How Women Are Representing You In The U.S. House of Representatives

In the latest news, we’re hearing about how U.S. House Representatives like Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are conquering Congress. Even though these amazing women are making a difference in our government, there are other women in the U.S. House of Representatives who are fighting against social injustice and discrimination, and for equal rights for all women.

With the highest number of women in the history of the House of Representatives, these women from various parts of the United States have tackled protests against them and made a difference for women in their respective state. These are some of the women who are making an impact:

 

 

Gwen Moore: U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 4th congressional district

“I was once a welfare recipient and am very aware of the successes and failures of this critical safety net. There are those that would have us believe that those receiving TANF benefits are lazy, shiftless, freeloaders who are just sitting around thinking of another way to suckle from the government teat. This could not be further from the truth. As a former recipient of these services, I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of TANF recipients are hard-working Americans who are down on their luck, and just want an opportunity to better their lives and those of their family through work and access to education.”

Moore has been a woman who has fought no matter what the circumstances were. She introduced legislation to provide economic incentives to small businesses and new opportunities for doulas and midwives to help create jobs in her state. 

 

 

Small business owner and leader, @RepCindyAxne fights #ForThePeople by advocating for our Iowan agriculture, students and families. #FollowFriday pic.twitter.com/c00Ddaa7Id

— House Democrats (@HouseDemocrats) September 27, 2019

Cindy Axne: U.S. Representative for Iowa’s 3rd congressional district

“Proud to represent Iowa and serve as a voice for our farmers.”

Even though Axne has only been in office since January 2019, she still has been making waves in her seat. After her colleague, Steve King, from Iowa’s 4th congressional district made a racist remark about white nationalism and white supremacy while serving on the House Committee on Agriculture, Axne replaced him and became the only representative from Iowa on the committee. Axne is all about fairness: when the government was shut down in early 2019, Axne asked that her pay be withheld until the shutdown ended, and also co-sponsored a bill to prevent further federal government shutdowns to happen again. 

 

 

 

Jahana Hayes: U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s 5th congressional district

“We collaborate, we communicate, we evaluate the information and come up with solutions. And I think we have to give ourselves permission to do that outside of the classroom.”

Recognized as the John F. Kennedy Teacher of the Year in 2015, and then National Teacher of the Year in 2016, the Connecticut native has made it her mission to support public education and teachers’ unions. She, along with several other representatives, introduced the Pell Grant Restoration Act, which “would amend Title IV of the Higher Education Act to restore students’ Pell Grant eligibility for any period of time, during which they would have qualified for loan forgiveness due to school closure or institutional fraud or misconduct.”

 

 

Great meeting @BillGates to hear how close we are to eradicating infectious diseases around the world and how Congress can be a partner to advance global health efforts. I look forward to exploring opportunities to partner together. pic.twitter.com/WQmC57nbMg

— Grace Meng (@RepGraceMeng) June 25, 2019

 

Grace Meng: U.S. Representative for New York’s 6th congressional district (in the NYC borough of Queens)

“The American people are just sick and tired of blaming each other without getting anything done.”

Besides being a boss, Meng is a role model in her community. She’s the first Asian American to be elected to Congress from New York. She’s fighting to make sure that all those who need access to tampons and menstrual pads are able to get them. Additionally, the “40 Under 40” Rising Star recently introduced the Community College Student Success Act, which aimed to boost graduation rates at public community colleges with large numbers of low-income and minority students that don’t have all of the necessary resources in their community.

 

 

 

Val Demings: U.S. Representative for Florida’s 10th congressional district

“We must do what we can to make sure law enforcement has the tools it needs to more effectively perform the ever more challenging job of keeping us a safe nation. The Gun Violence Restraining Order Act is a major step towards doing just that.”

While holding her previous role as the Chief of the Orlando Police Department (being the first woman to ever do so!), Demings was said to have reduced crimes in the city. It’s no surprise that when she assumed office in 2017, she still wanted to fight to take guns off the streets. Demings wrote an opinion article after the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in support of legislation to address gun violence.

 

 

 

Haley Stevens: U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 11th congressional district

“Our region is so ripe with apprenticeship training programs. I mean, these are some of the things that some regions would fight tooth or nail. And we’ve got those assets here.”

