Luis G. Fortuño was sworn in as Governor of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2009. Prior
to being elected Governor, Fortuño was the sole representative in the U.S.
Congress of the 4 million U.S. citizens residing in the island.
Fortuño was sworn in to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, on
January 4, 2005 becoming the first Republican elected to Congress representing
the people of Puerto Rico. He began his tenure in Congress by being elected Vice-
President of his Freshman Class alongside Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. He
was also unanimously elected to serve as Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic
Conference, and was a founding Co-Chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain
Caucus, which strengthens the relationship between the United States and Spain
and focuses on political, cultural, economic, commercial, and educational relations
between the two countries.
Rep. Fortuño was also appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of the
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and was a member of the
House Republican Policy Committee.
As Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, Fortuño defended equal rights and
parity in federal funding for Puerto Rico. Under his leadership, Puerto Rico received
over $7 billion in federal funds, including over $800 million for infrastructure and
transportation and the first increase in Medicaid funding in over 9 years.
During the 110th Congress, Rep. Fortuño served on the Committee on Natural
Resources and was Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs - a
distinction rarely awarded to a Member with only two years in Congress. Rep.
Fortuño also served on the Committee on Education and Labor - Subcommittees on
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and
Communities. And he also earned the privilege of serving on the Committee on
Foreign Affairs where he was assigned to the Subcommittees on Western
Hemisphere and Europe.
Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Fortuño was a partner at a San Juan law
firm specializing in corporate finance and real estate law. He entered public service
in 1993, after being appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico as Executive
Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and President of the Hotel
Development Corporation. In 1994, he became Puerto Rico’s first Secretary of the
Department of Economic Development and Commerce.
As Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, Rep. Fortuño was tasked
with the development and implementation of large-scale reforms of Puerto Rico’s
tax, labor, corporate and commercial codes, aimed at facilitating business growth
and job creation, reducing bureaucracy, and tax reform. Some of these initiatives
included the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code, the revamping of the
General Corporations Law, an aggressive investment package to jumpstart the
tourism industry, and the largest tax cut in Puerto Rico’s history. At the time of
Rep. Fortuño’s departure from public service, Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate had
reached its lowest level in over a generation.
Born in 1960, Rep. Fortuño was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He earned a
bachelor’s degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and
obtained his Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Virginia Law School. He is
married to attorney Lucé Vela and has three children.