- Bobby Rush
Infobox_Congressman
name = Bobby Rush
date of birth = birth date and age|1946|11|23
place of birth =Albany, Georgia
state =Illinois
district = 1st
term_start =January 3, 1993
preceded =Charles Hayes
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Democrat
religion =Baptist
spouse = Carolyn Thomas
alma_mater=Roosevelt University University of Illinois at Chicago McCormick Theological Seminary
occupation=insurance agent, civil rights leader
residence=Chicago, Illinois
branch=United States Army
serviceyears=1963-1968Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician from
Illinois . A Democrat, he has served in theUnited States House of Representatives as the member fromIllinois' 1st congressional district since 1993. Rush's district is located principally on the South Side ofChicago . It is a minority-majority district and has a higher percentage ofAfrican American (65 percent) than any othercongressional district in the nation.Rush is a member of the
Congressional Black Caucus . Rush is a former Black Panther.Biography
Rush was born in
Albany, Georgia . He was educated atRoosevelt University (bachelor's degree ), theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago (master's degree ) andMcCormick Theological Seminary (theology degree), all of which are in Chicago. He served in theUnited States Army from 1963 to 1968, was a co-founder of the Illinois chapter of theBlack Panther Party , and was an insurance agent and member of theChicago City Council before entering the House.Rush was involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s and was a member of the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1966 to 1968. Rush was a co-founder of the IllinoisBlack Panther Party in 1968. While a Black Panther, he operatedFree Breakfast for Children program. He also coordinated the pioneering Free Medical Clinic, which developed the nation's first masssickle cell disease testing program.Rush ran for mayor of Chicago in 1999 but was defeated by the incumbent
Richard M. Daley . [ [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza "Making It" The New Yorker] , July 21, 2008]In the 2000 Democratic primary, Rush defeated challenger and state senator
Barack Obama , who was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. [ [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/ilh.htm] ] On July 15, 2004, Rush became the second sittingmember of Congress (followingCharles Rangel and precedingJoe Hoeffel ) to be arrested fortrespassing while protesting the genocide in Darfur and other violations ofhuman rights in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Embassy. [ [http://www.house.gov/list/press/il01_rush/pr_040715arrestedatsudaneseembassy.html U.S. REP. BOBBY RUSH ARRESTED AT SUDANESE EMBASSY] July 15, 2004]*Rush is the lead sponsor of the
Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act , named for Melanie Blocker-Stokes, a Chicago native who jumped to her death from a 12th story window due topostpartum depression . The bill would provide for research on postpartum depression and psychosis and services for individuals suffering from these disorders.
*Rush sponsored legislation redesignating twoUnited States Postal Service facilities in Illinois's 1st district as the James E. Worsham Post Office and James E. Worsham Carrier Annex Building.
*Rush sponsored theNursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act passed in 1999. The law temporarily addressed the nursing shortage by providing non-immigrant visas for qualified foreign nurses in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and was reauthorized in 2005.
*TheChildren's Health Act passed in 2000 incorporated Rush's Urban Asthma Reduction Act of 1999, amending thePreventive Health and Health Services Block Grant program and includes an integrated approach toasthma management.
*Rush initiated theChicago Partnership for the Earned Income Tax Credit , an ongoing program designed to help low-income working Chicagoans receive theEarned Income Tax Credit , a federal income tax credits.
*Rush has brought close to $2 billion of federal funding since his election, including a $1 million federal grant from theOffice of Naval Research to theIllinois Institute of Technology to develop better ways to assess the presence of chemical and biological agents.
*Though a very close friend toBill Clinton andHillary Rodham Clinton , Rush announced early on that he would support Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries. He had been a supporter of Obama in the 2004 senate race as well.
*Rush is a member ofIota Phi Theta .
*Rush is also a pastor in Chicago.Committee assignments
*Committee on Energy and Commerce
**Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection (chairman)
**Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the InternetRush is also co-chair of the Congressional Biotechnology Caucus, one of many
congressional caucus es.References
External links
* [http://www.house.gov/rush/ Official House site]
* [http://www.dccc.org/races/candidates/IL_01_Bobby_Rush.html Official campaign site] from the DCCC
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.