Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson


In this week’s paper, community members talked about working with President Barack Obama and members of his staff. U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson also weighed in with her comments to Dallas Voice about what the president and working with his administration meant to her and to the LGBT community:

President Barack Obama will always be remembered as a visionary and a stalwart supporter of the LGBT community. He fought tirelessly in his efforts to protect every individual from discrimination, regardless of their race, gender identity or sexual orientation. In his eight years serving as President of the United States, President Obama strongly supported marriage equality for all and has fought for equal protections throughout the LGBTQ community by pushing Congress to enact laws that would help these individuals. Not to mention he has been the only President to fully support equality for the LGBTQ community. I am very proud of the many achievements he has accomplished during his Administration. We owe it to the American people to continue our fight to uphold equality under the law for the LGBTQ community. 

As a senior Member of Congress, I will continue to work with my colleagues to push for additional legislation to hold accountable those who choose not to treat LGBTQ individuals with respect and integrity. Additionally he served as a leader and was successful during his presidency by passing the Recovery Act, which saved us form one of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression; he passed the Affordable Care Act, granting more than 20 million people insurance; enacted policies to ensure that higher education would be more accessible for all Americans; remained stern on fighting Climate Change by joining over 170 countries in making a commitment to protect our planet, with the enactment of the Paris Agreement.

I had served with President Obama when he was a member of the U.S. Senate and have had the pleasure of getting to know him as a personal friend. What I will remember most from working with President Obama is his decency and determination when addressing us, his colleagues here in Congress. And his great humor and kindness he has shown the entire nation. He will be greatly missed as I enjoyed my time working with him and his administration.