Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson - 30th District of Texas

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	EBJ IN CONGRESS

	Caucus Membership: Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Community Reinvestment Taskforce Congressional Black Caucus Small Business Taskforce Congressional Black Caucus Budget Taskforce Jobs Now! Caucus Competiveness Caucus Small Business Caucus Awards: Legislator of the Year from Jump$tart Financial Educator of the Year from National Foundation for Credit Counseling Small Business Administration Extra Effort Award Held Small Business Procurement Training From: General Services Administration (GSA) Department of Homeland Security Texas Department of Transportation (TXDot) Lockheed Martin Briefings Hosted: Financial Literacy Briefing with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and MSN Money Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Briefing with National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) Hosted Recovery Aid Workshop Congresswoman Johnson held a recovery aid workshop which more than 800 constituents attended. Secured Recovery Funding from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 After President Obama signed the Recovery Act into law on Feb. 17, 2009, Congresswoman Johnson secured millions in recovery aid for Dallas. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's Financial Literacy Lecture Series Partnered with the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Dallas. Congresswoman Johnson created the “Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson Financial Education Lecture Series” to promote the importance of financial education. The lecture series teaches basic financial education and training centered on budgeting, money management, and financial planning. Recently, this lecture series provided credit and financial education for the entire freshmen class at UT-Dallas. The lecture series will be integrated into DISD schools this year. “I believe preparation for adult financial responsibilities must start well in advance of a student’s high school graduation, and student financial literacy should be taught in tandem with traditional academic preparation for post-secondary education.” Telephone Townhall Congresswoman Johnson completed two Telephone Townhall meetings that reached out to over 200,000 constituents in the 30th Congressional District of Texas. The telephone townhalls addressed health care and general topics. The townhalls are a great opportunity for constituents to share their views, questions, and comments about issues and pending legislation. Amended H.R. 1427, Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007 The amendment required participants who receive federal assistance through the Affordable Housing Fund to complete a financial literacy program. This will provide borrowers with education on how to buy and keep their home. Introduced H.R. 767, the National Financial Literacy Act The National Financial Literacy Act amends the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to allow banking institutions to receive credit for offering community-based financial literacy programs. The act enhances the CRA’s financial literacy initiatives to clarify banking institutions' responsibilities to the customer. It also establishes incentives for small businesses and corporations to offer their employees free financial education. It provides small businesses with the incentives of a tax credit and preferential treatment when applying for government procurement, loans, and assistance. The bill will also extend the same preferential treatment to corporations who provide the same financial education. Introduced H.R. 648, the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 2009 The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 2008 would establish a bipartisan Commission to recommend new and innovative ways to enhance the role of women in small business ownership positions. The Commission will review the status of women owned businesses nation wide and the progress they have made since 1980. The legislation will define the role of the Federal Government in aid to and promotion of women owned businesses and the way the data is collected will also be reviewed. This legislation will take an active role in improving women business ownership, access to credit, enhancing procurement opportunities, and providing management and technical assistance. The goal of this measure is to help women owned business grow and succeed. Introduced H.R. 267, the Expanding Tax Assistance Act The Expanding Tax Assistant Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand availability of the Internal Revenue Service’s Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Currently, the IRS offers tax assistance to handle questions regarding education and free tax advice. However, these tax assistance centers are limited throughout the country. For example, in District 30, there is only one center to assist over 1.2 million citizens; the bill would add five more centers to Dallas’s growing population. In Kentucky, there are currently three tax centers to assist 4.2 Million taxpayers; this bill would add four more centers. In New York, there are currently thirteen tax centers to assist over 19 Million taxpayers; this bill would add 16 more centers. The IRS already has the authority to create and fund these centers; however, the IRS is over funding their enforcement department while under funding its outreach department. Introduced H.R. 1479, the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act The CRA Modernization Act would extend CRA to all affiliates of financial holding companies authorized by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. The bill would also extend CRA to mortgage companies, insurance companies, and securities firms. Applying CRA broadly throughout the financial industry will leverage trillions of additional dollars for wealth building, homeownership, small business ownership, and economic development in working class and minority neighborhoods. Finally, the bill will reduce pricing disparities in loans based on race, income, and gender that threaten an increase in affordable homeownership opportunities. In short, the CRA Modernization Act of 2007 makes capitalism thrive in all neighborhoods by making financial markets more transparent and equitable. Introduced H.R. 3730, the Financial Education for Teachers and Students Act The Financial Education for Teachers and Students Act will make grants to states which agree to incorporate financial literacy into their curriculums for grades six through twelve. Within states, it allows for significant flexibility, creativity and innovation in the integration of financial literacy education into existing curriculums. The legislation provides appropriate professional development for teachers and creates and provides funding for school districts to use support and provide training and assistance to parents and students