Double Jeopardy, Bronx-Style

Congressman Serrano “Hits the Big Time” on National Gameshow

January 25, 2005,
Washington, DC
—In his over thirty years of elected office, Congressman José E. Serrano (D-NY) has had his share of air time—countless talk show appearances, interviews, even scoring a role as a judge on an episode of NBC’s Law & Order.  But he was certainly surprised last night when he learned that he had reached a new level of pop culture status—being a question on Jeopardy. 

As last night’s show progressed to the Double Jeopardy round, contestant Ted Stratton chose the $1200 question under the category “Jose Can You See.” The contestants—Stratton, Tom McFarland, and Katie Heim— were then asked “Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Congressman José Serrano represents a district in this eastern state.”  Unfortunately, none of them knew the answer, “What is
New York
?”

Needless to say, neither Stratton, McFarland, nor Heim are from
New York
.

“A question on Jeopardy?  Now I know I’ve really hit the big time,” laughed Serrano. “It was great seeing my name up there, but I would’ve felt better if one of the contestants had gotten the answer right!  Maybe I need to invite them up to my district in the
Bronx
and show them around a bit.”

            Serrano has represented the
Bronx
in Congress for fifteen years, and is the only Congressman from
New York City
on the House Appropriations Committee.  Jeopardy, the nationally-syndicated ABC game show, has been on air since 1984, has won 24 Daytime Emmys, and has an estimated audience of 12 million viewers.

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Congressman José E. Serrano has represented the
Bronx
in Congress since 1990.  He is the only Member of Congress from New York City on the House Appropriations Committee and serves as the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Commerce, Justice, and State Departments and related agencies, including the FBI, DEA, SBA, and Census Bureau.  A member of the Democratic Party leadership, he serves as Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.