Bass, Karen, 1953-

<p>Karen Ruth Bass (born October 3, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 37th congressional district since 2011. The district, numbered as the 33rd district for her first term, covers several areas south and west of downtown Los Angeles. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served for six years in the California State Assembly, the last two as Speaker.</p>

<p>On November 28, 2018, Bass was elected chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) during the 116th Congress. She also serves as Chair of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.</p>

<p>Before her election to Congress, Bass represented the 47th district in the California State Assembly (2004–2010). In 2008, she was elected to serve as the 67th Speaker of the California State Assembly, becoming the first African American woman in United States history to serve as a Speaker of a state legislative body. She won the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2010 for her leadership during the Great Recession.</p>

<p>Congressmember Karen Bass was re-elected to her sixth term representing the 37th Congressional District in November 2020. Congressmember Bass serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where she is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights. She also serves on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, where she is active in working to craft sound criminal justice reform policies.</p>

<p>Congressmember Bass served as the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus in 2019 and 2020. During her tenure, the Congressional Black Caucus worked with the Congressional Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American Caucuses to demand a targeted response to the COVID-19 pandemic and initiate a national needs assessment for communities of color. She also introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act - the most transformative piece of policing legislation to ever pass in a chamber of Congress. (You can read more about what the Congressional Black Caucus accomplished under her chairship here.)</p>

<p>Congressmember Bass has served on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations for as long as she's served in Congress. As Chair of the Subcommittee, Congressmember Bass has acted to build coalitions and support economic growth and partnerships with the African continent, with a goal to transform how the United States engages with African nations and to promote the many opportunities to expand trade and economic growth between America and African nations. In 2015, Congressmember Bass acted swiftly during her first term to bring legislators, advocacy groups and international leaders together to extend the third country fabric provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The provision supports stability, development, and economic growth of sub-Saharan African countries by protecting jobs in the apparel sector and providing some of the best markets for American businesses to sell their goods and services. Congressmember Bass has traveled to the continent upwards of 30 times and continues to push to increase the diversity among our diplomatic corps serving there.</p>

BASS, Karen, a Representative from California; born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, October 3, 1953; graduated from Hamilton High School, Los Angeles, Calif.; B.S., California State University, Dominguez Hills, Calif., 1990; P.A., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., 1982; M.S.W., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., 2015; physician's assistant; faculty, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.; member of the California state assembly, 2005-2010, speaker, 2008-2010; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Twelfth and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2011-present).