Maryland Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards to Speak at Trinity on Wednesday, September 14

Maryland Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards to Speak at Trinity on Wednesday, September 14

Maryland Democratic Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards will speak at Trinity on Wednesday, September 14, at 7:30 pm in the Rose Parlor in Main Hall.  Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend.  Her visit to campus is sponsored by the Trinity College Democrats.  Edwards represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District comprising portions of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.  She won a special election and was sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 110th Congress in June 2008, and began her first full term in the 111th Congress in 2009.

Edwards brings to her congressional role a diverse career as a nonprofit public interest advocate and in the private sector on NASA’s Spacelab project.  Just prior to serving in Congress, she was the executive director of the Arca Foundation in Washington, D.C.  During her time at Arca, she gained national prominence in her efforts to secure a living wage for working people, ensure the independence of the federal judiciary, end capital punishment, protect Social Security, and promote labor and human rights both nationally and internationally.

Edwards was the co-founder and executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence where she led the effort to pass the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

In the 112th Congress she serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee where she sits on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.  She serves on the Science and Technology Committee where she sits on the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.  She serves on the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Edwards completed undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University and received her law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center).