cori bush committee and caucus assignments

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Missouri (MO) – 1st, Democrat

Hometown: St. Louis

Oath of Office: Jan. 07, 2023

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• Democratic Party

Candidate, U.S. House Missouri District 1

2021 - Present

Compensation

November 8, 2022

August 6, 2024

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Cori Bush ( Democratic Party ) is a member of the U.S. House , representing Missouri's 1st Congressional District . She assumed office on January 3, 2021. Her current term ends on January 3, 2025.

Bush ( Democratic Party ) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Missouri's 1st Congressional District . She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 6, 2024 . [source]

Bush was a 2018 Democratic candidate for Missouri's 1st Congressional District . She was defeated in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2018 . Bush was a 2016 Democratic candidate for the U.S. senator from Missouri. She was defeated in the primary election on August 2, 2016 .

• 1 Biography
• 2.1 U.S. House
• 3.1 Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023
• 3.2 Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress
• 3.3 Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023
• 4.1.1 Endorsements
• 4.4.1 General election
• 4.4.2 Democratic primary
• 4.4.3 Republican primary
• 4.4.4 Libertarian primary election
• 6 Campaign finance summary
• 7 Notable endorsements
• 8.1 Netflix documentary about 2018 campaign
• 8.2 Justice Department investigation (2024)
• 10 External links
• 11 Footnotes

Cori Bush was born in St. Louis, Missouri . Bush studied at Harris-Stowe State University and Lutheran School of Nursing. [1] Her career experience includes working as a pastor, a registered nurse, in childcare, and the co-director of The Truth Telling Project. [1] [2]

Committee assignments

Bush was assigned to the following committees: [Source]

• Committee on Judiciary
• Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
• Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security , Vice Chair
• Committee on Oversight and Accountability
• Economic and Consumer Policy
• Environment

Ballotpedia monitors legislation that receives a vote and highlights the ones that we consider to be key to understanding where elected officials stand on the issues. To read more about how we identify key votes, click here .

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023

The 118th United States Congress began on January 3, 2023, at which point Republicans held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-212), and Democrats held the majority in the U.S. Senate (51-49). Joe Biden (D) was the president and Kamala Harris (D) was the vice president. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress

Key votes: 117th congress, 2021-2023.

The 117th United States Congress began on January 3, 2021 and ended on January 3, 2023. At the start of the session, Democrats held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-213), and the U.S. Senate had a 50-50 makeup. Democrats assumed control of the Senate on January 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden (D) and Vice President Kamala Harris (D), who acted as a tie-breaking vote in the chamber, assumed office. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

See also:  Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Democratic primary)

Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Republican primary)

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for u.s. house missouri district 1.

Incumbent Cori Bush , Wesley Bell , Maria Chappelle-Nadal , and Ron Harshaw are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 6, 2024.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for u.s. house missouri district 1.

Timothy Gartin , Stan Hall , Michael J. Hebron Sr. , Andrew Jones Jr. , and Laura Mitchell-Riley are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 6, 2024.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for u.s. house missouri district 1.

Rochelle Riggins is running in the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 6, 2024.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here .

See also:  Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election for U.S. House Missouri District 1

Incumbent Cori Bush defeated Andrew Jones Jr. and George Zsidisin in the general election for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on November 8, 2022.

Incumbent Cori Bush defeated Steve Roberts , Michael Daniels , Ron Harshaw , and Earl Childress in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 2, 2022.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• David Koehr (D)

Andrew Jones Jr. defeated Steven Jordan and Laura Mitchell-Riley in the Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 2, 2022.

• James Snider (R)

George Zsidisin advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 2, 2022.

See also:  Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (August 4 Democratic primary)

Missouri's 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (August 4 Republican primary)

Cori Bush defeated Anthony Rogers , Alex Furman , and Martin Baker in the general election for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on November 3, 2020.

Cori Bush defeated incumbent William Lacy Clay and Katherine Bruckner in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 4, 2020.

Anthony Rogers defeated Winnie Heartstrong in the Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 4, 2020.

Alex Furman advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 4, 2020.

Incumbent William Lacy Clay defeated Robert Vroman and Robb Cunningham in the general election for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on November 6, 2018.

Democratic primary

Incumbent William Lacy Clay defeated Cori Bush , Joshua Shipp , and Demarco Davidson in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 7, 2018.

• Susan Bolhafner (D)

Republican primary

Robert Vroman defeated Edward Van Deventer Jr. and Camille Lombardi-Olive in the Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 7, 2018.

Robb Cunningham advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 1 on August 7, 2018.

Ballotpedia rated the race for Missouri's U.S. Senate seat as a battleground , in part, because of the Democratic Party 's effort to turn a state that leaned Republican into Democratic territory. However, incumbent Roy Blunt (R) won re-election, defeating Jason Kander (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Blunt also defeated Jonathan Dine (L), Fred Ryman (Constitution Party), Johnathan McFarland (G), and write-in candidates Gina Bufe and Patrick Lee .

Kander's strategy was to run as a political outsider and try to paint Blunt as a Washington insider. According to The Kansas City Star , “Kander labels Blunt the 'consummate Washington insider' and insists Blunt has lost touch with voters who sent him to the Capitol. Kander further contends that Blunt is far too cozy with lobbyists and is in fact married to one while three of his children are lobbyists.” In response, Blunt tried to tie Kander to "Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, both of whom are unpopular in the state.” [39]

Satellite groups also sought to influence the race by spending $44,961,510. In the last weeks of the race, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee planned to spend $3.5 million to support Kander's bid to unseat Blunt. Republicans also spent money on the race to protect Blunt's seat and their majority in the Senate. The Senate Leadership Fund invested $2.5 million in Missouri in September. [40] [41] [42]

In his concession speech, Kander encouraged his supporters, especially his young supporters, to stay involved in politics despite the results. He said, "They need to know that I'm not OK with them stepping away, that this country is a place you've got to stay invested in. This generation is not going anywhere." [43]

In his victory speech, Blunt said, "What a great moment for our state." Blunt, who distanced himself from Trump during the campaign, was optimistic about Republican control of the presidency and Congress. He said, "A Republican president and a Republican Senate and a Republican House can do things to change this country and focus again on opportunity." [43]

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses.

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Cori Bush has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Cori Bush asking her to fill out the survey . If you are Cori Bush, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey .

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 16,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here .

You can ask Cori Bush to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing [email protected].

