Norma Torres

Congresswoman Norma J. Torres represents California’s 35th Congressional District in the Inland Empire which includes Bloomington, Chino, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, and Rialto. She previously served as a State Senator, Assembly Member, and as a Mayor and Council Member in the City of Pomona. Throughout her career in elected office, she has worked to make government more responsive to the needs of Inland Empire residents.

 As State Senator, Torres played a significant role in making the Affordable Care Act work for California’s patients and consumers.  Her law to diversify the Covered California Board so that it would be better prepared to enroll the uninsured, earned her statewide recognition and national attention.  As Chair of the Committee on Housing and Community Development, she led an effort that secured $2 billion in federal funds for the “Keep Your Home California” program, which helped thousands of families keep their homes during the foreclosure crisis.  Fighting crime and making sure public safety systems are responsive to the needs of the community has been a lifelong priority for Torres. As a former 9-1-1 dispatcher, she drew on her expertise to author a law that modernized the 9-1-1 system—resulting in a system that now routes cell phone callers to their local police department, rather than a statewide hotline, during an emergency.

 Now on her third term in Congress, Torres currently serves on the powerful House Appropriations and Rules Committees. The Appropriations Committee is responsible for appropriating all federal spending, domestic and abroad. As a member of the Rules Committee, she helps determine the consideration of all legislation on the House floor.