David Cicilline

David Cicilline
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Patrick Kennedy
36th Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island
In office January 6, 2003 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John J. Lombardi
Succeeded by	Angel Taveras
Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from the 4th district
In office January 1995 – January 2003
Preceded by	Linda J. Kushner
Succeeded by	Gordon D. Fox
Personal details
Born	David Nicola Cicilline (1961-07-15) July 15, 1961 Providence, Rhode Island[1]
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Providence, Rhode Island
Alma mater	Brown University (AB) Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.)
Religion	Jewish[1]
Website	cicilline.com

David Nicola Cicilline (/sɪsɨˈliːni/; born July 15, 1961) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district since 2011.^[2] He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 2003 to 2011, and was the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital.^[3][4]

Early life, education, and law career

Cicilline was born July 15, 1961 in Providence. His mother, Sabra (née Peskin), is Jewish, and his father, John Francis "Jack" Cicilline, is Italian American and Catholic.^[5][6][7] His father is a prominent attorney in Providence who worked as a criminal defense attorney and served as an aide to Mayor Joseph A. Doorley.^[5]

He was raised in Providence before moving to Narragansett. In high school, he served as president of his graduating class and participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program before heading to Brown University, where he established a branch of the College Democrats with his classmate, John F. Kennedy Jr. He took a degree in political science, graduating magna cum laude in 1983. He then went to Georgetown University Law Center where he earned a J.D.

He remained in Washington, D.C. for a while to work as a lawyer and Public Defender Service.

Rhode Island House of Representatives (1995–2003)

Elections

Cicilline ran for the Rhode Island Senate in 1992 against incumbent senator Rhoda Perry but lost the Democratic primary. Two years later, he was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing the 4th district on Providence's East Side. He won the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Linda J. Kushner with 56% of the vote and was unopposed in the general election.^[8]

Tenure

According to his website, he "earned a reputation as a fierce champion of political reform and gun safety, and his dedication to ethics won him Common Cause’s top ranking."^[9]

Committee assignments

Mayor of Providence (2003–2011)

Elections

Cicilline was elected in a landslide in November 2002 with 84% of the vote, following the downfall of controversial mayor Vincent Cianci and the aftermath of Operation Plunder Dome.^[10] He succeeded acting mayor John J. Lombardi, who served out Cianci's term and decided not to run in the following election.^[11] In 2006, Cicilline won an easy re-election with 83 percent of the vote.^[12] A Brown University survey in September 2007 found that 64 percent of state residents approved of the job Cicilline was doing in Providence. By February 2008, that number had dropped to 51 percent. And in September 2008, his popularity fell to 46 percent.^[13]

Accomplishments

Providence has experienced a significant drop in crime, attributed by some to community policing. As of 2007, Providence saw its lowest crime rate in 30 years, contrary to national trends. The city has eliminated 14 percent of management positions, dropped to 17th in the state for per-capita tax and received an "A" bond rating from all three major bond-rating agencies.^[12]

Affiliations

Cicilline was 2008 President of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. As mayor, he was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[14] a bi-partisan group with the stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition was co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In 2009 Cicilline served on the selection committee for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.^[15]

Mayoral policies

Cicilline's administration focused on the residential neighborhoods of Providence, as well as the "Renaissance" areas of downtown and Federal Hill that thrived under Cianci, and continued the promotion of the city via the tax breaks given to artists and movie productions. A former state legislator, he overcame the animosity between state and city government that had existed under Cianci.

In May 2009, Cicilline gained national headlines after proposing a $150 per semester Head Tax on each of the 25,000 college students attending four universities in the city. The tax was an effort to close $6 to $8 million of a reported $17 million city budget shortfall. The Associated Press reported that if enacted, it would become the first-in-the-nation tax on students simply for being enrolled and attending college within the city limits.^[16]

Cicilline has expressed concern about the Providence metropolitan area's carbon footprint. As mayor, he sought to implement a streetcar/light rail-type system for the city. He also focused efforts to fight poverty. He won passage of a vacant-and-abandoned property penalty, to provide an economic disincentive for banks to keep properties off the housing market for extended periods of time. He also proposed municipal bonds for the purpose of buying foreclosed properties to expand housing.^[17]

Cicilline is a strong proponent of after-school activities as a means of improving opportunities for children.^[18] As mayor, Cicilline served as Chair of the Standing Committee for Children, Health and Human Services of the United States Conference of Mayors.^[19] He has also been recognized for his efforts to establish youth programming and to strengthen ties among schools, businesses and local government, in order to expand access to after-school programming. Under Cicilline, city officials worked with Rhode Island’s Education Partnership to form PASA, the Providence After School Alliance.^[18] Cicilline also serves on the board of the national nonprofit Afterschool Alliance, an organization that works to promote and to support after-school activities for all children.^[20]

Between 1980 and 2009, most prostitution was legal in Rhode Island.^[21] As mayor, Cicilline was a strong advocate for outlawing it.^[22] Cicilline personally testified in Superior Court to stop the opening of "spas" in Providence, and discussed his position in the 2009 documentary Happy Endings?.^{[22][23] [24]} He lobbied for a prostitution law not only to arrest sex workers and their customers, but also to fine landlords that permitted prostitution on their premises.^[25] On September 2, 2009, Cicilline submitted an ordinance to the City Council to ban indoor prostitution in the city, imposing a $500 fine and a potential 30-day prison sentence on violators.^[26] On November 3, 2009, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri signed into law a bill making the buying and selling of sexual services a crime.^[21] (See also: Prostitution in Rhode Island)