Cori Bush did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Cori Bush did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

The following issues were listed on Bush's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here .

Campaign finance summary

Notable endorsements.

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage and endorsements scopes.

Noteworthy events

Netflix documentary about 2018 campaign.

Netflix aired a documentary on May 1, 2019, called "Knock Down the House," which follows the campaigns of four women who ran for Congress in 2018. The women profiled are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and former House candidates Amy Vilela (Nevada) and Cori Bush (Missouri), as well as former Senate candidate Paula Jean Swearengin (West Virginia). The documentary also shows how the political action committees Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress operate when they recruit and help candidates run for office. [45] [46]

Justice Department investigation (2024)

On January 30, 2024, Bush announced that she was being investigated by the Justice Department for using campaign funds on security services. [47]

"As a rank-and-file member of Congress I am not entitled to personal protection by the House, and instead have used campaign funds as permissible to retain security services," Bush said in a statement. "I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services. Any reporting that I have used federal funds for personal security is simply false.” [48]

2024 Elections

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External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ballotpedia staff , "Email communication with Jack Besser," August 26, 2020
• ↑ Cori Bush for Congress , "About," accessed April 20, 2021
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2670 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.185 - To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2811 - Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Con.Res.9 - Denouncing the horrors of socialism." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1 - Lower Energy Costs Act," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.J.Res.30 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to 'Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights'." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.J.Res.7 - Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3746 - Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "Roll Call 20," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "Roll Call 527," accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.878 - Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives." accessed February 23, 2024
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3617 - Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1808 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.1605 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.7776 - James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.3373 - Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.4346 - Chips and Science Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.1996 - SAFE Banking Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2471 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5 - Equality Act," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.8404 - Respect for Marriage Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.6833 - Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.7688 - Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.5746 - Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.Res.24 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.," accessed April 15, 2022
• ↑ Congress.gov , "H.R.2617 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023
• ↑ Kansas City Star , "Roy Blunt the insider vs. Jason Kander the outsider sums up U.S. Senate contest in Missouri," accessed September 27, 2016
• ↑ OpenSecrets.org , "Outside Spending," accessed November 12, 2016
• ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch , "Missouri Senate race unique in complex national cross-currents of 2016," accessed September 30, 2016
• ↑ National Review , "Missouri’s Senate Race Wasn’t Supposed to Be This Close," accessed September 30, 2016
• ↑ 43.0 43.1 The Military Times , "Incumbent Blunt defeats Kander in Missouri Senate race," accessed November 12, 2016
• ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
• ↑ CNN, "Netflix documentary on campaigns of four Democratic women, including Ocasio-Cortez, set to be released in May," April 24, 2019
• ↑ BuzzFeed News, "This New Documentary Shows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Before She Was AOC," May 3, 2019
• ↑ ‘’NBC News , "Justice Department investigating Rep. Cori Bush campaign's use of security funds," January 30, 2024
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How Cori Bush set out to change Congress from the inside

Behind the scenes of freshman Rep. Cori Bush's first weeks in Congress.

Cori Bush had been through Black Lives Matter protests, overcome homelessness, gone public as a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor and even recovered from COVID-19 while running for Congress during the coronavirus pandemic .

On her third bid for office, she defeated in the Democratic primary an incumbent whose family dynasty had represented the first Congressional district of Missouri for over five decades.

But Bush, despite her years of activism and protest, had never faced anything like the deadly insurrection she lived through on her fourth day as a member of Congress.

"It wasn’t until a couple of days later, as I’m standing in my office, that it hit me, what had happened," Bush told " Good Morning America " about her first weeks in office. "It was like, oh my goodness, an insurrection happened. People broke into the U.S. Capitol. White supremacists ran through the Capitol building with Confederate battle flags."

"It just started to replay in my head. It just really hit me that we were in danger," she said. "I had to sit down."

In a series of interviews during her first several weeks in Congress, Bush -- the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress -- described what it was like to be spring boarded from being a Black Lives Matter activist to being a member of Congress during a time of racial reckoning as well as a global pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted Black Americans .

I remember when I was sworn in and there’s a picture of me with my hand up and you can see my tattoo on my chest

" Good Morning America " has been chronicling women who run for office in the U.S. What follows is a behind-the-scenes look at one woman's experience after winning office, as seen through the lens of Bush's first weeks in the halls of Congress.

No matter what legislation Bush sponsors or what speeches she makes, Bush said she knows that by simply being in Congress, she is enacting change.

She saw that in action her very first day on the job, Jan. 3, when she was sworn into the 117th Congress, one of 122 women sworn in that day, a record for female legislators.

A picture of her raising her hand and displaying a tattoo on her chest caught people's attention, she recalled.

"The comments, the quote tweets that I had," Bush said. "People saying, ‘I feel seen. I feel seen because you weren’t afraid to show that. We were told that we can’t do that, that it’s unprofessional, especially as Black women, because you have to work so much harder. You can’t wear things the way a white woman wears them. You can’t do that. You have to push harder."

Bush said she thinks daily about how every move has to be her "best move" because she is a Black woman in Congress, which is still an anomaly, even in 2021, after the two most recent election s brought record numbers of women of color to Capitol Hill .

When she was attending a new member orientation at the Capitol last year, she said she was addressed by other members as Breonna Taylor -- a 26-year-old emergency room technician who was killed by police in her Louisville, Kentucky, home during a botched police raid -- while wearing a face mask with Taylor's name on it.

"It hurts," Bush tweeted about the incidents . "But I’m glad they’ll come to know [Breonna Taylor's] name & story because of my presence here."

A few weeks into office, Bush said she “absolutely” feels added pressure as a Black female U.S. Representative, one of only 25 in this Congress .

"I feel it as a woman. I feel it as a Black woman, the pressure to perform in such a way to where people feel like you did a good job. In their eyes, you belong in that seat. In their eyes, you’re meeting their expectations at least," she said. "I do feel that pressure, because there are people who would like to see me fail."

In her first month in Congress, Bush sponsored or co-sponsored nearly 40 pieces of legislation on issues ranging from raising the federal minimum wage to improving voting access and paying reparations to Black Americans.

"I have spent a lot of time just studying up myself, trying to learn things that I’ve heard other people speak about that I just didn’t know much about," she said. "I even ask, like on my committees, 'What is it that I could be doing to try to get up to speed or to just better prepare myself to be ready for the workload?'"

