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.
Health care is important to our district and to Congresswoman Adams' work in Congress. She has been a staunch and ardent supporter of the Affordable Care Act, which has brought lifesaving insurance coverage to millions, including hundreds of thousands in North Carolina's 12th District.
In Her Own Words
"As an African American growing up poor, my story is pretty typical- probably a lot like many of yours—one of modest beginnings. I was one of the healthiest of my mother’s children, so I assisted pretty much around the house taking on responsibilities for cooking, cleaning and shopping for the family while my mom worked. I learned lessons early on about taking responsibility for others and the real meaning of hard work.
My sister Linda, who was two years older, suffered with sickle cell anemia and was in and out of the hospital most of the 26 years of her short life.
I still have vivid memories of getting up late at night and in the wee hours of the morning to go with my mother to the emergency room to take my sister when she was in crisis.
That’s how we got our health care--you see we didn’t have health insurance. "
Healthcare Accomplishments