army that Ortiz, ever conscious of the need for an education, got his GED (the equivalency of a high school diploma).

Ortiz was asked if he was interested in police work. He enthusiastically told his commander he was, and found himself reassigned to the 61st Military Police Company, Criminal Investigation Office, a move that would color much of his future professional life. He remained an investigator for the duration of his tour of duty, receiving his advanced military police training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

In Congress, Ortiz turned his love of law enforcement into a love of law-making. He was assigned to the House Armed Services Committee and the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee (today, the House Resources Committee). Four military bases in the Coastal Bend area and the historic tug of war over water (and other natural resources in the American west) make these committee assignments uniquely suited to South Texas.

Members of Congress, who are players in the policy-making apparatus in the House of Representatives, learn early that nobody can know everything about all the issues, so they find a specialty in a particular arena. Ortiz is among this faction of House Members; his specialty is defense policy, particularly issues facing the readiness of the U.S. armed forces. He is currently the Ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness.

Ortiz has emerged in the past decade as an ambassador-without-portfolio, leading trade delegations repeatedly to the Pacific Rim to rustle up opportunities for industry to re-locate to South Texas - a move to bring jobs to the area.

Throughout his Congressional career, Ortiz has made a reputation as a fair-minded advocate who works easily with both Republicans and Democrats when making policy. It was his own reputation as an honest broker that set him apart from others when control of the House shifted to the Republicans in 1994. Suddenly, it was the Republicans who were in the driver's seat of making policy and everyone's memory of past slights with Democrats was very fresh. Ortiz remained close to the Republicans he had worked with before, only now they were committee chairmen and power brokers.

Ortiz remains one of the hardest-working Members of Congress, as a senior member of two important committees, co-chair of the Border Caucus, co-chair of both the House Depot Caucus and Naval Mine Warfare Caucus, and as Dean of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.