The people Bush has surrounded herself with in Congress -- those she said she leans on for support -- include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., members of the so-called "Squad," who are all women of color who defied the odds to earn their seats, too.

Once I ran and won and then after the general election, there was no paycheck

"Ayanna [Pressley], she and I, we talk about all kinds of things," Bush said. "But she also just calls to check on me, just to see how I’m doing, to see how I’m navigating, just to check on me from Black woman to Black woman."

"Alex [Ocasio-Cortez] will call to check on me, just, ‘Hey, this is going on. Are you OK, sis?'" she said.

In the first several months after winning the Nov. 3 election, Bush was at the pinnacle of her career, but she was not getting paid to work, and the expenses just to start up her congressional office were piling high.

It’s a topic few lawmakers discuss openly: How do you pay for your first weeks as an elected official? As a regular American who ran a grassroots campaign, Bush’s concerns mirrored the financial concerns of her Missouri constituents, who have a median household income of just over $50,000 .

"I just didn’t really know or understand, [but] once I ran and won and then after the general election, there was no paycheck," Bush said. "And you immediately start doing things, you know, preparing ... but you don’t have a paycheck, and then even thinking, 'OK, you know, once I’m sworn in then I’ll have a check maybe a week or two weeks later, but no."

In the previous Congress, where members earned $174,000 a year, the median net worth of members was just over $1 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics , a nonprofit that tracks money in U.S. politics.

"You don’t receive your first check for a whole month," she said, noting the same was true for health insurance, and the same for her staff. "Because it’s Congress, I was really surprised by that."

Bush made it through the several-month period between the Nov. 3 election and receiving her first paycheck on a "tight budget," which consisted of payments trickling in from past speaking engagements. During the all-important transition to office, much of her time was spent searching for an affordable place to live in the Washington, D.C., area and shopping at Target and local thrift stores for a wardrobe .

I don’t know what I was expecting walking into Congress, but I know I was not expecting an insurrection

"That’s privilege in itself," Bush said of being able to pick up and move to a new city without an income. "For me, I had to figure out first of all, what is my budget looking like pre-first check, and how long can I survive that way paying rent? Credit-wise, can I just get the place that I want, and what does that look like?"

"Because I’m not moving my stuff from St. Louis, I had to buy all new furniture. I had to buy a laundry basket, like every single thing, shampoo," she said. "It was a lot at once."

Bush said too that she has had to deal with people's incorrect assumptions that she no longer struggles financially just because she earns a Congresswoman's salary, saying, "Even now, people just assume that now that I’m in the seat, everything has changed."

Cori Bush makes history as 1st Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress

Bush was still learning the basics of Congress on Jan. 6, when rioters sieged the Capitol .

"I don’t know what I was expecting walking into Congress, into this position," said Bush. "But I know I was not expecting an insurrection, and especially within just days of being sworn in."

At around 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, Bush sat in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives chamber as a joint session of Congress convened to count the Electoral College votes for the 2020 election .

Outside, rioters protesting the election's outcome stormed the Capitol building, resulting in an hours-long insurrection that left five people dead , including a Capitol police officer.

The energy in Washington that day triggered memories of events that were foundational for Bush. She recalled feeling on Jan. 6th like she would need to defend herself as she did at protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown, Jr. , an unarmed 18-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer.

It was Brown's death on Aug. 19, 2014 , on a street just minutes away from Bush's home, that she said sparked her activism and changed the course of her life.

"I just remember at one point thinking, I feel like I need my bandanas, my T-shirt and my boots," Bush said of watching the siege from her office, where she had moved safely to from the House gallery. "I feel like I’m back there in that [Ferguson] mode."

"In that mode, you’re ready for anything," she said. "It’s almost like you are numb to what’s [happening]. You just move. You don’t feel afraid. You don’t feel hurt. You don’t feel upset even. You just feel like I’m doing what I have to do. What I need to do to protect people and myself."

Bush did not get home from the Capitol until around 4:30 the next morning, after Congress had reconvened and certified the election results.

"I think I finally fell asleep about 6 a.m., and then I had to be up at 9 a.m.," she said. "I didn’t have time to cry when I wanted to cry. I didn’t have time to break down or anything. I just had to keep going."

Congress never sleeps. It's just a 24-hour job

It was only weeks later, when Bush saw videos of the riot replayed during Trump's impeachment hearing , that she began to allow herself to feel some of the emotions she buried while the siege took place.

"I don’t think that I’ve really processed it much yet, but that second day of the impeachment hearing, I think that’s when I dug into it just a little bit," she said. "Just thinking about it myself, just watching it, I could see how much it was affecting me. I allowed myself to kind of just vent in my own home about how I felt and about how angry I was."

So far, more than 300 people have been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 siege, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

One lesson Bush learned soon after the Jan. 6 riot was that she was going to have to make time for self-care amid days that she said typically end with dinner at home around 10:30 p.m.

"Now work is just my life now, versus being a nurse and working a 12-hour shift and once I left the clinic or once I left the hospital, then my day is done," she said. "With Congress, these are things that have to be done, and the people of St. Louis are counting on me to be able to be on at all times."

Bush said she turned back to a self-care tool she learned from a therapist she saw during her second run for Congress, after surviving what she described as a violent sexual assault -- a traumatic experience she has been open about throughout her political career.

Bush spoke about her self-care tool -- making a point to celebrate small victories -- the week of Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate . She said celebrating small wins helps her move forward in situations that would otherwise be too overwhelming.

"I’m not able to take this journey that I’m on right now day by day. It’s a moment-by-moment thing," she said. "So, I have learned how to celebrate the little steps and the little things that I’m able to do or get accomplished or that are good in the midst of trying to deal with everything else that comes with being an activist, being a single parent, being a Black woman in America, being a congresswoman and everything else."

For Bush, a small victory could mean staying on schedule or acknowledging to herself that she performed well in a meeting.

Like many women, Bush has no problem speaking loudly for others, but said she has found it harder to speak up about her need for time for herself.

Jan. 13: The day she called the president 'white-supremacist-in-chief'

"In a day, I may know that today is a day that I need some self-care time, so it's being OK with saying to my team, 'I need some time today,'" she said. "Even if it’s just 15 minutes, even if it’s an hour or whatever it is, celebrate that, being able to advocate for yourself and also making that space."

Bush entered Congress thinking the first thing on her agenda would be speaking loudly in favor of COVID-19 relief payments.

