Cleaver, Emanuel, II, 1944-

<p>Emanuel Cleaver II (born October 26, 1944) is a United Methodist pastor and an American politician who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Cleaver represents Missouri's 5th congressional district, elected in 2005. The district includes the southern three-fourths of Kansas City, including all of the city south of the Missouri River, as well as the more rural counties of Lafayette, Ray, and Saline east of Jackson. Cleaver is a member of the Democratic Party, and was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from January 2011 to 2013.</p>

<p>Cleaver served on the Kansas City Council from 1979 to 1991, until he was elected Mayor, serving from 1991 to 1999. In 2004, Cleaver was elected to represent Missouri's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.</p>

<p>Cleaver was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Marie (née McKnight) and Lucky G. Cleaver. He grew up in public housing in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated from Prairie View A&M University where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Cleaver then moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he founded a branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and received a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from St. Paul School of Theology.[</p>

<p>Cleaver was the pastor at the St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri from March 1972 until June 28, 2009.</p>

CLEAVER, Emanuel, II, a Representative from Missouri; born in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Tex., October 26, 1944; graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, Wichita Falls, Tex., 1963; B.S., Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Tex., 1972; M.Div., St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Mo., 1974; pastor; radio show host; member of the Kansas City, Mo. city council, 1979-1991; Mayor of Kansas City, Mo., 1991-1999; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Ninth and to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2005-present).

<p>Emanuel Cleaver, II is now serving his ninth term representing Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, the home district of President Harry Truman. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services; Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; member of Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; member of the House Committee on Homeland Security; member of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security; and member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.</p>

<p>Having served for twelve years on the city council of Missouri’s largest municipality, Kansas City, Cleaver was elected as the city’s first African American Mayor in 1991.</p>

<p>During his eight-year stint in the Office of the Mayor, Cleaver distinguished himself as an economic development activist and an unapologetic redevelopment craftsman. He and the City Council brought a number of major corporations to the city, including TransAmerica, Harley Davidson, and Citi Corp. Cleaver also led the effort, after a forty-year delay, to build the South Midtown Roadway. Upon completion of this major thoroughfare, he proposed a new name: The Bruce R. Watkins Roadway. Additionally, his municipal stewardship includes the 18th and Vine Redevelopment, a new American Royal, the establishment of a Family Division of the Municipal Court, and the reconstruction and beautification of Brush Creek.</p>