Just like her House of Representatives colleague Rashida Tlaib (also of Michigan) is making strides in her district in Michigan, Stevens is also on fire in her 11th district. Stevens is the first Democrat to represent the area for a two-year term since the ’60s, and the first woman to represent the district, according to Michigan Radio. Since being in Congress, Stevens has introduced a bill that will update the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act to boost research and training to meet the needs of the future workforce.

 

 

 

Ann Kirkpatrick: U.S. Representative for Arizona’s 2nd congressional district

“We need to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care.”

Kirkpatrick has been vocal about available health protection for all. She voted for the Affordable Care Act and supported the eligibility for more people to have access to Medicare. She is a co-sponsor of fellow U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All Bill, which prevents private insurance companies from providing core benefits and establishes care for all U.S. residents.

 

 

 

Marcia Fudge: U.S. Representative for Ohio’s 11th congressional district

“Where are we recognized?”

Representing basketball superstar LeBron James’s hometown of Akron, Fudge has been serving the House of Representatives since 2008. She introduced a bill for financial aid fairness for college students, where no matter what the circumstance, students are eligible to apply for financial aid.

 

 

 

Barbara Lee: U.S. Representative of California 13th congressional district

 “I could not support such a grant of war-making authority to the president; I believe it would put more innocent lives at risk.”

Ladies, I have found your new role model for 2019. Lee has been a U.S. Representative since 1998 and has set the bar for other people in the state. She has made a difference in her community for almost two decades: She’s the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and is the Vice-Chair and founding member of the LGBT Equality Caucus. 

She stood up for her critical opinion of the war in Iraq by voting against the authorization of use of force after the 9/11 attacks.

 

 

 

Dina Titus: U.S. Representative for Nevada’s 1st congressional district

“A vacation from school should not mean hunger for our children.”

A true advocate for the ones who cannot speak for themselves, Titus introduced the Weekends Without Hunger Act, which was intended to prevent children from going hungry when they’re not at school. 

 

 

 

Chellie Pingree: U.S. Representative for Maine’s 1st congressional district

“Not only am I strongly pro-choice, but as a state senator I fought for contraceptive equality, to improve access to women’s health care, and to make Roe v. Wade a permanent part of Maine law.”

Pingree — the first woman elected to the House to represent Maine’s first district — does not hold back. She stands by women: she attended the Women’s March with her daughters, and supports Planned Parenthood. She has spoken against defunding the organization in the House, saying that people want to “deny women access to safe and legal abortions.”

 

 

 

Jan Schakowsky: U.S. Representative of Illinois’s 9th congressional district

“I will work to do all that I can to advance this legislation and protect our precious water sources.”

Schakowsky is a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame as a Friend of the Community. Schakowsky is also an advocate for action on environmental issues. She reintroduced the Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development (SHARED) Act, which is designed to protect against the dangers of fracking, force testing, and reporting of water contamination. 

 

 

 

Diana DeGette: U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 1st congressional district

“Reproductive freedom means economic freedom. And that’s what this debate is about.”

DeGette has always been an advocate for civil rights — she practiced law focusing on the rights of workers. In an effort to minimize conflict, she authored a law that kept abortion clinic protesters in her state at least eight feet away from patients in her Bubble Bill. DeGette is pro-choice and fights for the decrease of unintended pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases through healthcare.

 

 

 

Kay Granger: U.S. Representative of Texas’s 12th congressional district

“I have a woman card. I have an intelligence card. I have an achievement card. I have a background card. I play with a full deck.”

A woman who considers herself as a “pro-choice Republican ” (though in practice she has a mixed voting record) Granger has been instrumental in her community of Fort Worth, where she was elected the first woman mayor in 1991. She is known for her “toughness and effective negotiating skills”, per the Dallas Morning News; she fights for defense spending and advocates for funding of military projects.

 

 

 

Susan W. Brooks: U.S. Representative of Indiana’s 5th congressional district

“One of the most challenging factors students must consider when deciding whether or not to pursue higher education is the financial burden of enrollment.”

The Indiana representative is hanging her 16-year hat in public service at the end of this year, but she leaves behind a slew of accomplishments. She fought for children to have access to top-notch education and introduced the Social Media Working Group Act of 2014, which passed the House. 

 

 

 

Ann McLane Kuster: U.S. Representative for New Hampshire’s 2nd congressional district 

“No woman should ever be discriminated against in the workplace simply because she is pregnant.”

A representative who is behind every woman is exactly what we need in the House. Kuster stood up for women who are pregnant and working, co-sponsoring the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that prohibits employers from mistreating pregnant workers.