Instead, the first piece of legislation she attached her name to in Congress was a resolution that would initiate investigations for “removal of the members who attempted to overturn the results of the election and incited a white supremacist attempted coup.”

The resolution, which Bush introduced with around 50 co-sponsors, did not produce any legislative results. U.S. Capitol Police announced soon after that they were investigating whether any members of Congress gave visitors access to the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 siege.

As of February, at least seven House and Senate committees also were conducting their own investigations into the attack . No members of Congress to date have faced charges or disciplinary actions related to the siege.

On Jan. 13, two days after introducing the resolution, Bush delivered her first speech on the House floor. In it, she called Trump, whose supporters stand accused of inciting the riot, the "white-supremacist-in-chief" and called for his impeachment.

"If we fail to remove a white-supremacist president, who incited a white-supremacist insurrection, it's communities like Missouri's 1st District that suffer the most," Bush said in her speech, delivered during the impeachment debate.

"The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives," she said. "The first step in that process is to root out white supremacy starting with impeaching, the white supremacist in chief."

In a sign of her say-what-you-mean and mean-what-you-say approach to Congress, Bush recalled the speech several weeks later as one of her most positive moments in Congress.

"All over the country, all over the world, people responded favorably, but locally just hearing how people felt, that was such a high point, because even people that may not have supported me in the primary were like, ‘Now we see,’ like, ‘Now I support her,'" Bush said. "So that was such a high point. Even my kids [were] reaching out to me and saying that their friends were watching it. That was just huge."

Bush describes the speech as a defining moment that reaffirmed to her that she could be the same Cori Bush in Congress as the Cori Bush who led protests on the streets of Ferguson.

"You know, before I made it to Congress, people would say, ‘Oh, your colleagues on the left aren’t going to like some of the things that you say,'" Bush said. "When I gave that speech, many of my Democratic colleagues came up to me and thanked me or congratulated me or gave me the high five or high elbow. On the side of the Democrats, no one was saying, ‘Cori Bush you went too far.’"

Bush said she was even happy to receive boos from some of her Republican colleagues, because it meant they heard her.

"They weren’t on their phones ignoring me. They weren’t having sidebar conversations," she said. "They were listening to Cori Bush from St. Louis, newly elected, newly sworn-in freshman say that the president is the white-supremacist-in-chief, so that meant everything."

Bush also did not avoid pointing out after the speech that while she was booed for calling Trump a white supremacist, one of her colleagues, a white woman who also spoke about white supremacy, was not booed.

The colleague, Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the assistant speaker, said on the House floor: "This must be a turning point for America; a moment that we reject partisan excuses that allow white supremacy to continue terrorizing America, a moment that we come together and demand accountability as one body, as one America, united in our commitment to democracy and justice.”

A hallway confrontation with a fellow Member of Congress

Clark also pointed out the disparate reactions, writing on Twitter, "On the House floor, my colleague Cori Bush and I both called out the white supremacy at the root of the attack on our democracy. She was booed. I was not. The difference is skin color.”

Bush came to Congress not only at a time when the body was so divided she was literally calling for members' expulsion, but also at a time, during the coronavirus pandemic, when members could not socialize in person or even see each other's full faces because of masks.

Face masks were the point of contention, at least superficially, in a much-reported confrontation between Bush and another freshman member, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., while the two were walking on Capitol grounds.

In Bush's retelling of the encounter, she had been troubled to learn that some of her Democratic colleagues tested positive for COVID-19 in the days after huddling in police-protected rooms with some Republican members who reportedly refused to wear face masks during the Jan. 6 siege.

It was in that mindset that Bush encountered Greene as they each walked with their staff down a hallway on Jan. 13, the day of Bush's floor speech.

Bush described hearing Greene and her staff becoming "more forceful and aggressive" as she said they spoke about Black Lives Matter and Democrats and got closer behind Bush and her staff.

Bush said she and her team stepped to the side as Greene -- an outspoken Trump supporter who lost her House committee assignments after uproar over her past comments made prior to her election -- and her staff passed by in the hallway.

"She looked at me and I looked at her, and then I just said, ‘Put on a mask,’ you know, because she’s still talking, and she’s yelling into this phone, and you have people walking back and forth," she recalled. "I’m like, ‘Put on a mask.’"

"She starts to go off. Her team starts yelling at me, saying, ‘Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter,' and they just went on and on and on," recalled Bush. "I just kept saying, ‘Put on a mask. Put on a mask. Put on a mask.’"

Congress is slow-moving, but that's why we're here

Bush was so startled by the verbal encounter with Greene that she asked to move offices to be further away physically from her Republican colleague, a request that was granted by Democratic House leaders.

"I feel more comfortable. The team feels more comfortable," Bush said of her situation now in the new office.

Greene later issued a statement of her own in which she accused Bush of lying and trespassing, while also referring to Black Lives Matter as a "terrorist mob."

"Rep. Cori Bush is the leader of the St. Louis Black Lives Matter terrorist mob who trespassed into a gated neighborhood to threaten the lives of the McCloskey’s . She is lying to you. She berated me. Maybe Rep. Bush didn’t realize I was live on video, but I have the receipts," Greene alleged.

While a face mask appeared to be the tipping point, her encounter with Greene signified a broader frustration Bush said she has had with Congress since starting in January.

"It’s not even just about her," she said of Greene. "It's just about this culture right now of folks just doing whatever they want to do in Congress when it’s still a job. You receive a paycheck. It’s a job. It’s not volunteer work. This is a job."

Despite her frustration, Bush said she is willing to work with Greene and other colleagues she may disagree with because of lessons she learned in a lifetime of fighting against the odds.

"I’m OK with being able to work with people that I disagree with and/or that I actually have real problems with," she said. "If they have a vote that I need, if they’re holding something that I need where St. Louis benefits, I’m going to do what I need to do without compromising who Cori is ... but I’m going to let them know how I feel about them, too."

Bush's determination to get things done in Congress has come up against the reality of how slow progress sometimes can be in Congress

The federal minimum wage, for example, was last raised in 2009, by 30 cents, and before that had remained stagnant for almost a decade.

This year, a provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 -- something for which Bush is strongly in favor -- was dropped from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, even with a Democratic-led Congress and White House. Democrats in the Senate were forced to abandon their plans to raise minimum wage in the face of concerns among their own ranks, united Republican opposition and a short deadline on the bill.

Bush said she has not yet been disillusioned to the point of changing her strategy of calling for big, progressive change in Congress.

