Biography
Representative Ritchie Torres is a fighter from the Bronx who has spent his entire life working for the community he calls home. Like many people in the Bronx, poverty and struggle have never been abstractions to him, and he governs from a place of lived experience.
Ritchie’s mother single-handedly raised him, his twin brother, and his sister in a public-housing project. She paid the bills working minimum-wage jobs, which in the 1990s paid $4.25 an hour. While Ritchie grew up with mold, lead, leaks, and no reliable heat or hot water in the winter, he watched the government spend over $100 million dollars to build a golf course across the street for Donald Trump. In 2013, at the age of 25, Ritchie became New York City’s youngest elected official and the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to office in the Bronx.
In the City Council, Ritchie stood out, and during his seven-year tenure he tenaciously tackled problems big and small for the Bronx and New York City. He passed over forty pieces of legislation, including legislation protecting the City’s affordable housing stock and tackling the city’s opioid epidemic. As the Chairman overseeing NYCHA, he held the first committee hearing ever in public housing, which led to a $3 billion-dollar FEMA investment, the largest in NYC history. As Chair of the Oversight & Investigations Committee, Ritchie has led investigations into the heating outages and lead poisoning at NYCHA, the Taxi Medallion scandal, the City’s controversial Third-Party Transfer program, and Kushner Companies.
In 2020, Ritchie was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first openly gay Afro-Latino member of Congress. His historic win reflects his deep commitment to the Bronx, where he has long fought for affordable housing, social justice, and equitable opportunity. In Congress, Ritchie continues to champion the needs of working families and vulnerable communities, drawing on his personal experience and commitment to meaningful change on the national stage.
Congressional Committees & Legislative Focuses
In Congress, Rep. Torres serves on two key committees:
- House Committee on Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology & Inclusion
- Subcommittee on Housing & Insurance
- Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions
- House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party
Since taking office in 2021, Rep. Torres has introduced and supported a host of legislation aimed at improving public safety, enhancing transparency, and addressing systemic issues across the Bronx, New York City, and the country, such as:
- The Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act
Establishes national safety standards for lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and similar devices to prevent fires. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) reports rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have caused more than 1,000 fires since 2019, resulting in 523 injuries, 39 deaths & damage to over 650 hundreds of structures. - The Contracting Accountability and Transparency (CAT) Act
Seeks to require public housing agencies to publicly disclose contracts and improve transparency in how housing funds are used. - The Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker (SANTOS) Act
Would impose penalties and improve disclosure rules to discourage false statements and fraud in candidate filings.
He has also introduced and co-sponsored additional legislation around public health emergency coordination, digital assets and fintech policy, housing and insurance oversight, and other transparency or accountability measures. Additionally, he has been active in advocating for gun violence prevention measures, including legislation to ban ghost guns and expand gun-free school zones. His legislative efforts reflect a commitment to public safety, accountability, and affordability.
Legislative Achievements
As a freshman member of Congress, Rep. Torres authored and passed high-impact, bipartisan legislation that is now law:
Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act (2022)
Passed in the wake of the deadly Twin Parks North West fire in the Bronx, this law gives the U.S. Fire Administration authority to investigate major fires across the country, identifying root causes and issuing national safety recommendations. It marked a major step forward in federal fire prevention policy.
Delivering Results for the Bronx & Beyond
Rep. Torres’s legislative agenda reflects a fundamental belief that the Bronx is entitled to quality and affordable housing, public safety should be guaranteed, and federal standards should protect everyone equally, regardless of ZIP code.