 

 

 

Katherine Clark: U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district

“During a time when one in five public school teachers have second jobs and corporations are benefiting from massive tax cuts without raising wages, bending the balance of power further away from workers will result in more families unable to afford the rising costs of healthcare, housing, groceries, and college.”

Since being elected in 2013, Clark has been holding people accountable for their actions and ensuring that everyone is treated equally. She co-sponsored a bill that, once it became law, made sure that students in her state were reading at grade level by third grade. The 2013 Legislator of the Year for the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts also created a bill that extended restraining orders in domestic violence cases to also cover victims’ pets, which can be used as pawns in abusive relationships. 

 

 

 

Alma Adams: U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 12th congressional district

“ Ensuring that every child has equal access to education and that all workers are treated with dignity will be at the top of the agenda.”

The second woman of color to represent the state, Adams is killing it in Congress while rocking her famous hats. She recently was appointed to the Financial Services Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee with Chairwoman Maxine Waters of California. The subcommittee aims for everyone to have equal opportunity.

 

 

 

Xochitl Torres Small: U.S. Representative for New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district

“Together, we can put an end to maternal morbidity and mortality crisis facing rural and underserved communities.”

A new face to the House this year, but one that will be remembered. Torres Small has proposed legislation to provide rural areas with more maternal care and to collect data to provide clarity on the underlying reasons for maternal mortality in the United States. Pregnant people in the United States are dying at a higher rate than other developed countries, as Harvard Health Blog noted, and Torres Small has been vociferous about the fact that “Hispanic women are 20 percent more likely to become seriously ill during pregnancy,” as the congresswoman told the Las Cruces Sun News. She’s committed to fighting to lower the maternal mortality rate, particularly among rural women and women of color.

 

 

 

Pramila Jayapal: U.S. Representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district

“We can never be afraid to stand up for what is right, no matter what others may say.”

Before entering into Congress, Jayapal was a civil rights activist where she held the position as the executive director of a pro immigrant advocacy group. Jayapal also participated in the protest against the Trump administration for their “zero-tolerance” approach to illegal immigration where she and 500 people were arrested. 

 

 

 

Angie Craig: U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district 

“Most politicians seem content to sit back and do nothing but continue to help the rich get richer and fight among themselves. It’s a broken political system that works for the special interests, not us.”

Former journalist who covered issues in her hometown, Craig is the first lesbian mother (who has four children with her wife) to be elected to Congress, as well as first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota. She’s also one of the co-chairs for the LGBT Caucus.

 

 

 

Sharice Davids: U.S. Representative for Kansas’ 3rd congressional district 

“We have to be in the room because if we’re not, then whole communities get left out of conversations.”

Davids is kicking ass in the House and in the ring. One of the first two Native American women elected into Congress, Davids formerly competed in mixed martial arts. She also worked with communities on economic and community development programs, where she later directed for the development of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

 

 

 

Madeleine Dean: U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 4th congressional district

“We cannot sit idle – not when more than a hundred Americans are dying every day from gun violence.”

Even though she hasn’t served in Congress long, Dean has made her statement in government for many years. When she was elected to the House, she made it her mission to focus on addiction, equal rights, healthcare, criminal justice reform, gun violence, and more. Gun violence has been her #1 priority following the shooting at Sandy Hook, when Dean co-founded a gun violence prevention caucus dedicated to eliminating gun violence.

 

 

.@NavalAcademy women rocking the Seapower hearing! pic.twitter.com/xOuVn03kqV

— Rep. Elaine Luria (@RepElaineLuria) November 20, 2019

 

Elaine Luria: U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 2nd congressional district

“We should let this tragedy define us, for in our darkest hour, we see hope, we see that we have more in common than differences.”

Overcoming anti-Semitic slurs from fellow House Democratic colleagues and having to prove her allegiance to the United States despite her service in the Navy, Luria is a woman who will not back down. She has spoken out and fought for the relationships of Israel and America to be one of a friendship.

 

 

 

Lucy McBath: U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 6th congressional district

“For me, I was looking beyond my own tragedy, looking for the other tragedies that were most definitely going to happen if I didn’t keep talking about this crisis.”

