Let's Call Attention to the Excellent Congress Members and Senators

who don't make it into the news - the ones who steadily work toward progressive goals, but who most people outside of their districts don't recognize. There are many of these solid, hard-working Democrats in the House of Representatives, especially. I'm not talking about the ones with national name recognition and aspirations of advancement. I'm talking about the ones who focus on their jobs in Congress and constantly work for the common good.

I'll start with my own Congress member, Betty McCollum. First elected in 2001 from Minnesota CD-4, she was re-elected in 2010, with just short of 60% of the vote. She's a tireless advocate of marriage equality and making Social Security and Medicare the solid, reliable programs they were meant to be. She stood for single-payer healthcare when it was not popular to do so. She's a strong supporter of veterans, and has been a staunch defender of the right to reproductive choice. As the senior minority whip, she works to bring votes on important issues to the floor and encourages other Democrats to support the progressive side of every issue.

I know Betty McCollum, and have worked to help her be re-elected since I moved to Minnesota in 2004. There is no hint of any scandal in her public or private life, and she has always followed through on promises she has made. She's responsive to her constituents and a strong, firm voice for progressivism in the House of Representatives. She deserves more recognition than she gets, but does not seek public acclaim or notoriety. She is an example of what a Democratic Congress member should be, in my opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_McCollum

If your own Congress member deserves more credit than he or she gets, please post a short profile, similar to this one, so we can get to know him or her. Many fine legislators are unknown, except in their own districts. We should try to change that and let people know about outstanding representatives in Congress.

Thanks for reading, and for participating, if you do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Baldwin

Baldwin was first elected to political office in 1986 when she was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors, a position that she held until 1994. She also served for one year on the Madison, Wisconsin City Council to fill a vacancy in the coterminous district. Baldwin then served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1993 to 1999.


Baldwin is the first woman elected to Congress from the state of Wisconsin. She was also the first ever openly gay non-incumbent to be elected to the House of Representatives, her election having won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. For fifteen years, her domestic partner was Lauren Azar, until the couple separated in 2010.<3> She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. According to a 2011 survey by the National Journal, Baldwin is the most Progressive member in the House.<4>

On July 26, 2004, Baldwin spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in prime time on the issue of health care. During the 110th Congress, Baldwin authored several pieces of legislation that were passed by the House. The Reeve Paralysis Act authorizes more funding for the treatment of ailments that result in immobility, while the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Act increases funding for low-income women to receive preventative screenings. Another bill that she authored, the Veteran Vision Equity Act, guarantees benefits for military veterans.<5>




She's 100% awesome and I was able to hug her and had a happy cry with her last weekend.

Yay Tammy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_-ofLnwZV8









She's a beautiful person inside and out.

Progressives in the House. First rate legislator- and he's only been in Congress since 2006. Life long advocate for progressive causes and civil rights.

Peter Welch was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1947 into a family of six children. He attended Holy Name Grammar School and Cathedral High School. After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in 1969, he was selected to be in the first class of Robert F. Kennedy Fellows. This honor allowed him to continue the civil rights work he began in college, helping families in Chicago overcome discriminatory housing policies. Welch graduated from the University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall in 1973.

Settling in Vermont, Welch worked as a public defender and subsequently founded the law firm of Welch, Graham & Manby.

In 1980, Welch became only the second Democrat ever elected to represent Windsor County in the Vermont State Senate. In 1985 he was elected by his colleagues to serve as President Pro Tem of the Vermont Senate, becoming the first Democrat in Vermont history to hold this leadership position. Welch returned to the Senate in 2002 and his colleagues again elected him President Pro Tem in 2003, a position he held until 2006.

http://welch.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=2

Thanks!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Schakowsky

Schakowsky is by some accounts the most<4> Progressive member of the current US Congress. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She frequently gains ratings of between 90 and 100 from liberal and progressive interest groups and lower ratings from conservative groups.

In April 2009 Schakowsky pointedly criticized the tax day Tea Party protests, asserting that they were "an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs." Schakowsky added, "It's despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt."<5>

As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, Schakowsky has been known for her support of women's issues while in Congress.<6>

The Nation endorsed her for vice president in the United States presidential election, 2004, stating that she is 'the truest heir to Paul Wellstone in the current Congress'.<7> She was, however, not selected as John Kerry's running mate.

These are the people we should be talking about, I think, rather than the ones who get most of the notoriety. Thanks.

