Kathleen Rice
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's4th district
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Carolyn McCarthy
Succeeded by	Anthony D'Esposito
District Attorney ofNassau County
In office January 1, 2006 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Denis E. Dillon
Succeeded by	Madeline Singas
Personal details
Born	Kathleen Maura Rice (1965-02-15)February 15, 1965 (age 60) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Republican (before 2005) Democratic (2005–present)
Education	Catholic University (BA) Touro College (JD)

Kathleen Maura Rice (born February 15, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States representative forNew York's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2023. She is a member of theDemocratic Party. Before serving in Congress, Rice served as theNassau County district attorney, and, before that, she served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office inPhiladelphia and as an assistant district attorney in theKings County District Attorney's Office inNew York City.

On January 29, 2014, Rice announced that she would run for Congress in New York's 4th congressional district to replace retiring Democratic incumbentCarolyn McCarthy.^[1] Rice defeated Republican nomineeBruce Blakeman on November 4, 2014,^[2] and took office in January 2015.

On February 15, 2022, Rice announced that she would retire at the end of her term.^[3]

Rice was born inManhattan,New York, to Laurence and Christine Rice. She grew up inGarden City, onLong Island, as one of 10 siblings. Rice graduated fromGarden City High School. She received a B.A. degree from theCatholic University in 1987 and a J.D. degree from theTouro Law Center in 1991.^[4]

In 1992 Rice began her career as an assistant district attorney in theKings County District Attorney's Office, under District AttorneyCharles J. Hynes. She prosecuted cases involving burglaries, robberies and sexual assaults and was the first member of her class to be promoted to thehomicide bureau.^[5]

In 1999, Rice was appointed assistantUnited States Attorney inPhiladelphia by then-Attorney GeneralJanet Reno. As a federal prosecutor, she prosecuted white-collar crimes, corporate fraud, gun and drug cases, and public corruption.^[6]

Rice was elected Nassau County District Attorney in 2005, winning by 7,500 votes to become the first woman to hold the position.^[7] She defeated 30-year incumbentDenis E. Dillon, who had generally won reelection easily, even after switching his affiliation from Democratic to Republican in 1989. Rice was the first serious opponent Dillon had faced since his first run in 1974.^[8] Rice was reelected in 2009 and 2013.

In 2006, Rice declared her first major policy initiative to be an "assault on the drunk driving epidemic". She lowered the blood-alcohol level at which plea bargains were offered,^[9] supportedLeandra's Law, and charged a man with murder after a 2005 accident that killed a limo driver and a child.^[10]

In September 2011, Rice's office arrested seven students after uncovering anSAT cheating ring on Long Island.^[11] When this case led to the discovery of a wider-spread cheating scandal, Rice worked with theCollege Board, which administers the test, to update security standards to halt cheating in the future. This effort sparked other test administrators, like that which gives theACT, to update their standards as well.^[12]

Rice has also received credit for teen education programs geared towardcyberbullying, drug use, texting and dangerous driving.^{[13][14][15][16]}

In 2007, Rice's office, Nassau County andHempstead police led a counter-assault on Terrace Avenue, a major drug haven and crime-ridden street inLong Island's Hempstead Village. Through a combination of zero-tolerance enforcement for repeat and violent offenders, and social-service based jail diversion for nonviolent and first time offenders, crime was reduced in the area.^[17]

In 2008, following the trampling death of aWalmart employee at one of its Black Friday sales events, Rice encouraged Walmart to upgrade its security protocols at its nearly 100 New York stores.^[18]

In 2012, Rice came out in favor of decriminalizing small amounts of "plain view" marijuana.^[19] She has also supported efforts to allow some citizens to seal prior low-level, non-violent convictions in the hopes of improving their chances of obtaining employment.^[20]

In the same year, then-GovernorAndrew Cuomo chose Rice to be a member of the Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response, a panel tasked with investigating the failures of theLong Island Power Authority (LIPA) afterHurricane Sandy. The panel recommended that LIPA be replaced by a private, investor-owned company and that the Public Service Commission, which has regulation authority, be given more power to penalize and fine poor-performing utility companies.

