African Diaspora for Change honors Congressman Bobby L. Rush at the Spirit of the Diapsora Extravaganza
U. S. Representative Bobby L. Rush is a Member of the House of Representatives and a senior Member of the Illinois delegation where he represents the state’s first Congressional District. He is a Senior Member of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee and, after serving two consecutive terms as Chairman of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection in the 110th and 111th Congresses, Rush was elected by his peers to serve as the Top Democratic Member of the Energy and Power Subcommittee in the 112th Congress. Rush is also a Member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee. In addition, Rush was elected by his Democratic colleagues to serve as the Illinois representative on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee — a group that recommends House Members for leadership positions while also playing a leading role in shaping national Democratic policies.
In 2009, Rush launched the Africa Partnership for Economic Growth Caucus (APEGc), an organization whose primary mission is to develop U.S. policies designed to strengthen U.S.-Sub- Saharan African relations by promoting growth and economic development. As co-Chair of the African Partnership for Economic Growth Caucus and, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Africa Globalization Committee, he is deeply committed to leveraging these Committees to promote and strengthen US – Africa trade and investment relations including increasing the participation of the African Diaspora in developing Africa’s trade and investment capacity.
As the chairman of Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, Congressman Rush reinvigorated the trade jurisdiction of the subcommittee by holding hearings and calling on Export to because the U.S National Priority. As a result of that, President Obama announced the National Export Initiative to double the U.S. export in five years.
In the 111th Congress, in an historic vote on July 1, 2010, Rush gained a bipartisan, unanimous vote in the House in support of H. Res. 1405, a resolution that congratulates the people of the 17 African nations that, in 2010, were marking the 50th year of their national independence, that includes H. Con. Res. 128 a resolution that expresses the sense of Congress that Africa is of "strategic, political, economic, and humanitarian importance to the United States."
He championed efforts to end the embargo to Cuba and introduces H.R. 2272 to Normalize Trade Relations with Cuba.
In the 112th Congress, Congressman Bobby L. Rush authored HR. 656 “The African Investment and Diaspora Act of 2011” simply called “AIDA”. This milestone legislation will enhance the African Diaspora participation into U.S. – Africa socio economic relations.
Congressman Bobby L. Rush has introduced H. Res 11 to celebrate the 50th Years Anniversary of the Peace Corps and H. Res 41 ratifying the U.N. declaration of 2012 as the year of people of African Descent. Congressman Rush sent a letter co-signed by 96 Members of Congress to USAID administrator in support of Microfinance for the very poor in developing countries. He co-authored a H.R. 2524, the Microenterprise Empowerment and Job Creation Act to provide micro finance and technical assistance for improving access to credit and improving informal savings for the very poor woman in Africa.
He has institutionalized the Annual Africa Day on the Hill, to help keep policy makers’ attention on African issues and to rebrand the image of the continent.
Lastly, he deeply believes in the youth and dedicated his time to equip them with the leadership skills that they need in order to build our nations. He has authored several youth jobs bills, supported several youth initiatives including sponsored the Congressional African Staff Association (CASA) and the Congressional South Asian Staff Association (CSASA) to empower future leaders from the Diaspora.