Roosevelt University University of Illinois
Where was Bobby Rush educated in Jun 1973?
Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush ( born November 23 , 1946 ) is an American politician , activist , pastor , and the U.S . Representative for , serving in Congress for more than two decades . A civil rights activist during the 1960s , Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party . Rush was first elected to Congress in 1992 . He has since won consecutive re-elections . His district was originally located principally on the South Side of Chicago , with a population from 2003 to early 2013 that was 65 percent African-American , a higher proportion than any other congressional district in the nation . In 2011 the Illinois General Assembly redistricted this area following the 2010 census . Although still minority-majority , since early 2013 it is 51.3 percent African American , 9.8 percent Latino , and 2 percent Asian . He was re-elected in 2018 . A member of the Democratic Party , Rush is the only politician to have defeated former President of the United States Barack Obama in an election , which he did in the 2000 Democratic primary for Illinoiss 1st congressional district . He is dean of Illinois delegation to the House of Representatives . Early life , education , and activism . Rush was born on November 23 , 1946 , in Albany , Georgia . After his parents separated when Rush was 7 years old , his mother took him and his siblings to Chicago , Illinois , joining the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South in the first part of the 20th century . In 1963 , Rush dropped out of high school before graduating ; he joined the U.S . Army . While stationed in Chicago in 1966 , he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , which had helped obtain national civil rights legislation passed in 1964 and 1965 . In 1968 , he went AWOL from the Army and co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers . He later finished his service , receiving an honorable discharge from the Army . Throughout the 1960s , Rush was involved in the civil rights movement and worked in civil disobedience campaigns in the southern United States . After co-founding the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968 , he served as its defense minister . After Black Panther Fred Hampton was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department and the States Attorney Office in a police raid , Rush said , We needed to arm ourselves , and referred to the police as pigs . Earlier that same year Rush had discussed the philosophy of his membership in the Black Panthers saying , Black people have been on the defensive for all these years . The trend now is not to wait to be attacked . We advocate offensive violence against the power structure . After Hamptons death , Rush became acting chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party . Rush worked on several non-violent projects that built support for the Black Panthers in African-American communities , such as coordinating a medical clinic which offered sickle-cell anemia testing on an unprecedented scale . Rush was imprisoned for six months in 1972 on a weapons charge , after carrying a pistol into a police station . In 1974 , he left the Black Panthers , who were already in decline . We started glorifying thuggery and drugs , he told People . Rush , a deeply religious born-again Christian , said , I dont repudiate any of my involvement in the Panther party—it was part of my maturing . He is dean of Illinois delegation to the House of Representatives . Formal education . Rush earned his Bachelor of General Studies with honors from Roosevelt University in 1973 , and a Masters degree in political science from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1974 . He completed a degree in theological studies at McCormick Theological Seminary in 1978 . On May 13 , 2017 Rush received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities , honoris causa , from the Illinois Institute of Technology ( IIT ) for his outstanding contributions to Chicago . Politics . Chicago politics . In 1975 , Rush ran for a seat on the Chicago City Council , the first of several black militants to seek political office , and was defeated by incumbent alderman William Barnett , placing second with 23% of the vote , behind Barnetts 55% and ahead of Larry S . Bullocks 21% . Rushs allies in the black-power movement abandoned the Democrats in the wake of the political turmoil that followed the sudden death in 1987 of Chicagos first black mayor , Harold Washington , and formed their own political party , naming it after the late mayor . Rush infuriated Harold Washington Party leaders by spurning their candidates for local offices and , on occasion , backing white Democrats instead . Rush worked with the regular Democrats and was rewarded with the deputy chairmanship of the state party . Congressional elections . After redistricting in 1992 , Rush decided to run in the newly redrawn Illinois 1st congressional district , which included much of the South Side of Chicago . The district had a high proportion of African-American residents . Rush defeated incumbent U.S . Congressman Charles Hayes and six other candidates in the Democratic primary election in 1992 . He won the general election with 83% of the vote . In the 2000 Democratic primary for the Illinois 1st congressional district , Rush was challenged by young Illinois State Senator Barack Obama . During the primary , Rush said , Barack Obama went to Harvard and became an educated fool . Barack is a person who read about the civil rights protests and thinks he knows all about it . Rush claimed Obama was insufficiently rooted in Chicagos black neighborhoods to represent constituents concerns . For his part , Obama said Rush was a part of a politics that is rooted in the past and said he could build bridges with whites to get things done . But while Obama did well in his own Hyde Park base , he did not get enough support from the surrounding black neighborhoods . Starting with 10% name recognition , Obama eventually gained 30% of the vote , losing by a more than 2-to-1 margin despite winning among white voters . Rush won 61% of the votes overall . Rush won the general election for the district with 88% of the vote . Subsequent Chicago politics . In 1999 , Rush ran for Mayor of Chicago , but lost to incumbent Richard M . Daley , an ethnic Irish American whose father had long controlled the city as mayor . He remained active in city and regional politics . In 2013 , Rush criticized a proposal by Republican U.S . Senator Mark Kirk who suggested that 18,000 members of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples be arrested . Rush called Kirks approach headline grabbing , and said it was an upper-middle-class , elitist white boy solution to a problem he knows nothing about . A spokesman for Kirk said the Congressman