Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr served Illinois’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2012 (104th -112th Congresses). Before entering the House, he was secretary of the Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus, the national field director of the National Rainbow Coalition, and a member of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Jackson served on the Banking and Financial Services, Small Business, and Appropriations committees in Congress. From 2007 through 2012, Jackson was the second-ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. During each Congress, Jackson introduced several constitutional amendments for the right to vote, the right to a high-quality education, and the right to high-quality health care. From his seat on the Appropriations Committee, Jackson was the driving force behind increasing the funding for the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative from $166 million in 1998 to more than $400 million by 2007. He also supported increased funding for historically Black schools for medical and health professions. He directed the effort to create the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health in 2001. Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T University and a master’s degree from Chicago Theological Seminary. He also earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law.