"[Congress] is slow-moving, at least so far what I’ve seen, but that’s why we’re here," she said. "If I sit back and am like, ‘OK, well this is how this place runs and so let me just be a part of the team,’ then why am I here? Why did I run to replace someone who had been here 20 years? He could still be here."

"I was coming in as a politivist . That means pressure. That means courage. It means advocating for the people," she said. "So that’s what I’ll continue to do. Stopping helps no one."

Bush -- who serves as deputy whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus -- has so far attached her name to more than 90 pieces of legislation , all with a running theme of leveling the playing field for all.

Less than 10 of those pieces of legislation have been agreed to or passed in the House, and none have become law. One amendment that Bush introduced, an amendment to H.R. 1, the For The People Act , was supported by progressive Democrats and would have restored voting rights for people currently incarcerated in state and federal prisons.

The amendment was rejected in March by a vote of 97-328 .

Bush's office still praised the vote as "historic ," noting it made it to the House floor and saw nearly 100 House Democrats supporting "ending felony disenfranchisement."

"We have been told to kind of take things, like, it’s OK to disagree, but for the greater good, keep that to yourself, and we’ll work it out another way," Bush said. "No. I’m not doing that, because when we don’t speak up, then we have people living through struggles like some of those that I’ve lived through and so many people in my district have lived through."

Bush sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the latter of which she used some of her time on to question Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about the diversity of the postal service's leaders.

"Do you see it as a problem that the board of governors of the United States Postal Service looks like a millionaire white boys club?" Bush asked DeJoy at a Feb. 24 hearing.

The next day, Bush tweeted a news article about President Joe Biden announcing that his next appointments to the Postal Service's board of governors would be a woman and two men of color.

Not the last Black Lives Matter activist in Congress

"We’re here to make sure that the people who elected us are brought to the forefront," Bush said of her approach. "And you’ve got to advocate for yourself, and you have to advocate for your district. You have to advocate for your issues that are most important to you."

This August will mark the seventh anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, Jr. .

In seven years, Bush has gone from a single mother who showed up at a protest for a Black man killed by a white officer to a member of Congress who is looked to as a leader of both the progressive and the Black Lives Matter movements.

“I didn’t want my son or daughter or anyone in my family to be the next hashtag,” she said of her motivation to protest and then to run for office. “I didn’t know what else to do to affect that kind of change other than showing up. We needed representatives there representing us, so I decided to run."

While Bush may feel the pressure of so many eyes and expectations placed on her, she said she is determined to pave the way so that she is not the last Black Lives Matter activist elected to Congress.

"The door is now open for so many others [to run for office]," she said. "We need justice for George Floyd. We need justice for Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and Mike Brown Jr., Anthony Lamar Smith and so many others ... and another way to get there is for more of us to run."

Bush said she will be leading the way. She is not unsettled that she is one of just a handful of Black women in Congress, nor is she overwhelmed at the magnitude of what she has set out to do.

"I feel encouraged, because I’m not watching this from home and just wishing that I could do something," she said. "I’m in a position to be able to do something -- and I’m not afraid to step up and do something."

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‘For me, it’s about the mission’: why Cori Bush is just getting started in Congress

Missouri congresswoman says she was sent to Washington to disrupt the political order that had long stopped working for people like herself

I f the American political status quo was working, Congresswoman Cori Bush might not have slept on the steps of the US Capitol to demand an extension of a coronavirus-era eviction moratorium. She might not have testified about her decision to have an abortion, consigning the details of her experience to the official congressional record. Perhaps she might not have run for Congress at all.

But as the St Louis congresswoman sees it, she was sent to Washington to disrupt a political order that had long ago stopped working for people like herself – a nurse, pastor and activist who has worked for minimum wage, once lived out of a car and raised two children as a single mother. And she says she is only just getting started.

“I ran and I lost and I ran and I lost. I kept running because there was a mission behind it,” Bush said in an interview. “It wasn’t about me wanting to be somebody in Congress – I know some people have those aspirations – but, for me, it was more about the mission. And I have not completed that mission yet.”

Halfway through an extraordinary first term, and gearing up for reelection, Bush is one of the most recognizable – and quotable – members of the House. Part of the progressive “Squad” , she believes deeply that her own personal hardships make her a better and more responsive representative. Her personal story is what connects her to her constituents and what sets her apart in Congress.

When her colleagues left Washington for their weeks-long summer recess without securing an extension of the federal eviction moratorium, Bush stayed behind . Having experienced the pain of poverty and eviction, she couldn’t fathom leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans vulnerable to homelessness as the coronavirus ravaged the US. In an instant, she decided to stage a sit-in on the steps of the US Capitol.

Her protest on the Capitol steps drew widespread national attention and effectively shamed party leaders into finding a solution where they had insisted there was none. Eventually, the White House extended the temporary ban on evictions.

The hard-won victory was an important moment for Bush and her team. She said it proved to her constituents in St Louis that she would always put them first, even if it put her at odds with Democrats , party leadership, even the president of the United States.

“For us, winning that extension of the eviction moratorium was a huge part of the story of who we said that we would be in Congress, we said we would do the work, do the absolute most, and that was the absolute most we could do.”

Now, she continued, “the White House knows that about us, too.”

Bush describes herself a “politivist” – part politician, part activist. In her view, the roles are complementary, not oppositional.

“Oftentimes people expect you, because you hear it in your communities, that when you go to Congress, you’re going to change. That is the expectation,” she said. “I think that we’ve already been able to show that St Louis is first…. St Louis is the heart of every single thing that we do.”

Bush rose to prominence as a Black Lives Matter organizer in Ferguson, Missouri , where the movement was born after the 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr was shot and killed by a white police officer. The daughter of a local alderman, Bush said it wasn’t until the protests that she considered running for public office.

In 2020, Bush became the first Black woman to represent the state of Missouri when she was elected to Congress after two unsuccessful campaigns – first for Senate in 2016 and again in 2018 for Congress. To win, she unseated the Democratic incumbent, William Lacy Clay. Clay had held the seat for 20 years, having succeeded his father, William Clay Sr, a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, who was first elected in 1968.

She was sworn in three days before the Capitol was attacked by a pro-Trump mob.

“We were still moving into our office when the insurrection happened,” she said. “We didn’t have a panic button yet.”

“So that was our introduction to Congress,” she continued. “Since we started off in such an unexpected place, a horrible place, for us, it was just like, ‘OK, dig in.’”

