Perry, N. Nick – Jamaica – November 2021

UNITED STATES SENATE

SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)

POST:                  Jamaica

CANDIDATE:     N. Nick Perry

Nick Perry has served for three decades as an Assemblyman in the New York State Legislature. Assemblyman Perry is currently the Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore of the New York State Assembly, and Regional Vice Chairman of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. He serves on the New York State Assembly Standing Committees on Rules, Ways & Means, Codes, Banks, Labor, and Transportation. From 2015-2018, Assemblyman Perry was the Chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus. He also served as Chairman of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, Inc. from 2012-2015. Among his legislative successes, he led the passage of landmark law creating the New York State Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct and was the author and sponsor of the bill which ended the practice of shackling prisoners during childbirth in New York State.

An immigrant from Jamaica, he first volunteered for service in the U.S. Army and then, following his honorable discharge, attended college on the G.I. Bill.  Upon graduation, he became active in community organizing and was appointed to the local Community Board where he was subsequently elected to serve as Chair. He served five consecutive terms on the Brooklyn Borough Board before being elected to the State Assembly in 1992. Taken together, his considerable experience as a legislator, his personal understanding of the immigrant experience and the promise of America, and his demonstrated ability to work across diverse communities to build consensus on issues of social importance, make him well-qualified to serve as Ambassador to Jamaica.

Assemblyman Perry earned his B.A. from Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York. He was named the Legislator of the Year by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in 2018 and has been recognized with honors from the New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators among others.