considered a possible candidate to be appointed to the United States Senate by Governor David Paterson after Senator Hillary Clinton resigned to become Secretary of State. Among Velázquez's firsts are: the first Hispanic woman to serve on the New York City Council; the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress; and the first woman Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee in 1998. She became the first woman to chair the United States House Committee on Small Business in January 2007 as well as the first Hispanic woman to chair a House standing committee. As of January 2022, Velázquez had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time. Committee assignments Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit; Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity; Committee on Small Business (Chair) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Caucus memberships Congressional Hispanic Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus Women's Issues Caucus Urban Caucus House Baltic Caucus Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Climate Solutions Caucus Medicare for All Caucus Blue Collar Caucus Velázquez was formerly a member of the Congressional Out of Iraq Caucus. Personal life Velázquez, also known as "la luchadora", married Brooklyn-based printer Paul Bader in 2000. It was her second marriage. In November 2002, New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson controversially hired Bader as an administrative manager in the Bureau of Law and Adjudications, joining Joyce Miller, wife of Representative Jerry Nadler, and Chirlane McCray, wife of City Councilman Bill de Blasio. In 2010, Velázquez and Bader were in the process of divorce. In October 1992, during her first campaign for the House, an unknown person at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan anonymously faxed to the press Velázquez's hospital records pertaining to a suicide attempt in 1991. At a subsequent press conference, Velázquez acknowledged that she had attempted suicide that year while suffering from clinical depression. She said that she underwent counseling and "emerged stronger and more committed to public service." She expressed outrage at the leak of personal health records and asked the Manhattan District Attorney and the state Attorney General to investigate. Velázquez sued the hospital in 1994, alleging that the hospital had failed to protect her privacy. The lawsuit was settled in 1997. See also List of Puerto Ricans History of women in Puerto Rico List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress