Eddie Bernice Johnson

Midway through her second term in the state senate, Johnson opted to run in the Democratic primary for the newly created Texas's 30th congressional district. She defeated Republican nominee Lucy Cain 72%-25% in the 1992 general election.[9] In 1994, she defeated Lucy Cain again 73%-26%.[10]

In 1996, after her district was significantly redrawn as a result of Bush v. Vera, she won re-election to a third term with 55% of the vote, the worst election performance of her congressional career. All of the candidates in the race appeared on a single ballot regardless of party, and Johnson faced two other Democrats. Proving just how Democratic this district still was, the three Democrats tallied 73 percent of the vote among them.[11]

Johnson has never faced another contest nearly that close. She has been reelected nine more times with at least 72% of the vote. In 2012, Johnson easily beat two opponents in the Democratic Primary, State Representative Barbara Mallory Caraway and lawyer Taj Clayton, gaining 70% of the vote; she went on to win the general election by a landslide, gaining almost 79% of the votes cast.[12] She was re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. In October 2019, Johnson announced she would be retiring after her 2020 term.[13]

The 17th chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Johnson opposed the Iraq Resolution of 2002. During debate on the House floor, she stated:

I am not convinced that giving the President the authority to launch a unilateral, first-strike attack on Iraq is the appropriate course of action at this time. While I believe that under international law and under the authority of our Constitution, the United States must maintain the option to act in its own self-defense, I strongly believe that the administration has not provided evidence of an imminent threat of attack on the United States that would justify a unilateral strike. I also believe that actions alone, without exhausting peaceful options, could seriously harm global support for our war on terrorism and distract our own resources from this cause.[14]

In 2007, Congresswoman Johnson was appointed by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) to serve as Chairwoman of its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment during the 110th and 111th Congresses. She was the first African American and first woman in Congress to serve as Chair of this Subcommittee. As Subcommittee Chair, Johnson sponsored the Water Resources Development Act. She successfully secured and led Congress in overriding President Bush's veto of it. This was the only veto override during his presidency.[15]

During the 2007 primary campaign, Johnson initially supported U.S. Senator John Edwards from North Carolina for President. After his withdrawal from the race, she pledged her support as a superdelegate to Barack Obama. Her district backed Obama heavily in the 2008 election.

Johnson and Rep. Donna Edwards (D) proposed a publicly funded park on the moon to mark where the Apollo missions landed between 1969 and 1972. The Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617, calls for the park to be run jointly by the Department of the Interior and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).[16]

Johnson has consistently stated an opposition to the historical consensus on the Armenian Genocide. In 2009, when asked if she acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, she responded "No, I don't."[17] In 2017, when interviewed for a film and asked if she denied that the Armenian genocide occurred, Johnson replied "I do deny that."[18][19] In 2019, Johnson was one of three House members to vote "present" on a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.[20]

Johnson and other members of the House of Representatives objected to counting the 25 electoral votes from Florida which George W. Bush narrowly won after a contentious recount. Because no senator joined her objection, the objection was dismissed by Vice President Al Gore, who was Bush's opponent in the 2000 presidential election.[21]

She was one of thirty-one House Democrats who voted to not count the 20 electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election.[22] President George W. Bush won Ohio by 118,457 votes.[23] Without Ohio's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In August 2010, Amy Goldson, counsel for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said that Johnson violated organizational rules by awarding at least 15 scholarships to relatives of her own or to children of her district director, Rod Givens. The awards violated an anti-nepotism rule and the recipients also did not qualify for the scholarships because they were not residents of the Congresswoman's district as required. Johnson said she "unknowingly" made a mistake in awarding the grants and would work with the foundation to rectify it.[24]

Opponent Stephen Broden released letters bearing Johnson's signature in which the representative requested that the scholarship check be made out to and sent directly to her relatives, instead of to the destination university as would normally be procedure.[25] Subsequently, the Dallas Morning News ran an editorial questioning her changing story on the matter, saying that it was overshadowing her service in the House.[26]

In December 2010, Johnson was elected as the first African American and the first female Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.[27] From 2000 to 2002, she was the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. Johnson has been a strong advocate for the need to invest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. In April 2012, Johnson introduced the "Broadening Participation in STEM Education Act." This would authorize the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award grants to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups receiving degrees in STEM. The bill would also expand the number of faculty members from underrepresented minority groups at colleges and universities.[28]

Johnson is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and has been since being elected in 1992. She is also the highest ranking Texan on this committee. Johnson also presently serves on the Aviation Subcommittee, Highways and Transit Subcommittee and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee.

• Committee on Science and Technology (Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

• Congressional Arts Caucus[29]
• Congressional Black Caucus[30]
• Congressional Tri Caucus - Founder
• LGBT Equality Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Rare Disease Congressional Caucus
• Congressional Cement Caucus
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus[31]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus[32]