Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. was elected to her fourth full term representing the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina on November 3, 2020. After winning a special election in November 2014, Congresswoman Adams was sworn in immediately as the 100th woman elected to the 113th Congress.
Representative Adams serves on the Committee on Financial Services; Committee on Education & Labor and the Committee on Agriculture. She holds several leadership roles; as Assistant Whip for the Democratic Caucus, Chairwoman of the Committee on Education & Labor’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Agriculture. Representative Adams’s subcommittee assignments, in addition to Workforce Protections, include Civil Rights and Human Services Committee on Education and Labor; Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations on Agriculture, and the Oversight and Investigations on Financial Services. Her signature legislative accomplishment in Congress is the enactment of H.R. 5363, the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act which permanently provides funding totaling $255 million a year for all Minority-Serving Institutions, including $85 million for HBCUs.
As a retired educator, I have seen first-hand the impact a great education can have on a young person’s life. I will always be a champion for public schools, our teachers, our children, and our HBCUs.” – Alma Adams
Education has always been a top priority to Congresswoman Adams. As a retired professor, she knows quality education opens up opportunities for anyone to live the American Dream. Throughout her career in public service, she has relentlessly fought against the reckless cuts to our public and higher education systems, and especially those cuts that disproportionately affect HBCUs in North Carolina.
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Congresswoman Adams will always stand up and fight for our public schools. She knows a good public education is an American value, and she works to provide a good public education for everyone.
Congresswoman Adams understands the challenges facing public education as well as anyone. She knows it is getting harder and harder for students to afford to attend colleges and universities. In Congress, Congresswoman Adams will work to increase student support, such as Pell Grants, and the reduction in the interest rate on student loans. She also continues fighting to cancel debt for past and current students who are struggling to pay off their loans. Specifically, she has introduced a resolution with Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley calling on the President to forgive $50,000 in student loan debt for every American.
Congresswoman Adams introduced the bipartisan, bicameral IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act – the most significant investment in HBCUs infrastructure in generations.
She introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to condemn the bomb threats made against HBCUs, which passed the House (418-0) and Senate unanimously.
Additionally, she introduced the bicameral EDUCATORS for America Act with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the most significant initiative to improve the teacher pipeline and graduate more career-ready teachers and school support staff in a decade.
The first piece of legislation she introduced in the House was the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Professional Readiness Education Preparation (STEM PREP) Act. The STEM PREP Act helps create a pipeline of skilled workers to enter STEM fields. The STEM PREP Act also prioritizes the inclusion of fine arts in technical education. This equips employees with not only the technical skills and critical thinking skills needed to do the job.
A graduate of an HBCU and a professor at one for 40 years, Congresswoman Adams recognizes the importance of HBCUs in their communities and their impacts on their students. The first bill she co-sponsored focused on the restoration and preservation of these historic sites. As founder and co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, she is guaranteeing that HBCUs are always a part of legislative conversations.