• U.S. Congressman (D- New York)
• Member of the radical Progressive Caucus
• Admires Communist dictator Fidel Castro
• Praised President Clinton's clemency offer to FALN Puerto Rican terrorists
• In 2002, was arrested for protesting a U.S. Navy bombing range

Jose Serrano is a Member of Congress who represents the Sixteenth District of New York, most of which is New York City's South Bronx. Born in Puerto Rico in 1943 and raised in a South Bronx housing project, Democrat Serrano was elected to the New York Assembly in 1974. When Congressman Robert Garcia was convicted for accepting a bribe, Serrano won his seat two months later in a special March 1990 election and has held it ever since. This district's population is currently 63 percent Hispanic and 30 percent African-American.

Rep. Serrano is sometimes called the Congressman from Havana. He voices open admiration for Fidel Castro and has worked hard to repeal the economic embargo and sanctions against Cuba's Marxist dictatorship.

Rep. Serrano also applauded President Bill Clinton's 1999 clemency offer to FALN Puerto Rican terrorists - or, as Serrano called them, "political prisoners" - whose bombings had killed six people and maimed or blinded three New York City policemen. Serrano describes his native Puerto Rico as a "colony" of the United States, although a plebiscite in Puerto Rico in 1998 showed that 96% of Puerto Ricans desired statehood or commonwealth status with the US (they received the latter). In May 2000 he was arrested along with other radicals during a White House protest against the U.S. Navy's continued use of Vieques, Puerto Rico as a bombing range. Critics charge that he devotes more time to serving Castro and Puerto Rico than he does to serving constituents in his New York City district.

Rep. Serrano supported African-American anti-Semite Al Sharpton for New York Mayor in 1997.

Serrano is a member of the leftwing Progressive Caucus, as is Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-California).  After taking power in 2002, she named Serrano one of three Vice-Chairmen of the powerful Democratic Steering Committee that makes committee assignments, giving him added muscle with which to pressure more moderate Democrats to support his and Pelosi's radical agenda.