REP. RASHIDA TLAIB
congresswoman, Michigan’s 13th District
Born and raised in Detroit as the proud daughter of Palestinian immigrant parents, Rashida Tlaib was the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. Her mother was born in Beit Ur al-Fauqa, near the West Bank city of Ramallah (where her grandmother still lives), and her father was born in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Her father emigrated first to Nicaragua, then to Detroit, where he worked on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company plant. As the eldest, Rashida played a role in raising her 13 younger siblings while her parents worked, which shaped her into a relentless advocate for the working class.
In 2018, Rashida made history as the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, and along with Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the first two Muslim women U.S. Representatives. Rashida serves as the Congresswoman for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Detroit and many surrounding communities. She took the congressional oath of office on January 3, 2019, wearing a traditional Palestinian thawb and swearing in on an English-language translation of the Quran. Rashida had made history before as the first Muslim woman ever elected to the Michigan Legislature in 2008.
An Active Voice for American Muslims
Rep. Rashida Tlaib is using her position as one of the first female Muslim members of Congress to speak out on issues impacting her community as well as the diversity of our country at large.
House Committee on Oversight and Reform
The main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, it has authority to investigate subjects within the Committee's legislative jurisdiction as well as "any matter" within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees. Rep. Tlaib has used her platform to call out the proposed 2020 Census Citizenship Question for being an attempt to exclude communities of color. In addition to the main committee, Rep. Tlaib also serves on the Oversight and Investigations, Housing Community Development and Insurance, and Consumer Protections and Financial Institutions subcommittees.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES
Pinpointing issues ranging from housing, securities, and banking to consumer protection, as part of the Committee on Financial Services, Rep. Tlaib has made her mark by imploring U.S. Department of Housing and urban Development Secretary, Ben Carson, to use his experience growing up poor in Detroit to guide more equitable policies. She serves as the Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on the Environment as well as on the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy.
"Every child of immigrant parents knows what it means... when their parents’ biggest hope is for us to succeed, but they also don’t want us to lose a part of who we are."
- REP. RASHIDA TLAIB
As a Progressive Democrat, Rashida is a member of the informal group known as "The Squad" along with Representatives Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She supports domestic reforms, including "Medicare For All" and a $18 to $20 hourly minimum wage, as well as improved health and medical conditions for immigrants and asylum-seekers at the southern border.
On foreign affairs, Rashida has criticized Saudi Arabia's human rights violations and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. She has sharply criticized the Israeli government, called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, and expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. Rashida strongly believes in the Palestinian right of return and a one-state solution, which resulted in Israel denying her a visa to visit in August with a Congressional delegation.
Rashida is a long-time advocate of the impeachment of Donald Trump. In August of 2016, she interrupted the then-Republican presidential nominee at his campaign event to ask if he had ever read the Constitution. She later described it as "the most American thing I could ever do." As an attorney, a politician, and a working-class advocate, Rashida knows that progress requires an all-out approach, fighting in the community and in the legislature every day against injustice and inequality, so that every single person in this country has a chance to thrive.
Rashida Tlaib completed a BA in political science from Wayne State University and earned a JD from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. After working in the Michigan state legislature, she worked at Sugar Law Center, a Detroit nonprofit that provides free legal representation for workers. Rashida’s two young sons are at the root of her unwavering commitment to equity, and she describes herself as “a mother working for justice for all.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib represents more than just “the most diverse Congress in U.S. history,” she exemplifies the need for all of us to remain strong in the face of adversity, and determined in pushing back against injustice and inequality.