Eliot Engel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Ted Weiss
Born	February 18, 1947 (1947-02-18) (age 61) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Patricia Ennis
Religion	Jewish

Eliot Lance Engel (born February 18, 1947) is an American Democratic politician from the U.S. state of New York who currently represents the New York State 17th Congressional District (map). The district encompasses portions of the Bronx, Westchester County, and Rockland County. It includes such neighborhoods as Riverdale, Woodlawn, Norwood and Wakefield in the Bronx, Mount Vernon and parts of Yonkers in Westchester, and the towns of Ramapo, Orangetown, and the southern half of Clarkstown in Rockland County. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 390 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1960 × 3008 pixel, file size: 1. ... Type Bicameral Speaker of the House of Representatives House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Steny Hoyer, (D) since January 4, 2007 House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R) since January 4, 2007 Members 435 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party... This article is about the state. ... New Yorks 17th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York. ... Open seat redirects here. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Theodore S. Weiss (September 17, 1927 - September 14, 1992) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York redirects here. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... This article is about the state. ... For other uses, see Bronx (disambiguation). ... Westchester County is a primarily suburban county located in the U.S. state of New York with about 950,000 residents. ... The Tappan Zee Bridge, in a view looking toward Rockland. ... Riverdale Riverdale (population approximately 45,000, according to the 2000 U.S. Census) is a middle- and upper-class residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx, New York City. ... Woodlawn Woodlawn (population 7,741) is a neighborhood in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. ... NYC OASIS map[1] of Norwood Norwood is a neighborhood in the Bronx in New York City, one of the few in the city (or any city, for that matter) whose boundaries are extremely obvious. ... Wakefield is a residential and middle-class section of the northern borough of the Bronx in New York City, bounded by the New York city line with Westchester County to the north, 222nd Street to the south, and the Bronx River, Bronx River Parkway and Metro-North Railroad tracks to... For other places with the same name, see Mount Vernon (disambiguation). ... Yonkers, just north of New York City in Westchester County, is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of New York, with a population of 196,086 (according to the 2000 census). ...

Early life and career

Engel was born in The Bronx and he graduated from Hunter-Lehman College. He received his Masters Degree in 1973 from Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY) and his Law Degree from New York Law School in 1987. Engel was elected to the New York general assembly as a Democrat in 1977. Bronx redirects here. ... See also: Hunter College High School Hunter College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as simply Hunter College) is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattans Upper East Side. ... New York Law School is a private law school in Lower Manhattan in New York City. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...

He is married to Patricia Ennis Engel. They have three children, Julia, Jonathan and Philip.

Election to Congress

In 1988, Engel was elected to the House of Representatives, after defeating Congressman Mario Biaggi in the Democratic primary. Biaggi had been charged with racketeering in the Wedtech scandal; he was eventually jailed by Rudolph W. Giuliani. Biaggi ran against and lost to Engel in 1992. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Type Bicameral Speaker of the House of Representatives House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Steny Hoyer, (D) since January 4, 2007 House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R) since January 4, 2007 Members 435 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party... Mario Biaggi (born October 26, 1917) is a former American politician. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... The Wedtech Scandal was the name of an American political scandal that came to light in the late 1980s involving the Wedtech Corporation. ... Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III, KBE (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Engel ran for, and won, re-election in 2006 for his tenth term. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Committee Assignments

• Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
• Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Subcommittee on Europe
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
  • Subcommitte on the Western Hemisphere (Chairman)
• Vice Chair of the Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security
• Founder and Co-Chair of the House Oil and National Security Caucus

Political positions

Engel is a supporter of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has also been an advocate for the causes of Albanian-Americans and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. In 2003, he authored the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, which was signed into law by President Bush on December 12, 2003.[1] In this Law, Congress authorized penalties and restrictions on US relations with Syria for its occupation of Lebanon and for its relationship with terrorist groups. For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act is a bill of the United States Congress passed into law on December 12, 2003. ... Terrorist redirects here. ...

Eliot Engel is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council. The New Democrat Coalition is an organization within the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Representatives Jim Davis of Florida, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, and Adam Smith of Washington. ... The Democratic Leadership Council is a non-profit corporation [1] that argues that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from traditionally populist positions. ...

Engel received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan, non-profit policy institute founded during the civil rights movement. ...

Eliot Engel was a strong supporter of a massive military campaign against Iraq in 2002. On October 10, 2002, he was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. As the war dragged on, his position changed. He now responds to questions about his support for the war by saying that had he known then what he now knows, he would have acted differently. This article is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

Congressman Engel has struck up an alliance the controversial Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which was founded by the Reverend John Hagee and has spoken at their Washington-Israel Summit in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, Engel's scheduled participation at the CUFI Summit on July 22 was questioned by members of his constiuency. Hagee had reportedly made anti-Catholic, anti-gay, and anti-semitic remarks in his books, speeches, and sermons that upset some voters in Engel's congressional district. Christians United for Israel is an American organization which provides a national association through which every pro-Israel church, parachurch organization, ministry, or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel. ... John Charles Hagee (born April 12, 1940) is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational charismatic church with more than 19,000 active members. ...

Primary challenges

Since his election to Congress in 1988 Engel has faced a series of contentious primary challenges from within the Democratic Party. In 2000, Engel defeated a high-profile challenge from then Bronx State Senator Larry Seabrook, who had received the support of Bronx County Democratic Party Chairman Roberto Ramirez, among others. Larry B. Seabrook is the current New York City Councilman from District 12 in New York City. ...

In 2006, Engel faced a primary challenge from Jessica Flagg, who based her campaign on the opposition to the Iraq War, and criticism of Engel's refusal to publicly support an immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. In a previous challenge to Engel in 2004, Flagg got 11% of the Democratic primary vote. In her 2006 run she got 18 percent. For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ...

External links

• U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel official House site
• Eliot L. Engel at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Eliot Engel campaign finance reports and data
• Biographical Information: NNDB
• On the Issues — Eliot Engel issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Eliot L. Engel campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Eliot L. Engel (NY) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Eliot Engel profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Eliot Engel voting record
• [http://www.opencongress.org/people/show/400122_eliot_engel — Open Congress: Eliot L. Engel

• Eliot Engel Quotes
• Engel’s War Record Draws Red Flagg
• Congressional incumbent Engel and challenger Flagg clash over Engel's record
• State Senator Will Challenge Congressman
• Engel taking heat
• Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)
• Lieberman Lite: Eliot Engel's alliance with Rev. Hagee
• Bipartisan Pandering to John Hagee and the Religious Right
• Lieberman to share the stage with Hagee