Eddie Bernice Johnson’s inspirational story is uniquely American, the story of an African American girl born in the segregated south in 1935 who has been a trailblazer in the fight for Civil Rights and Equal Rights. Eddie Bernice Johnson’s story is a story of firsts, firsts both for women and for African Americans.
Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Johnson's first aspirations were in medicine. She could not attend college in her own state because of her race, so she left Texas and attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where she received a diploma in nursing in 1956. After 16 years as a psychiatric nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital, she entered politics.
In 1972, as an underdog candidate running for a seat in the Texas House, Eddie Bernice Johnson won a landslide victory and became the first black woman ever elected to public office from Dallas. She soon became the first woman in Texas history to lead a major Texas House committee, the Labor Committee. Johnson left the state House in 1977, when President Jimmy Carter appointed her as the regional director for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Her experience in health care as a nurse, in politics as a state representative, and her master's degree in public administration--obtained in 1976--made her a natural choice for the job.
Johnson entered politics again in 1986, and was elected a Texas state Senator, becoming the first female and African-American from the Dallas area to hold this office since Reconstruction. Her particular concerns as a senator included health care, education, public housing, racial equity, economic development, and job expansion. She served on the Finance Committee, for which she chaired the subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and on the Education Committee. Her interest in health care led her to write legislation to regulate diagnostic radiology centers, require drug testing in hospitals, prohibit discrimination against AIDS victims, improve access to health care for AIDS patients, and prohibit hospital kickbacks to doctors. As a fair housing advocate, she sponsored a bill to empower city governments to repair substandard housing at the expense of landlords, and wrote a bill to enforce prohibitions against housing discrimination.
As a lawmaker, Johnson was able to bring to a public forum her fight against racism. This was no easy task, however, for she faced discrimination herself in the legislature. "Being a woman and being black is perhaps a double handicap," she told the Chicago Tribune. "When you see who's in the important huddles, who's making the important decisions, it's men." But Johnson was able to make a difference. She sponsored several bills aimed towards equity, including a bill to establish goals for the state to do business with 'socially-disadvantaged' businesses, and crafted a fair housing act aimed at toughening up fair housing laws and establishing a commission to investigate complaints of discriminatory housing practices.
In addition to her legislation, Johnson held hearings and investigated complaints. In 1989, she testified in a federal court about racism in the Dallas city government. In 1992, she formally asked the Justice Department to investigate harassment of local black students. That same year, she held hearings to examine discrimination charges about unfair contracting bids for the government's Superconducting Supercollider. One thing Johnson fears most about discrimination is the legacy it leaves for youth. "I am frightened to see young people who believe that a racist power structure is responsible for every negative thing that happens to them," she explained to the New York Times. "After a point it does not matter whether these perceptions are true or false; it is the perceptions that matter."
In 1992 Eddie Bernice Johnson became the first black and first woman elected to the U.S. Congress from North Texas.
Congresswoman Johnson is a current 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.
Congresswoman Johnson also presently serves on the Aviation Subcommittee, Highways and Transit Subcommittee and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee. In 2007, Congresswoman Johnson was appointed by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-MN) to serve as Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment during the 110th and 111th Congresses. She was the first African-American and first female in Congress to hold the position of this Subcommittee Chair. While holding the position of Subcommittee Chair, Congresswoman Johnson sponsored the Water Resources Development Act. She successfully secured and led Congress in overridding President Bush’s veto of it. This was the first and only veto override during his presidency.
In December 2010, Congresswoman Johnson was elected as the first African-American and the first female Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. From 2000 to 2002, she was the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. Congresswoman Johnson continues to emphasize the need to invest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.
Congresswoman Johnson is Founder and Co-Chair of the Diversity and Innovation Caucus and of the House Historical Black Colleges and Universities Caucus. Congresswoman Johnson had the honor to serve as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 107th Congress and presently co-chairs the Technology and Infrastructure Development Taskforce of the 112th Congressional Black Caucus. She is also a Member of the Congressional Task Force on Seniors.