A woman who turned her pain into power, in 2012, her 17-year old son Jordan Davis was shot and killed by a man who said that Jordan and his friends were playing their music too loud. Following the death of her son, McBath joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and became their national spokeswoman. While in Congress, McBath has also co-sponsored legislation to allow college students to keep their Pell Grants if their school closes, or if school officials have committed misconduct. Presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren did a companion measure for the grant and introduced the bill alongside McBath, and Representatives Scanlon and Hayes.

 

 

 

Terri Sewell: U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district

“After decades of activism and advocacy, black women are finally getting the recognition they deserve.”

Named as one of the Glamour College Women of the Year, the representative has not stopped working and making a difference in her community. She was previously one of the only black bond lawyers in the state. She was the former co-chair of the Women’s Fund “Voices Against Violence” campaign, where they advocate for helping women get past domestic violence.

 

 

 

Suzanne Bonamici: U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 1st congressional district 

“Politicians should not be making health decisions for women, period.“

Bonamici has been vocal about women having the right to their healthcare. She and fellow Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney wrote a letter to Google SEO Sundar Pichai to stop funding advertising for fake women’s health centers after it was reported that the company had given over $150,000 in advertising grants to fake medical clinics. Together, they reintroduced the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Healthcare Services Act to eliminate misleading advertising as it related to women’s health. 

 

 

 

Kendra Horn: U.S. Representative for Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district

“When [women] are serving in an elected office, there is a lot evidence, [that] they are more likely to reach across the aisle. They get more legislation passed. They are more likely to work collaboratively. They are extremely great legislators.”

Horn leads by example of encouraging women to take on more leadership roles. She became the third woman ever elected to Congress from Oklahoma, which is also ranked one of the lowest in the nation for women in elective office. Horn wishes to change that. Prior to her gaining a seat in Congress, Horn was the executive director of Sally’s List, a nonpartisan organization that provides women with training and mentorship programs to help them work within their communities.

 

 

 

Lisa Blunt Rochester: U.S. Representative for Delaware’s at large congressional district

“We are each put on this planet for a purpose. Nobody can take that away from you. Take every bit of it — the good, the bad and the ugly — and use it. That pain got me to this place.”

Being the first woman and person of color to represent the state in Congress is only one of Rochester’s achievements. She was previously the CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, a “public policy research think-tank focused on the inclusion of people of color.” She also co-authored the book, Thrive: Thirty-four Women, Eighteen Countries, One Goal” which is a memoir of women who have reshaped their lives in Shanghai by thriving and surviving in the city.  

 

 

 

Ann Wagner: U.S. Representative for Missouri’s 2nd congressional district

“The Debbie Smith Act will help eliminate the horrifying rape kit backlog that allows predators to roam freely and prevents victims from finding justice.”

Wagner’s Debbie Smith Act was recently passed in the House. This act provides funding for crime labs to process DNA evidence for rape kits. 

 

 

 

Carol Miller: U.S. Representative for West Virginia’s 3rd congressional district

“Traveling with infants, while rewarding, can often be stressful for new mothers. This bill helps lessen that anxiety and allows for mothers to have a quiet, private space to care for their young ones.”

This U.S. Representative wants mothers to feel safe and secure no matter where they are with their child. Miller introduced a bill to Congress earlier this year that will mandate that airports have small rooms for nursing mothers. 

 

 

 

Liz Cheney: US Representative for Wyoming’s at large congressional district

“Constantly playing defense in the battle of communications is a recipe for failure. We need to work as a team to use all our messaging tools to drive our agenda.”

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney has been in Congress since 2017 and has been making headway. She was chosen to head up GOP communications strategy as House Republican Conference chair next Congress. 

 

 

 

Mikie Sherrill: U.S. Representative for New Jersey’ 11th congressional district

This newly-elected representative is the only woman representing her state in the House and in the Senate. She helped implement a bill into congress that will “establish an interagency working group to coordinate activities and develop policy guidance to protect federally funded research and development from foreign interference, and for other purposes.”

 

 

 

Tulsi Gabbard: U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district

“I will end this insanity, because it doesn’t have to be this way. I will end these wasteful regime-change wars.”

She not only wants your vote to be the 46th president of the U.S., but she also wants the American people to live in peace. This veteran has pressed the issue on foreign policy while being a representative and on her presidential campaign. She co-sponsored the ‘No More Presidential Wars Act,’ which is as an effort to “reclaim the responsibility Congress has to be the body that declares war, to end these presidential wars that are being fought without the authorization of Congress.”

 

 

The post How Women Are Representing You In The U.S. House of Representatives appeared first on The Everygirl.