But we rarely hear about them and it makes voters cynical. Sadly, my representative is one of the worst - Sensenbrenner. :(

Some people are excusing his ethical lapses by claiming that all Congress members do similar things. That simply is not true, and is demonstrably not true. That's part of what led me to start this thread, which I hope will be added to by many DUers.

He's not mine but I wish he were. He's up there almost as high as Sen Sanders, imho.

Here's the Wikipedia page on him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_DeFazio

Started the Populist Caucus.

"The Populist Caucus is made up of members from a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences. The caucus aims to bring members of Congress together by rallying around six key middle class economic issues:

Creating Good Jobs and a Secure Retirement: Creating and retaining good-paying jobs in America, providing fair wages, proper benefits, a level playing field at the negotiating table, and ensuring American workers have secure, solvent retirement plans;
Cutting Taxes for the Middle Class: Cutting taxes for the middle class and establishing an equitable tax structure;
Affordable Healthcare: Providing affordable, accessible, quality health care for all Americans;
Quality, Affordable Education: Ensuring quality primary education for all American children, and affordable college education for all who want it;
Fair Trade: Defending American competitiveness by fighting for fair trade principles;
Protecting Consumers: Protecting consumers, so that Americans can have faith in the safety and effectiveness of the products they purchase.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Braley

Thanks for adding his name.

Democrat, by the way. Go Betty.
I am fond of my Rep, Peter DeFazio, he does his job well. This is what we ask of him. I also tend to like both of my Senators, Wyden and Merkley.

As for Senators, Al Franken needs no introduction. Our other Senator, Amy Klobuchar is not 100% progressive, but you can count on her vote on progressive issues. She has strong bi-partisan support in Minnesota, and will probably win her race in 2012.

The first time I said out loud that I'd like Al to run for office, people actually laughed, they thought I was joking. And yet there he sits, kudos to MN for that one.

think it would have. Getting people to the polls that year was easy. Even so, a lot of people voted for President Obama but stopped there and didn't vote down the ballot. We almost didn't get Senator Franken. It was so close...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_Moore

Gwendolynne Sophia Moore (born April 18, 1951) is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

The district is based in Milwaukee and also includes South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis, and part of West Allis. She is the first woman to represent the district. She is also the second woman and the first African-American elected to Congress from Wisconsin.

Moore was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, earning 69.6 percent of the vote and defeating Republican attorney Gerald Boyle in the general election. Moore was one of a handful of African-Americans to have been elected to Congress as freshmen in 2004, and she was the first African-American and second woman (after Tammy Baldwin) to represent Wisconsin in Congress.

In the House, Moore has earned, over the first session of the 109th Congress, 90% and higher legislative agenda approval scores from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Sierra Club of Wisconsin, and the Service Employees International Union. Moore has focused herself legislatively on traditional Democratic and progressive issues, believing that the federal government should play a significant role in the amelioration of poverty and the resolution of difficult local problems.

During her first term, Moore introduced legislation to provide certain economic incentives and tax cuts to small businesses to promote job creation, and also cosponsored legislation in support of community block grants, continued and expanded Medicaid funding, the amendment of the Truth in Lending Act to prevent so-called "predatory lending", and the removal of troops from Iraq; Moore is also a cosponsor of two prospective amendments to the US Constitution, providing for uniform national election standards and prohibiting gender discrimination under law.



I <3 Gwen.

After Gwen introduced Jan Schakowsky last weekend, Jan said that Gwen showed up to a conference on women's rights in full Wonder Woman gear: cape headband and the bracelets. Gwen lifted her bracelets and said, "these things ward off bullets and BULLSHIT!" :D

she does an outstanding job representing our district.

http://lee.house.gov/index.html

TX CD-18.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson_Lee

Thanks!

elected to the California 23rd District, which she has served with honor since 2003. Another voice seldom heard in the media, she's a strong champion of women's rights and healthcare issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Capps

charter member of the progressive caucus, the force behind the progressive budget and never afraid to go on the tv machine and tell the truth.
one of her best qualities is to be unswayed by opulence. when she went to iraq a couple years ago and was treated to a banquet she came back saying- what they hey? lobster bisque in the middle of a war zone? what the heck is going on?

Thanks for seconding the name. She's a good, strong progressive. A credit to the party. She was mentioned above, earlier in the thread, but it's good to see broad-based recognition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Schakowsky

she is my rep. she creamed the president of the chicago tea party in the last election. beat him in his own precinct.
a very nice person as well. and her husband, bob creamer, is a very savvy fellow.

are many more, and I hope more people will post in the thread.

I confess, though, that I do not understand where the unrecs are coming from for this thread. It's puzzling.