Edolphus Towns

Congressman Edolphus Towns represented congressional districts in New York from 1983 to 2013 (98th-112th Congresses). Towns was an Army veteran whose career included serving as a professor, public school teacher, and hospital administrator before his tenure in Congress. Townsend’s Committee assignments included the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Government Operations (later Oversight and Government Reform), where he was the ranking member of a subcommittee on Government operations that focused on human resource management and efficiency in government. Towns remained on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during his entire 30-year career in Congress and chaired the committee during the 111th Congress. Having worked as a hospital administrator, Towns hoped to improve access to health services in underserved communities, including Medicare drug coverage and alcohol treatment programs for pregnant women. Other notable accomplishments include his co-sponsorship of legislation to require colleges to report the graduation rates of their student-athletes. The legislation became the Student Right to Know Act, enacted during the 101st Congress (1989-1991). During the 107th Congress (2001-2003), he introduced a measure that would put sports agents under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission to stop unethical recruitment practices. Towns is a North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduate and earned a master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University.