Eddie Bernice Johnson

Infobox_Congressman
name = Eddie Bernice Johnson


date of birth = birth date and age|1935|12|03
place of birth = Waco, Texas
state = Texas
district = 30th
termstart =January 3, 1993
preceded = None (District Created After 1990 Census)
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Democratic
spouse = divorced
religion = Baptist
occupation= nurse, therapist
residence= Dallas, Texas
alma_mater= Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University

Eddie Bernice Johnson (born December 3, 1935) is a politician from the state of Texas, currently representing the state's ushr|Texas|30|30th congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/tx30_109.gifmap] ) in the U.S. House.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Waco, Texas. She began her college education at Saint Mary's College of Notre Dame, Indiana and transferred to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, from which she received a bachelor's degree in nursing. She later attended Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and earned an MPA in 1976. She worked as a nurse in a Dallas hospital and later as a psychotherapist before entering politics.

Political life

She was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1972 and served for three terms. She was an administrator for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1977 to 1981. She was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1986. As a state senator, she was on the redistricting committee where she was instrumental in shaping the district she represents. She was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 becoming the first nurse elected to congress.

The 17th chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, she was a leading voice in opposition to the Authorization For the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. During debate on the house floor, she stated "I am not convinced that giving the President the authority to launch a unilateral, first-strike attack on Iraq is the appropriate course of action at this time. While I believe that under international law and under the authority of our Constitution, the United States must maintain the option to act in its own self-defense, I strongly believe that the administration has not provided evidence of an imminent threat of attack on the United States that would justify a unilateral strike. I also believe that actions alone, without exhausting peaceful options, could seriously harm global support for our war on terrorism and distract our own resources from this cause."

She was one of the 31 who voted in the House against counting the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml]

On November 7, 2006, she was re-elected to serve an eighth term in Congress. Johnson won 80% of vote, defeating Republican Wilson Aurbach and Libertarian Ken Ashby.

Johnson has pledged her support as a superdelagate to Barack Obama.

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/ebjohnson/ Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson] official U.S. House site
* [http://www.ebj08.com/ Eddie Bernice Johnson for Congress] official campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Eddie_Bernice_Johnson Profile] SourceWatch Congresspedia