In the News

What difference does it make to have Native Americans in the Congress? The debate last week about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Acrt provided a textbook answer.

A Kansas congresswoman has been appointed to a leadership position on the House Transportation Committee.

On Thursday, Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) announced Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) will serve as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation in the 116th Congress, according to a media release.

The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, and international issues.

Despite the unseasonably chilly April day, the atmosphere at the Quindaro overlook was warm and cheerful Tuesday afternoon.

Federal lawmakers joined local officials and residents in Kansas City, Kan. to celebrate designation of the ruins as a National Commemorative Site. Over 100 people gathered on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, which slaves once crossed on their journey to free land.

This mid-April, the freshman class of political office-holders celebrated its first 100 days in office. Among them is Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, an attorney and former professional mixed martial artist, who now serves as the U.S. Representative for Kansas' 3rd congressional district.

In her first 100 days, Davids has demonstrated her position on the issues as an advocate for the Affordable Care Act, fair and legal voting practices, political accountability and small business success. These points are accentuated on her congressional website:

When Rep. Sharice Davids arrived in Washington, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was eager to mentor his fellow Democrat, whose district sits on the other side of the state line.

Realizing that Congress can be an intimidating environment, the eight-term Missouri Democrat told the Kansas newcomer to come to him if anyone gave her trouble.

"One day I said, ‘Look, if anybody bothers you or if anybody gives you any problem, you come get me,''" Cleaver recalled.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., today presided over the House floor as members voted on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.

The legislation would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and included some changes that would increase protection and services for victims of violence and abuse.

Rep. Davids has cosponsored multiple amendments to the bill that address violence against Native American women and girls.

As a first-generation college student who worked my way through community college on to Cornell Law, having health insurance was not a top priority when I was starting out. I was buried in student loan debt and worried about simply making ends meet.

It wasn't until I was injured at the gym — resulting in an emergency room visit and bill of $4,000 — that I realized the cost of forgoing health insurance. I was fine, but it took me more than a year to pay off that bill. That hurt worse than the injury itself.

The House on Thursday rebuffed a furious lobbying campaign by the National Rifle Association and approved a revamped Violence Against Women Act that would expand law enforcement's ability to restrict gun purchases by convicted domestic abusers.

The legislation passed easily, 263 to 158, but the divided vote came on what was once a broadly bipartisan measure first passed in 1994. In recent years, partisan rancor over efforts to expand the protections of the legislation have clouded efforts to renew it, and this year, the divide was over gun control.