Lincoln Diaz Balart- US Congressman, Carlos Márquez Sterling, Cuba, Spanish American War, Orestes Matacena, Orna Rachovitsky, Michael January, Collages, Universities, Cuban independence war, The Dauntless Filibuster, Orestes Ferrara, Cuba, Jose Marti, Spanish American War, Cuban Independence War, 1897, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, Orestes Matacena, Orna Rachovitsky, Variety, Brad Pitt, Robert Redford, Ronald Reagan, Tampa, Florida, Ibor City, Naples, Napoli, The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, Ernesto Caparos, Maria Luisa Sanchez, Nestor Carbonell, Johnny Carson, Angelina Jolie, Magaret Tatcher, Ruben Rabasa, Gerardo Machado, Cammandant Serapio Arteaga, Guillermo Petriccione, Ricardo Delgado, Bacuranao Beach, May 21 1897, Punta Brava, Manati, Oriente Cuba, Roger Moore, Michael Moore, Frank Sinatra


	LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART United States Congressman

	Attended public elementary schools in South Florida and high school at the American School of Madrid, Spain.

	Subsequently, he received a degree in international relations from New College of Florida, in Sarasota, and also obtained a diploma in British politics in Cambridge, England. He received his law degree from Cleveland, Ohio's Case Western Reserve University.

	Diaz-Balart practiced law in Miami, where he worked for "Legal Services of Greater Miami," providing free legal services to the poor. He was subsequently an Assistant State Attorney in Miami and a partner in the law firm of Fowler, White.

	Lincoln Diaz-Balart was first elected to the Florida Legislature in 1986 by the largest margin of victory of any state representative in Florida and was chosen "best in debate" by colleagues during his freshman term.

	In 1989, Diaz-Balart successfully ran in a special election for an open seat in the Florida Senate and was reelected in 1990.

	In 1992, Diaz-Balart was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 21st Congressional District, which encompassed much of western Miami-Dade County. He served as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during his first term, working to preserve the special U.S. - Israel relationship and striving to protect United States national security.

	In 1994, Lincoln Diaz-Balart became the first Hispanic in U.S. history to be named to the powerful Rules Committee. The Rules Committee, composed of only nine members of the majority party and four from the minority, decides which legislation may reach the House Floor and what amendments may be debated. Diaz-Balart was named Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Rules of the House.

	In 1996, Lincoln Diaz-Balart drafted much of the legislation that strengthened the U.S. embargo against the Cuban dictatorship.

	Diaz-Balart was specifically responsible for codifying the U.S. embargo, making the lifting of sanctions contingent upon the liberation of all political prisoners and the scheduling of free elections in Cuba.

	In 1997, Diaz-Balart successfully carried out efforts to restore SSI, also known as "disability" benefits, and food stamps to legal immigrants who were denied aid by the Welfare Reform Law of 1996. On May 15, 1997, Diaz-Balart took to the Floor of the House and achieved the passage of his amendment to continue SSI benefits to legal immigrants by a vote of 345 to 74.

	Diaz-Balart was the author of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997, which granted legal residency to hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. He also authored legislation to stiffen penalties for stalking crimes against children. This legislation established Florida's "Jennifer Act" as a national standard for state compliance.

	In 1998, Diaz-Balart was reelected to the House of Representatives by the highest margin of victory of any contested Congressional race in Florida.

	In 1999, the respected publication, Congressional Quarterly (CQ), honored Diaz-Balart by naming him one of the "CQ 50" of effective and influential members of Congress.

	In 2000, a nationwide poll of Hispanic voters by the firm, Hispanic Trends, conducted for Hispanic Magazine, placed Diaz-Balart among the 10 most influential and credible Hispanics in the United States.

	As a member of the House Rules Committee, on September 14, 2001, Lincoln Diaz-Balart took to the floor of the House the Joint Resolution authorizing the use of the United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001 against the United States. On November 13, 2002, he took to the Floor the historic legislation creating the "Department of Homeland Security".

	When Congress created the "Select Committee on Homeland Security" in March, 2003, Lincoln Diaz-Balart was named to that important Committee by the Speaker of the House, and he was appointed Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Rules.

	For his extraordinary work on behalf of Nicaraguan immigrants in the United States, Lincoln Diaz-Balart received the "Order of Ruben Dario in Great Cross Grade" medal from the President of Nicaragua on February 23, 2003.

	On April 13, 2004, due to his work on behalf of Colombian immigrants in the United States, Lincoln Diaz-Balart received the highest medals awarded by the Senate and the House of Representatives of Colombia.

	Lincoln Diaz-Balart was reelected without opposition in 2000 and in 2002; this time from the newly configured District 21, which includes parts of western Miami-Dade County and southwestern Broward County.

	Congressman Diaz-Balart lives in Miami with his wife, Cristina, and their two sons, Lincoln and Daniel.