Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement to congratulate the Honorable Melissa Mark-Viverito on her unanimous selection as the fourth Speaker of the New York City Council, becoming the first Latino woman to hold a city-wide position.

“With the people of New York City, I congratulate Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito as she becomes the Speaker of the New York City Council,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “I have known her as an activist in her community and as a colleague on the city council, and I am certain of her dedication to the equitable distribution of our city’s resources, to fairness on behalf of the families in each of the five boroughs of New York City, to opportunity for the children who tomorrow will inherit the city we build today.”

Speaker Mark-Viverito represents Council District Eight, a district that includes parts of the Upper East Side, East Harlem, Manhattan Valley, the Upper West Side in Manhattan, and Mott Haven in the Bronx. Before she entered elected office, Speaker Mark-Viverito was a Strategic Organizer for Local 1199 of Service Employees International Union and a member of Community Board Eleven.

“As a leader in the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Mark-Viverito has been committed to reducing the substantial income inequality that threatens millions of families here in New York City with displacement and, in the worst instances, homelessness. Her work on some of the critical issues of our time – in support of paid sick leave and a higher minimum wage – demonstrate her belief in a shared prosperity for the people of the City of New York.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.