Rice supports the "Raise the Age NY" initiative to treat nonviolent teen offenders as juveniles in the criminal justice system.^[21]

Rice implemented gun buyback programs in some of the county's most crime-plagued areas, which removed more than 2,000 guns from the streets.^[22] She also spoke out in favor of then-Governor Cuomo's gun control legislation^[23] and created the office's first ever gun prosecution unit.^[24]

In 2011 Rice announced a major prosecution of nine gun dealers and gun store employees police arrested in an undercover operation investigating alleged illegal assault weapons.^[25] This was the second arrest for Martin Tretola, one of the gun shop owners. He was previously arrested on firearms-related violations in 2007. In 2012, a federal jury delivered a verdict rejecting Nassau County's and Rice's charges for the 2007 arrest and awarded Tretola $3 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.^[26] This judgment was reduced to $1.3 million in total upon appeal.^[27]

The Kings County district attorney's prosecution of Antowine Butts for double homicide imploded and ended in an acquittal in 2000, but not before Butts spent two years in aRikers Island jail cell. After the case unraveled, Butts alleged that he was a victim of prosecutorial misconduct in a civil rights lawsuit that was settled with New York City.

Rice was among those named in that suit, but has largely escaped attention for starting her career in an office in which prosecutors are alleged to have put some innocent people behind bars with coerced confessions, bogus witness statements, coached lineup identifications and other tactics.^[28]

In April 2013, Rice announced the arrest of 18 members of the "Rollin' 60's" gang, an "ultra-violent" subset of the Crips. Rice charged these defendants with crimes ranging from attempted murder of a police officer to assault and robbery to gun and drug sales.^[29]

Among those Rice has charged and convicted of corruption include a deputy police commissioner,^[30] aLong Beach City Council member,^[31] formerNassau County legislators,^[32] and several town building department employees.^[33]

In July 2013, Cuomo appointed Rice to be one of three co-chairs of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption. The commission's work is ongoing.^[34]

Rice formed Nassau's first-everMedicaid and public assistance fraud unit, which has since secured millions of dollars in restitution for Nassau taxpayers.^[35]

In 2010, Rice ordered the review^[36] of a 1987 case in which Arnold Friedman and his son, Jesse,^[37] pleaded guilty to sexually abusing young boys in their Great Neck, Long Island home. Rice formed a panel of outside experts—including theInnocence Project'sBarry Scheck (who spoke out against the review)^[38]—to examine whether Jesse Friedman had wrongfully confessed. In a 172-page report released in July 2013, investigators found that Friedman had not been wrongfully convicted.^[39]

In July 2013, Rice was inducted as president of theDistrict Attorneys Association of the State of New York (DAASNY).^[40]

In an August 2017 tweet, Rice referred to both theNational Rifle Association and its spokeswoman,conservativepolitical commentator and authorDana Loesch, as national security threats under PresidentDonald Trump.^[41] Loesch reacted to Rice's tweet by calling for her resignation.^[42]

As of September 2021, Rice had voted in line withJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.^[43]

Rice was one of three House Democrats on the Energy Committee to vote against a provision that would lower prescription drug prices.^[44]

In 2022, Rice criticized Democratic groups aidingfar-right GOP primary candidates to make for easier opponentsin November.^[45]

• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation
  • Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations (Chair)
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

• New Democrat Coalition^[46]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus^[47]

In 2005, Rice returned to Nassau County and declared her candidacy forDistrict Attorney on the Democratic line. She challenged 30-year incumbentDenis E. Dillon. Throughout the campaign, Rice provided an alternative to Dillon, pledging to cut plea bargaining and touting her would-be zero tolerance policy for drunk driving. She also committed herself to modernizing the office's approach to domestic violence and crimes of sexual abuse. Rice edged out Dillon, 51%–49%.^[7]

In 2009, Rice was challenged by law clerk Joy Watson. She defeated Watson, 54%–46%.

In May 2010, Rice announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination forNew York State Attorney General. The race pitted Rice against four Democratic opponents: then-State SenatorEric Schneiderman, former prosecutorSean Coffey, former State AssemblymanRichard Brodsky, and former insurance commissionerEric Dinallo. Though originally considered a long shot, she lost the five-way primary to Schneiderman by just two points, 34% to 32%.^[50]

In 2013, Rice was challenged by Law Secretary Howard Sturim. Rice defeated Sturim, 59%–41%.

In June 2014, Rice won the Democratic primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 4th congressional district, defeating Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams, 56%–44%.^[53] In November, she was elected, defeating Republican nomineeBruce Blakeman, 53%–47%.^[54]

Rice was reelected, defeating Republican nomineeDavid Gurfein, 59.6%–40.4%, a margin of about 60,000 votes.^[55]

Rice was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Ameer Benno, 61.3%–38.7%.^[56]

Rice was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Douglas L. Tuman andGreen nominee Joseph R. Naham 56.1% to Tuman's 43.0% and Naham's 0.8%.^[56]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(February 2021)

Rice has never married and has no children.^[59] She isRoman Catholic.^[60]

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

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