on financial literacy. Introduced H.R. 2117, the Naturalized Citizens Assistance Act Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to add to the list of adult education and literacy programs for which certain grants must be used. Programs of financial literacy education for newly naturalized citizens help them achieve financial literacy through instruction on such matters as banking, retirement savings, managing credit, as well as predatory lending, identity theft, and other financial abuse schemes. Introduced H.R. 2606, the Home Buying Credit Expansion Act The Home Buying Credit Expansion Act would expand the first-time home buyer’s tax credit to all home buyers. This tax credit will be extended to home buyers through December 31, 2010, and will help stabilize, stimulate, and add confidence to a hemorrhaging housing market. PREVIOUSLY LISTED LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Authored and passed an amendment the 2006 Transportation, Treasury, HUD, Judiciary, District of Columbia Appropriations Act, which restores millions of dollars for the continued cleanup of brownfields sites nationwide. The goal of the program is to return contaminated sites to productive uses with an emphasis on creating substantial numbers of jobs for lower-income people in physically and economically distressed neighborhoods. • Recipient of prestigious Brownfield Leadership Award 2006 award for her leadership and dedication regarding brownfields by the National Brownfield Association • Authored a resolution that unanimously passed the Senate and House recognizing the soldiers of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers for their contributions in constructing the Alaska-Canada highway during World War II. • Chaired a roundtable discussion for the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, concerning the latest developments and the current security situation in Darfur, Sudan. • Sponsored H.R. 3748, the Displaced Student Relief Act. This legislation authorizes the Department of Education to provide $8,305 per student - an amount equal to the average per pupil expenditure in the nation - directly to the school districts hosting students displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. This legislation garnered 82 bi-partisan co-sponsors. • Authored and introduced legislation, HR 3708, that would dedicate 10 percent of federal disaster relief funds to mental health services. This would help assist the large number of Katrina evacuees that the Dallas area has absorbed. • Authored and successfully secured approval of bipartisan legislation authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out various studies, projects, and programs, relating to navigation, flood damage reduction, shoreline protection, dam safety, water supply, recreation, and environmental restoration and protection. • Johnson successfully passed an amendment to the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act, that would create national and regional gang activity databases. These databases allow law enforcement to track the movement of gangs and members throughout the country, coordinate police response to gang violence, and enhance officer safety. • In conjunction with National Nurses Week, Congresswoman Johnson introduced a resolution honoring the more than 2.7 million registered nurses across the U.S. • Celebrating a lifetime commitment to increasing the number of African American engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the largest student-managed organization in the country is honored Johnson with its highest national honor, the Golden Torch Award for Lifetime Achievement in Government. • Johnson reintroduced legislation to posthumously award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Waco native and World War II hero, Doris Miller. • Worked to ensure Congress fully funds the NASA at $17.9 billion for 2007. • Helped secure $978 million for Science and Math Education through the National Science Foundation. • Authored a resolution recognizing the significant achievements and contributions of African-American scientists, mathematicians and inventors, and supporting the establishment of a special day on which these great minds may be honored and esteemed. • Helped secure over $25 million in funding for the Reading Is Fundamental program. RIF is the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization, and distributed books to over 5 million children last year alone. • Testified in front of the New Science Board Commission bout the economic impact of an inadequate educational infrastructure in math and science. TRANSPORTATION – Johnson brings home $800 million in annual funding • Johnson was a coauthor and conferee of H.R. 3, the Transportation Equity Act. This federal highway bill had solid bipartisan support, and was signed into law by the President in August of 2005. • As a senior negotiator on the highway bill, Congresswoman Johnson worked to ensure Texas gets back at least 92% of all federal gas taxes it sends to Washington—a significant increase from historical levels of 90.5%. • Helped Dallas Love Field Airport secure more than $13 million dollars in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program. The money will go toward improving the terminal building as well several other rehabilitative projects. • Successfully secured $35 million in grants to entities like Dallas-based Greyhound Corporation to improve the efficiency of public surface transportation modes • Secured a provision so that the City of Dallas will receive approximately $78 million to help complete the new signature Calatrava bridges on Interstate 30 and Interstate 35E • Johnson secured more than $11.7 million for the shelters, benches and bus stop improvements in the Federal Highway Bill. The funding will go to add 1,100 shelters to DART's most heavily used bus stops. • As the Ranking Member on the prestigious Water Resources Subcommittee, Johnson voted to secure $13 million in federal funding for Dallas in the recently passed Energy & Water Development Appropriations Act. • Other Dallas Transportation Projects Include: $286 million for DART’s NW/SE transit line $4.4 million to widen Motor Street $1 million for Dallas bike and pedestrian trails $1million for Texas Transportation Institute Research $10 million for various road improvements throughout Southern Dallas County. $11.2 million for the Dallas Floodway Extension Project $800,000 for the Upper Trinity River Basin Study $96,000 for the Trinity River Water Reuse Study. BRINGING MONEY HOME TO DISTRICT 30 • Department of Homeland Security awarded Dallas Love Field $979,100 to make Love Field the ‘Airport of the Future. This grant will fund the Dallas Love Field Wireless Integration Program, through the Department's Office of State and Local Government Coordination Preparedness. • The Department of Justice awarded Dallas County with a grant of $636,166 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). • As a Senior Texan in the House