| Congressman Jim McGovern represents the Second District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a tireless champion for his home state and a global leader working to end hunger, protect human rights, and promote peace. He believes public service should be about bringing people together and working to make life better for all our families.
Jim was appointed top Democrat on the Powerful House Rules Committee 2018, serving as Chairman throughout the 116th and 117th Congress. During his tenure, Jim worked hard to make Congress more accessible, transparent, and open. He brought about reforms that gave all Members of Congress more time to read bills, required bills to go through the committee process instead of being behind closed doors, and created an office of diversity and inclusion to recruit and retain congressional staff that reflect the diversity of America.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Agriculture's Subcommittee on Nutrition and Oversight, Jim is a tireless champion for hungry Americans. He fought for and secured the first ever White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in 2022. Thanks to his advocacy and determination, military families are being screened for hunger for the first time ever, families with children are seeing enhanced food benefits, schools are able to provide more nutritious meals, and America now has a plan to end hunger within a decade.
For his powerful advocacy on human rights and American global leadership, Jim has been appointed Co-Chair of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission - both of which monitor, investigate and advocate on behalf of international human rights, the rule of law, and good governance. Jim's human rights leadership dates back to his time as a congressional staffer, when he was asked to help lead the investigation of the murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador following public outrage in Congress. He exposed that the murders were committed by the U.S. backed Salvadoran military-leading to a major shift in American foreign policy that made future military aid contingent on improved human rights and a negotiated peace in El Salvador. Jim wrote, introduced, and had signed into law the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which allows the President to punish foreign officials who the U.S. identifies as corrupt or human rights abusers. The law was so successful, Congress later applied it world-wide as the Global Magnitsky Act. Jim has also authored and passed into law several landmark pieces of legislation to hold the government of China accountable for human rights violations, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the Tibet Policy and Support Act, and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
Jim's commitment to public service began at a young age. In 7th grade, Jim volunteered on the 1972 presidential campaign of Senator George McGovern - no relation. When Jim decided to attend college at the American University in Washington, D.C. he applied for an internship in the office of Senator McGovern. He worked his way through college as an intern, earning a BA in history in 1981 before going to work in the office of Congressman Joe Moakley, a Democrat from South Boston. While working for Moakley, Jim went back to American University to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration in 1984.
With Newt Gingrich as Speaker, Jim saw that too often, Washington worked for the rich and powerful instead of the American people. Jim successfully ran for Congress in 1996 and has won reelection in each subsequent term. After his first election, when Jim was on the House Floor to take the oath of office, he took his two mentors - Moakley and Senator McGovern - with him. He asked them both- "what should I know before I take my oath?" Senator McGovern said- "get over the fear of losing an election, or else you'll constantly be obsessed with polls instead of doing what's right. Always do what's right." Congressman Moakley said- "get to know everyone here as a person. Get to know what they stand for and who they are and treat them with respect."
Jim has never forgotten their advice. From principled stands on tough issues to working with Members of Congress from across the country and on both sides of the aisle, Jim has fought to ensure that every single person in this country and around the world is treated with dignity and respect.
Jim was born and raised in the Burncoat neighborhood of Worcester. The values he learned from his friends and family are the same ones he fights for every day in Congress- fairness, decency, respect for all people, and the idea that each of us has an obligation to give back to our community. Jim's parents, Walter and Mindy, own a small package store in Worcester, and his sisters are both public school teachers. He is married to Lisa Murray McGovern and they have two children, Patrick and Molly. |