Congress
The newlyweds Bill and Barbara Richardson headed to Washington, D.C.
after college. Bill worked on Capitol Hill and began to understand how
politics could create positive change. After a few years in D.C., the
Richardsons decided it was time to move west to New Mexico.
Once he arrived in New Mexico, Bill worked as a staffer for the local
Democratic Party and taught Government at a Santa Fe Community College.
In 1980, Bill entered his first campaign to challenge Republican Manuel
Lujan in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. That first campaign
taught Bill the basics of campaigning: he worked for months, and shook
practically every hand in Northern New Mexico, he pulled together a
grassroots organization that had the support of many local leaders and
motivated the Hispanic electorate like never before. And he lost by less
than one percent.
But he tried again, and two years later 35 year old Bill Richardson
became one of the youngest freshman Congressmen of the class of 1982. He
represented the newly created 3rd Congressional District, one of the
nation's most diverse.
Congressman Richardson got straight to work for the people of New
Mexico, and was known for holding more town-hall meetings with his
constituents than any other Congressman over 2,500 eventually.
Reflecting the values his parents had instilled decades before, Bill
wanted to make a difference, not just for the people in New Mexico, but
for the whole country.
From his position on the Energy and Commerce committee he proposed an
amendment to the Clean Air Act that mandated cleaner gasoline; a law
that has made a significant contribution in the fight against pollution
and global warming.
Bill Richardson has always fought for environmental protections, and
when he was in Congress he also led the fight to protect and preserve
thousands of acres of New Mexico's wilderness. After the Exxon Valdez
spill, Congressman Richardson also encouraged research into preventing
oil spills with his contributions to the Oil Pollution Prevention Act.
Bill spent fourteen years in Congress and also sat on the Interior
Committee and the House Select Committee on Intelligence; he was also
Chair of the Hispanic Caucus and was later picked as Chief Deputy Whip.
Congressman Richardson's position on the Interior Committee allowed him
to fight for one of New Mexico's, and one of the country's, most
underserved populations: Native Americans.
New Mexico has a substantial population of Native Americans and is home
to dozens of tribes, pueblos and reservations. For too long, politicians
had been breaking promises made to Native Americans, and Bill was
determined to change this. The Interior Committee focuses on the
environment, land use, water, and Indian affairs; all issues of great
importance to New Mexicans, and the entire Mountain West. As Congressman
and Governor, Bill Richardson has been committed to working with Native
Americans to protect their land and improve their quality of life. Bill
returned important tribal land to local control, sponsored or
cosponsored legislation that improved tribal health care and schools and
sparked economic development. Bill was also the first chairman of the
newly created Subcommittee on Native American Affairs. As Congressman
Richardson so colorfully put it, the Indians had been getting screwed by
the United States Government for two centuries. I couldn't even the
score, but I could try to do what was right.
Chief Deputy Whip Richardson worked tirelessly to pass legislation, and
always kept an open door policy. He worked with members of both parties
to build support for bills and keep Congress moving forward. During the
103rd Congress (1993-1994) he introduced 56 bills and 17 of them became
law, accounting for 7% of all legislation that became law that year.