Transportation Committee Johnson secured more than $13 million in funding for projects in the 30th Congressional District in the 2006 Transportation, Treasury, Housing, and Justice Appropriations Bill. The funding is available for the Dallas NW/Southeast Light Rail; the Dallas Women's Museum, Dallas Fair Park Commercial District and Afro-Centric cultural district. • $50 million dollars for the City of Dallas CDBG the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Board of the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program awarded more than $2 million in grants to help feed and shelter the hungry and homeless for Dallas which also includes Denton and Collin Counties. • More than $8 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance competitive programs. These programs provide a range of assistance to the homeless, including transitional and permanent housing programs as well as a variety of supportive services. DALLAS COMMUNITY OUTREACH • Created two years ago by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), the Eddie Bernice Johnson Lecture Series was named in honor of Congresswoman Johnson in an effort to expose Dallas-area high school students to the best and brightest minds in mathematics and science and to promote career opportunities in those fields. Each year, several hundred students have attended the event. Recent speakers included former Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Page, and Dr. Sylvester “Jim” Gates, a leading international physicist and mathematician. • Hosted annual Mother’s Day Peace Conference in Dallas, which focused on “Women: Determined, Committed and Resolved to Peace.” • Johnson hosted a variety of townhall meetings in Dallas, including events to discuss social security reform and issues impacting veterans. • Organized workshops where the Department of Energy presented educational and research opportunities to Texas Colleges and Universities. • Selected Townview student, 16-year-old Linwood B. Fields, to serve as a U.S. House page for the Spring 2006 semester. • Along with the Dallas Chapter of Girlfriends, Inc., Johnson hosted the Women’s Health Forum to focus on ways in which women can make lifestyle changes in order to achieve physical, mental and spiritual well being. • The South Dallas Youth and Family Center has been re-named in honor of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson by the Dallas Independent School District's Board of Trustees. The Center was founded by Parkland Memorial Hospital and the Dallas School District to provide education and care to Dallas County's children and young adults. JOHNSON’S VOTING RECORD • Voted to restore funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. • Voted against this Defense Appropriations conference report which included controversial provisions to open up the ANWR for drilling • Voted against the Budget Reconciliation package that cut funding to vital social programs including: $12.7 billion in cuts to student aid, $6.4 billion in cuts to Medicare and $6.9 billion from Medicaid. • Voted for the NASA reauthorization act • Voted against the Labor Health and Human Services and Education Appropriation bill. This bill did not adequately address this nation’s priorities, and cut vital education, health care and job training services by $1.6 billion below last year. • Voted against the energy bill that does nothing to address soaring gas prices and rising home heating costs. In addition, it inadequately funded LIHEAP and failed to protect the environment. • Voted for “The Faster and Smart Funding for First Responders Act,” that increases Texas’ share of homeland security funding. • Voted against Bankruptcy Reform Bill that made it harder for debt-ridden Americans to wipe out their obligations, while providing major benefits for credit card companies. JOHNSON’S SCORE CARD • 100% from Planned Parenthood Federation of America 1995-2005 • 100% from NARAL • 100% from Humane Society of America • 100% from AFL-CIO (2003) • 100% from the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League. (2003) • 100% from the Defenders of Wildlife Action. (2004) • 100% from the Americans for the Arts Action Fund. (2000-2004) • 100% from the American Library Association. (2004) • 100% from the National Association of Government Contractors. (2004) • 100% from the NETWORK National Catholic Social Justice Lobby (2005) • 100% from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, (2005) • 100% from the American Association of University Women (AAWW) (2004) • 100% from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). (2001- 2005) • 100% from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. (2003-2004) • 100% from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) - the largest national constituency-based Hispanic organization in the U.S. (2004) • 100% from the American Postal Workers Union. (2005) • 100% from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR). (2003) • 100% from the Partnership for the Homeless. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Disabled American Veterans.(2004) • 100% from the NETWORK (2004) • 100% from the National Association of Social Workers. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Bread for the World. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Population Connection. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Alliance for Retired Americans. (2004) • 100% from the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Fleet Reserve Association. (2003) • 100 percent rating from the American Bar Association. (1999 – 2002) • 100% from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. (2003-2004) • 100% from the Transportation Communications Union. (2003-2004) • 100 percent rating from the Communications Workers of America in 2004. • 100% from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. (2003) • 100% from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. (2003) • 100 percent rating from the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association. (1995-2004) • 100 percent rating from the American Wilderness Coalition. (2004) • 100 percent rating from the National Parent Teacher Association. (2003 – 2004) • 100 percent rating from the Children’s Defense Fund. (2003 – 2004) • 100 percent rating from the Center for International Policy. (2004) • 100 percent rating from the American Association of University Women. (2003 – 2004) • 100 percent rating from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. (2003) • 100 percent rating from the American Public Health Association. (2004) • 100 percent rating from the American Bar Association.(1999 – 2002) • 100 percent rating from the Alliance for Retired Americans. (2004) • 100 percent rating from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. (2001 – 2002) • 100 percent rating from the Disabled American Veterans. (2004) • 100 percent rating from the Partnership for the Homeless. (2003 – 2004)

Paid for by Eddie Bernice Johnson for Congress

EBJ IN CONGRESS