During the 2008 Democratic primaries, Cicilline supported Hillary Clinton. In August 2008, he attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver. While there, he told an interviewer that he now supported Barack Obama, saying "[t]here is a real sense of hope and optimism about what we're about to do and about a chance in leadership in this country."^[27]

U.S. House of Representatives (2011–Present)

Elections

2010

On February 13, 2010, Cicilline announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives following the retirement of Patrick J. Kennedy. He won the Democratic primary in September with 37% of the vote: defeating businessman Anthony Gemma (23%), State Representative David Segal (20%), and Pawtucket Mayor Bill Lynch (20%).^[28][29]

In November, he defeated Republican State Representative John Loughlin with 51% of the vote and was elected to his first term in Congress.^[2][30]

"Category Five"

In March 2011, two months after taking office, Cicilline's successor, Mayor Angel Taveras held a press conference to highlight his concerns regarding the state of finances in the City of Providence. Following the Taveras press conference, Fitch Ratings downgraded Providence's bond rating to AA-, citing "imprudent budgeting decisions."^[31] Taveras's assertion that Providence faced a "Category Five" financial deficit called into question whether Cicilline could win a second term in Congress.^[32]

Rhode Island's Lazarus

In November 2012, Cicilline accomplished one of the most significant comebacks in recent American political history, when he defeated Republican Brendan Doherty by a margin of 53-41%.^[33] According to public polling, Cicilline had trailed Doherty by 13 points in May 2011^[34] and by 15 points as late as February 2012.^[35]

Cicilline mounted an improbable come-from-behind victory in the face of seemingly long odds, with the Cook Political Report likening him to the Biblical figure Lazarus in mid-October 2012, writing, "Like Lazarus, Cicilline appears to have risen from the ranks of the political dead..."^[36]

Cicilline went on to win the general election, doubling his margin from two years before.^[37]

Tenure

Upon being sworn in for his first term in 2011, Cicilline became the fourth openly gay member of Congress.^[38]

Cicilline says that his biggest priority in Congress is helping the creation of good-paying jobs in Rhode Island. He also has indicated his support for small businesses, seniors, Medicare, and for bringing the troops home.^[39]

Cicilline has voted with his party 96% of the time.^[40] He has been described as a populist-leaning liberal.^[41]

An avid supporter of non-violence, Cicilline has taken a stance against the U.S. military presence in Libya, voting to limit the use of funds supporting NATO operations in Libya and to remove armed forces from Libya.^[42] On a domestic level, he is a strong anti-gun advocate. (He was a founding member of the bipartisan coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns.)^[43] In 2010, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence endorsed Cicilline; in 2000, the National Rifle Association awarded him an F- lifetime score.^[44] Cicilline has also indicated his support for a ban on the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons, for more stringent state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms, and for a requirement that manufacturers equip firearms with child-safety locks.^[45] On November 16, 2011, Cicilline made a powerful public statement against the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act which would “require all states to allow out-of-state visitors to carry concealed firearms as long as the laws of the visitors' home states allow them to do so.”^[46] He insisted that the Second Amendment had nothing to do with this bill, which, he said, would infringe upon the right of state governments to protect the safety of their citizens, and would force communities to accept concealed-carry standards set by other states.^[47]

Cicilline is pro-choice, and advocates that abortions should always be legally available and that government funding should be provided to clinics and medical facilities that provide abortion services.^[45] He opposed the Protect Life Act of October 2011, which would ban the use of federal funds to cover any costs under health care plans that pay for abortions and would allow federally funded hospitals to refuse to perform the abortions (even in cases in which the mother's life is in danger).^[48] Stating that the bill would put women's lives at risk and would limit “how women can spend their own private dollars to purchase health insurance,” Cicilline declared it “outrageous.”^[49] He also voted in February 2011 against prohibiting the disbursement of federal funds to Planned Parenthood and, in May 2011, against prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion.^[42] Cicilline has also cosponsored the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act of 2011 to “improve the health care system's assessment and response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and for other purposes.”^[50]

Cicilline has declared his support for veterans' “access to a range of resources in health care, housing, employment, mental health services, and education.” ^[51] He has cosponsored the Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act to aid veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder,^[52] the Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act to permit disabled veterans to receive both retirement pay and disability compensation,^[53] and the Veteran Employment Transition Act of 2011 to extend work opportunities to recently discharged veterans.^[54] On November 18, 2011, Cicilline said the following about the Vow Hire Heroes Act, which increases job opportunities for veterans: "This vote ensures that Rhode Island veterans and all of our nation's veterans will receive some of the tools and resources they need to successfully reenter the workforce and provide for their families and loved ones.”^[55]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Committee on Small Business

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Common Ground Caucus (co-founder)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Cicilline.

• Congressman David Cicilline official U.S. House site
• David Cicilline for Congress
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

Mayor

• Profile at CityMayors.com
• Broder, David S. (June 8, 2006). "A Reformer In Rhode Island". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Patrick Kennedy	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional district January 3, 2011 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by John Carney D-Delaware	United States Representatives by seniority 284th	Succeeded by Rick Crawford R-Arkansas
Political offices
Preceded by John J. Lombardi	Mayor of Providence 2003—2011	Succeeded by Angel Taveras

v t e Rhode Island's current delegation to the United States Congress Senators Jack Reed (D) Sheldon Whitehouse (D) Representatives (ordered by district) David Cicilline (D) James Langevin (D) Other states' delegations Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Non‑voting: American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands

Persondata
Name	Cicilline, David
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	1961-48-15
Place of birth	Providence, Rhode Island
Date of death
Place of death