While locked in their office, Bush and her staff drafted a resolution to “investigate and expel” any member of Congress who attempted to overturn the election results and “incited a white supremacist attack”.

The resolution reflected the increasing hostility between members of Congress. At times, Bush has said she feels targeted by her own colleagues.

Shortly after the attack, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, ordered the relocation of Bush’s office, after she asked to be moved away from congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene out of concern for her staff’s safety .

Earlier this month, Bush joined House progressives in pressuring the party’s leaders to strip congresswoman Lauren Boebert of her committee assignments over her Islamophobic comments targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim. At a press conference, she unloaded on Boebert, calling her a “lying, Islamophobic, race-baiting, violence-inciting, white supremacist sentiment-spreading, Christmas tree gun-toting elected official” who is a “danger” to her country and her colleagues.

Like her colleagues in the “squad”, Bush has been unafraid to challenge Democratic leaders, even the president.

“I am who I am,” she said. “I don’t take off my activist hat to be able to legislate in Congress. And so that has been the guiding force this entire time.”

During a tense standoff over Biden’s agenda earlier this year, Bush charged Democratic leaders with breaking their promise to progressives by decoupling two pieces of Biden’s agenda – a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sweeping social policy package. In a word, she captured progressives’ sense of betrayal: “Bamboozled.” TV network chyrons snapped to reflect the comment and soon Bush was on TV arguing their case. House leaders delayed the vote.

A month later, Bush was one of just six House Democrats to vote against the infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law last month. Not because she opposed the legislation, which would spend billions upgrading Missouri’s bridges and highways, but because she feared that passing the bill without the larger social policy that was a priority for progressives would sap them of their leverage.

Bush now fears she was correct. After a months-long effort to appease conservative Democratic senators, Joe Manchin announced that he could not support the $2.2tn social safety net bill, dooming its chances in the evenly divided chamber.

Bush, who previously denounced Manchin’s opposition to the package as “anti-Black, anti-child, anti-woman, and anti-immigrant”, laid the blame squarely on party leadership.

“Honestly, I’m frustrated with every Democrat who agreed to tie the fate of our most vulnerable communities to the corporatist ego of one Senator. No one should have backed out of our initial strategy that would have kept Build Back Better alive,” she tweeted . Tagging the president, she said: “You need to fix this.

Still, the activist in Bush is not done fighting for the measure, which passed the House in November. “We cannot spend the next year saying, ‘the House did its part, and now it’s the Senate’s turn,’” she said recently. “We need the Senate to actually get this done.”

Bush is also working to elevate issues of racial justice that she said the party does not do enough to prioritize.

Efforts to pass police reform collapsed earlier this year, and voting rights legislation remains stalled in the Senate. The supreme court will soon decide the future of abortion access.

Bush said her Capitol protest was inspired by the moment, but she does not rule out future action.

“If I feel led to move in that way, based upon whatever is happening, it is never off the table for me,” she said.

Some lawmakers are critical of her legislative style. They call it divisive at worst and naive at best. The suggestion is that she will eventually have to learn to compromise and play by the rules.

But in light of Manchin’s opposition, Bush is even more certain of her approach.

“If that were the gold star, we would be a lot further in this country,” she said. “There’s more than one way to get things done.”

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Reps. Bush, Tlaib, Carson, Lee, Ramirez Lead Colleagues in Call for Immediate Ceasefire

Ceasefire now resolution urges support for an end to violence in israel and occupied palestine .

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representatives Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), and Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), alongside Representatives Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) announced a resolution urging the Biden Administration to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine, to send humanitarian aid and assistance to Gaza, and to save as many lives as possible. 

“I am grieving for every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life lost to this violence, and my heart breaks for all those who will be forever traumatized because of it. War and retaliatory violence doesn’t achieve accountability or justice; it only leads to more death and human suffering,”  said Congresswoman Bush.  “Today I am introducing the  Ceasefire Now Resolution , vital legislation that calls for de-escalation and an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Occupied Palestine, and for humanitarian assistance to urgently be delivered to the 2.2 million people under siege and trapped in Gaza. The United States bears a unique responsibility to exhaust every diplomatic tool at our disposal to prevent mass atrocities and save lives. We can’t bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom. With thousands of lives lost and millions more at stake, we need a ceasefire now.”

“We need legislation that saves as many lives as possible, no matter one’s faith or ethnicity. I am proud to join my colleagues and a coalition of human rights advocates in calling for de-escalation, ceasefire, and a strong humanitarian response that prevents more devastating civilian casualties across the region,”  said Congresswoman Tlaib.

“I’m proud to co-lead this resolution, which calls for a ceasefire to de-escalate this terrible situation. Our call for action is clear: every human life is precious, and no civilian – Israeli or Palestinian – should fear for their life,”  said Congressman Carson.  “I condemn the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians, and I also condemn the Israeli government’s cruel response on millions of Palestinians. The answer to violence is not more violence. The answer is not military response and more killing of innocent children and women. Gaza’s 2 million civilian residents – half of whom are children – are particularly vulnerable right now. The Israeli government cut off Gaza’s medical supply, food, fuel, water, and electricity; announced plans for ground military operations against civilians; and warned 1 million North Gaza residents to evacuate their homes. Palestinians are already surrounded by long-term military blockades — they have literally nowhere to go. I continue to pray for all families in the region who have lost loved ones, are searching for family members, or fear for their lives. Our shared humanity will continue to be my guide.”

“Throughout my time in Congress, I have been clear on my position that a true and lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians can only be achieved through recognition of our interdependence and a commitment to diplomacy. We must reject the doctrine that only some lives are worth protecting and recognize that the lives, futures, and collective safety of Israelis and Palestinians are intertwined. The solutions Congress puts forward and supports should affirm our shared humanity and reject all forms of dehumanization, scapegoating, and collective punishment. I am proud to join my colleagues and human rights advocates to urge for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation to make room for diplomacy and lasting peace,” said  Congresswoman Ramirez. 

“The events that have unfolded over the past week in Israel and Gaza are horrifying violations of human rights and international law that have resulted in the devastating loss of thousands of civilian lives,”  said Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16) . “We must do everything in our power to end this ongoing violence. Our actions should proceed on the basis of recognizing our shared humanity, including rejecting violence in all forms and pursuing an urgent ceasefire and de-escalation so we can save civilian lives. I’m proud to cosponsor this resolution with Representatives Tlaib, Bush, Summer Lee, Ramirez, and Carson that urges our government to show leadership by preventing an escalating humanitarian crisis. No one should ever have to live in constant fear of violence and unrest, and peace must remain our objective.”

