Emanuel Cleaver, II is now serving his ninth term representing Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, the home district of President Harry Truman. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services; Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; member of Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; member of the House Committee on Homeland Security; member of the Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations; and member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
Having served for twelve years on the city council of Missouri's largest municipality, Kansas City, Cleaver was elected as the city's first African American Mayor in 1991.
It continually humbles me when I interact with our brave soldiers. The men and women who risk their lives for our country deserve the best our nation can offer. I feel a duty to protect not only the rights of active duty servicemen and women, but also the rights of those who served before them.
I strongly believe funding for the military is imperative, and supporting our troops at home and abroad is fundamental. To effectively advance our nation’s security goals, we must be able to objectively assess our security challenges and adapt accordingly. It is important to remember that the challenges we face today are not the challenges we will face tomorrow. And unless we plan for those challenges today, we will not be able to successfully and peacefully overcome them.