“The loss of every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life we have seen in the past week is absolutely devastating and the grief and trauma in our communities is palpable. The murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas is horrific and unacceptable. And the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians is a horrific and unacceptable response,”  said Congresswoman Pressley . “With over 2,600 Palestinians, more than 1,400 Israelis, and 30 Americans killed, scores of others wounded, hostages’ lives at risk, and millions in Gaza lacking food, electricity, and clean drinking water, we must pursue an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians and save lives. The United States has a moral obligation to get Americans in Gaza and Israel safely home, save Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives, and ensure humanitarian assistance is provided to Gaza. Our shared humanity is at stake and we must move with urgency.”

“Hamas’ terrorist attack last week claimed the lives of 1,400 Israelis, while retaliatory strikes have killed over 2,383 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. I mourn for the Israeli and Palestinian lives lost and I believe it is incumbent on the U.S. government to do all it can to prevent more civilian deaths. Without a ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of lives are at imminent risk. I’m proud to join my colleagues to urge the Biden administration to call for an immediate cease-fire to stop the current violence and ensure that desperately needed humanitarian aid can be delivered,”  Congresswoman Velázquez.

A copy of this resolution can be found  HERE .

The  Ceasefire Now Resolution  is endorsed by 350.org, About Face: Veterans Against the War, Action Center on Race & the Economy, Adalah Justice Project, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP), American Muslims for Palestine, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, Arab American Institute, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Center for Civilians in Conflict, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Defense for Children International - Palestine, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Dream Defenders, EMGAGE Action, Freedom Forward, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Highlander Research & Education, Hindus for Human Rights, IfNotNow, Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding, Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project, The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Just Foreign Policy, MADRE, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Movement Law Lab, MPower Change Action Fund, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Progressive Jews of St. Louis, Project48, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, ReThinking Foreign Policy, RootsAction.org, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team, Transgender Law Center, United Church of Christ, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), US Council for Muslim Organizations, Women Cross DMZ, and Working Families Party. A list of all endorsement quotes can be found  HERE .

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Congresswomen Watson Coleman, Bush Joint Statement on 52nd Anniversary of War on Drugs

Watson coleman, bush announce drug policy reform act reintroduction.

Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2023) — Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released a joint statement on the 52nd Anniversary of the War on Drugs announcing the reintroduction of the Drug Policy Reform Act:

“52 years ago, President Richard Nixon initiated a violent, racist campaign against Black and brown communities in this country. From the start, the War on Drugs has been about suppressing the voices and lives of the marginalized, not about health or safety.

“Unfortunately, our society continues to perpetuate the discredited War on Drugs today. Over a million people are arrested annually for drug related offenses. Yet overdose deaths and substance use disorders remain at shockingly high rates.

“Admitting mistakes is never easy, but lives are at stake. It’s long past time to recognize the substance use crisis as a public health issue and ensure proper redress and structural solutions rooted in equity and public health. That’s why we are proud to announce that we will soon be re-introducing the Drug Policy Reform Act , which would decriminalize all drugs, shift regulatory authority over drug policy to the Department of Health and Human Services, expunge and seal records, and make investments in health-centered approaches to substance use.

“We will continue to advocate for this vital legislation in Congress, and we urge the Biden Administration to take every possible step within its power towards a public health approach to drug policy. We must transform federal drug policy in our country, protect Black and brown communities, and save lives.”    

In 2021, Congresswomen Watson Coleman and Bush introduced the Drug Policy Reform Act which would, among other changes, decriminalize all drugs, shift regulatory authority over drug policy to the Department of Health and Human Services, expunge and seal records, and make investments in health-centered approaches to substance use.

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House Democratic Caucus Members on Removing Representative Boerbert From Committees

Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and several members of the Democratic Progressive Caucus held a news conference on a resolution to rem… read more

Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and several members of the Democratic Progressive Caucus held a news conference on a resolution to remove Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) from committee assignments for comments she made about Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN). They spoke out against anti-Muslim bigotry and racism, saying that hateful rhetoric leads to hateful actions, and that the Republican Caucus must hold their members accountable. close

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• U.S. Capitol | House Radio and Television Gallery U.S. Capitol | House Radio and Television Gallery

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• Dec 09, 2021 | 12:51am EST | C-SPAN 1
• Dec 09, 2021 | 3:16am EST | C-SPAN 1

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Cori Bush facts for kids

Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the U.S. representative for MO's 1st congressional district, since 2021. The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Louis County .

A member of the Democratic Party , on August 4, 2020, Bush defeated 10-term incumbent Lacy Clay in a 2020 U.S. House of Representatives primary election largely viewed as a historic upset, advancing to the November general election in a solidly Democratic congressional district. Bush is the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri . She previously ran in the Democratic primary for the district in 2018 and the 2016 U.S. Senate election in Missouri. She was featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary Knock Down the House , which covered her first primary challenge to Clay. Bush is a member of The Squad in the House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Early career, foreign and defense policy, public transportation, committee assignments, caucus memberships, political positions, personal life.

Bush was born on July 21, 1976, in St. Louis and graduated from Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School in 1994. Her father, Errol Bush, is an alderman in Northwoods, Missouri and previously served as mayor. Bush studied at Harris–Stowe State University for one year (1995–96) and worked at a preschool until 2001. She earned a Diploma in Nursing from the Lutheran School of Nursing in 2008. From 2011 to 2014, she served as a pastor at Kingdom Embassy International Church.

In 2011, Bush established the Kingdom Embassy International Church in St. Louis, Missouri . She became a political activist in the 2014 Ferguson unrest, during which she worked as a triage nurse and organizer. She has said she was hit by a police officer. Bush is a Nonviolence 365 Ambassador with the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change .

Bush was a candidate for the 2016 United States Senate election in Missouri. In the Democratic primary, she placed a distant second to Secretary of State Jason Kander . Kander narrowly lost the election to incumbent Republican Roy Blunt .

U.S. House of Representatives

In 2018, Bush launched a primary campaign against incumbent Democratic representative Lacy Clay in MO's 1st congressional district. Described as an "insurgent" candidate, Bush was endorsed by Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats. Her campaign was featured in the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House , alongside those of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Amy Vilela, and Paula Jean Swearengin. Clay defeated Bush 56.7% to 36.9%.

In 2020, Bush ran against Clay again. She was endorsed by progressive organizations, including Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, and Brand New Congress, and she received personal endorsements from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders , NY-16 Democratic nominee Jamaal Bowman , former Ohio state Senator Nina Turner , activist Angela Davis , and West Virginia Democratic Senate nominee Paula Jean Swearengin.

Bush narrowly defeated Clay in the primary election in what was widely seen as an upset . Bush received 48.5% of the vote, winning St. Louis City and narrowly losing suburban St. Louis County . Her primary victory was considered tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district. Her primary win ended the Clay family's 52-year hold on the district. Clay's father, Bill , won the seat in 1968 and was succeeded by his son in 2000. The district and its predecessors have been in Democratic hands for all but 17 months since 1909 and without interruption since 1911. No Republican has received more than 40% in the district since the late 1940s. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+29, it is easily the most Democratic district in Missouri and tied for the 23rd-most Democratic district in the country.

As expected, Bush won the general election handily, defeating Republican Anthony Rogers with 78 percent of the vote.

Soon after being sworn in, Bush joined " The Squad ", a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers. She posted a photo on Twitter of herself, the four original Squad members, and another new member, Bowman, with the caption "Squad up."

On January 6, 2021, hours after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Donald Trump 's loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election , Bush introduced a resolution to remove every Republican who supported attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election from the House of Representatives. In her support for Trump's second impeachment , Bush called the attack on the Capitol a " white supremacist insurrection" incited by the "white supremacist-in-chief".

In August 2021, Bush took a leading role in fighting to extend the CARES Act's eviction moratorium, sleeping on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to make her point; the CDC extended the moratorium on August 3.

On August 5, 2021, Bush defended spending tens of thousands of dollars on personal security for herself as a member of Congress while also saying Democrats should defund the police, saying, "I get to be here to do the work, so suck it up—and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police." On November 5, 2021, Bush was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote with a majority of Republicans against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, because it was not accompanied by the Build Back Better Act.

As of July 2022, Bush had voted in line with Joe Biden 's stated position 93.0% of the time.

Bush was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

Following Bush's introduction of a ceasefire resolution in 2023, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell announced his candidacy against her for the following election. Reports indicated that American Israel Public Affairs Committee has marked her and other members of "the Squad" for "high dollar challengers." Co-founder for LinkedIn , billionaire Reid Hoffman, has also expressed intentions to fund opponents of both Bush and Tlaib.

On September 23, Bush was one of eight Democrats to vote against the funding of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

She condemned Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. On October 16, 2023, Bush introduced a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war . She condemned Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip that killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza ..

Bush and congressional allies, including Senator Roy Blunt , successfully advocated for the Federal Transit Administration Climate Relief Fund. According to Bush, "that fund was going to have zero dollars in it" to repair damage to public transit systems from severe storms and flooding across the years 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Bush threatened to withhold her vote for the budget if FTA funds were not included.

For the 118th Congress:

• Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs (Ranking Member)
• Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs
• Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance
• Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment (Bush co-chairs it with Ayanna Pressley )
• Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus '
• Medicare for All Caucus

..... She was endorsed by, and is a member of, the Democratic Socialists of America . Bush supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has called Israel an " apartheid state." She stands "unwaveringly with Black Lives Matter's demands".

During her campaign, Bush advocated defunding the United States Armed Forces . After receiving criticism from California Representative Kevin McCarthy and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial, Bush clarified that she supported the reallocation of defense funding to healthcare and low-income communities.

After supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Bush introduced a resolution to investigate and expel members of the House who promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. On January 29, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accepted her request, Bush changed offices from the Longworth House Office Building after Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene "berated" her and her staff in a hallway and refused to wear a mask. Greene accused Bush of calling for violence against a couple involved in the controversial July 2020 march through a gated St. Louis street.

Bush lives in St. Louis, Missouri . She has two children. For 14 months, she and her then husband lived in their car with the young children after being evicted because of loss of income after illness during her second pregnancy made it necessary for her to quit her preschool job. In February 2023, Bush married Cortney Merritts, a security specialist and U.S. Army veteran.

In May 2021, Bush testified to the House Oversight and Reform Committee that during her first pregnancy, she informed her doctor of severe pain but was ignored, and as a result went into pre-term labor. She attributed this to "harsh and racist treatment" that Black women face during pregnancy and childbirth. In a subsequent tweet, she wrote, "Every day, Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don't believe our pain."

Electoral history

• Black women in American politics
• List of African-American United States representatives
• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• This page was last modified on 7 April 2024, at 16:05. Suggest an edit .

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• Press Releases

Congresswoman Bush Announces Applications Open for Fiscal Year 2025 Community Project Funding

Apply here : deadline for submission is april 26, 2024.

Washington D.C. (Apr. 12, 2024) — The Office of Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) is excited to announce that it is now accepting Community Project Funding requests from Missouri’s First District to submit to the House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2025. 

Community Project Funding allows Members of Congress the opportunity to request direct funding for projects that address issues and benefit our community directly. Previously, our office has funded various projects, ranging between $70 thousand to $5 million, across the district addressing issues such as community safety, homelessness prevention, health care, infrastructure, environmental justice, education, and economic development.

“I am proud to announce that my office is now accepting community project funding applications,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush. “Over my tenure, I have had the honor of being able to deliver over $41 million for community organizations working to save and improve lives in Missouri’s First District. These projects deliver critical funding for investments in public safety, homelessness prevention, health care, education, economic development and more. I strongly encourage all our grassroots organizations, nonprofits, and local governments to apply for this funding. I am excited to review these applications and select projects that will continue to invest in the health, safety, and well-being of our community.”

To submit your Community Project Funding request, click HERE .

Congressional offices are still awaiting formal guidance from House leadership, however, in previous years, each Member of Congress could submit 15 projects from their district. Each request must include demonstrated community support, through either letters of support, press articles, resolutions, and/or relevant links to information online.

To prepare for the FY 2025 cycle’s submission process, the Office of Congresswoman Cori Bush will be hosting three informational webinars to help organizations navigate this process and answer any questions.

• Click here to register. 
• Click here to register.

To view Congresswoman Bush’s FY 2024 projects, click here .

To view Congresswoman Bush’s FY 2023 projects, click here .

To view Congresswoman Bush’s FY 2022 projects, click here .

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