had dealt with the issues for decades . Also in 2013 , Alex Clifford was forced to resign as CEO of Metra commuter rail agency , but soon after he left , a memo was released indirectly accusing Rush of using his political power to steer a $50,000 contract to a Washington-based business group . Endorsements . In the 2015 Chicago mayoral election , Rush endorsed Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Emanuels run-off reelection campaign against Jesus Chuy Garcia . In the 2019 Chicago mayoral election , Rush endorsed Bill Daley in the first-round , and Toni Preckwinkle in the runoff . Though a very close friend to former President Bill Clinton and his wife , politician Hillary Clinton , Rush announced early on in the 2008 Democratic primaries that he would support Barack Obama . After Obama won the Presidency and vacated his Senate seat , Rush proposed that an African American should be appointed to fill that seat . During a press conference , Rush said , With the resignation of President-elect Obama , we now have no African-Americans in the United States Senate , and we believe it will be a national disgrace to not have this seat filled by one of the many capable African-American Illinois politicians . Rush said he did not support any particular person , and he was not interested in the seat . On December 30 , 2008 , Governor Rod Blagojevich announced his appointment of Roland Burris , the former Attorney General of Illinois ; Rush was present at the press conference and spoke in support of Burris . Rush endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary . After she dropped out , he endorsed Michael Bloomberg and became his campaigns national co-chair . U.S . House of Representatives . Rush has been considered a loyal Democrat during his tenure ; in the 110th Congress , he voted with his party 97.8% of the time . Rush is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Baltic Caucus . Issues . - Fiscal Rush initiated the Chicago Partnership for the Earned Income Tax Credit , an ongoing program designed to help low-income working Chicago resident to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit , a federal income tax credits . - Healthcare Rush sponsored the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act passed in 1999 . The law temporarily addressed the nursing shortage by providing non-immigrant visas for qualified foreign nurses in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and was reauthorized in 2005 . Rush sponsored the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act , named for Melanie Blocker-Stokes , a Chicago native who jumped to her death from a 12th-story window due to postpartum depression . The bill would provide for research on postpartum depression and psychosis and services for individuals suffering from these disorders . The Childrens Health Act , passed in 2000 , incorporated Rushs Urban Asthma Reduction Act of 1999 , amending the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant program and including an integrated approach to asthma management . - Energy Rush was very outspoken against the GOPs No More Solyndras Bill , which would override a loan guarantee by the Energy Department to encourage research and development . The Energy Department provided a federal loan guarantee to the solar manufacturing company Solyndra to help with R&D . He said the No More Solyndras Bill would be better named as the No More Innovation Bill . - Firearms Rush introduced the Blair Holts Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 on January 6 , 2009 . The bill would require all owners of handguns and semiautomatic firearms to register for a federal firearms license . All sales of the subject firearms would have to go through a licensed dealer . It would also make it a criminal act not to register as an owner of a firearm . - Darfur genocide On July 15 , 2004 , Rush became the second sitting member of Congress , following Charles Rangel and preceding Joe Hoeffel , to be arrested for trespassing while protesting the genocide in Darfur and other violations of human rights in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Embassy . - Armed forces On February 13 , 2007 , Rush opposed President George W . Bushs proposed 20,000-serviceman troop surge in Iraq . He said the presence of the troops in Iraq was the greatest catalyst of violence in Iraq , and advocated a political resolution of the situation . Rush stated that the troop surge would only serve to make the Iraqi situation more volatile . - Trayvon Martin On March 28 , 2012 , Rush addressed the House while wearing a hoodie in honor of Trayvon Martin , a teenager who was shot in Florida by a local resident . He spoke against racial profiling . As the House forbids its members from wearing headgear , Rush was called out of order and escorted from the chamber . - Israel On September 5 , 2017 , Rush became the sole co-sponsor of H.R . 1697 to withdraw his support of the bill , which would require the United States to side with Israel against a United Nations resolution sanctioning Israel for human rights abuses . In July 2019 , Rush voted against H . Res . 246 - 116th Congress , a House resolution introduced by Congressman Brad Schneider ( D-IL ) opposing efforts to boycott the State of Israel and the Global Boycott , Divestment , and Sanctions Movement targeting Israel . The resolution passed 398–17 . Committee assignments . In the 115th United States Congress ( January 3 , 2017 , to January 3 , 2019 ) : - Committee on Energy and Commerce - Subcommittee on Communications and Technology - Subcommittee on Energy ( Chairman ) Caucus memberships . - Afterschool Caucuses Missed votes . Rushs career average missed vote percentage is 15.7 , which is extremely high compared to the median missed vote percentage of 2.2 for members of the U.S . House of Representatives . However , most of his absences were between 2014 and 2016 and he asserts that serious health problems kept him from D.C . In the first session of the 114th session of Congress ( January 2015 to December 2015 ) , Rush missed 15.6% of the votes and ranked #12 in most missed votes . Rush had the distinction of missing more votes than any other member of the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2015 : out of 6,906 votes , Rush missed 1,549 or 22.4% . Health issues for Rush and his wife were his main explanations for his high number of missed votes . Ethics concerns and conflicts of interest . The Office of Congressional Ethics referred a matter involving Rush to the House Ethics Committee in 2014 . The Office of Congressional Ethics report found he did not pay about $365,000 in rent for longtime use of an office to conduct politics . Rush has paid family members for years in questionable practices . Rush had a family member who for years worked for his church but was paid by a campaign supporter and friend . The Federal Election Commission questioned Rushs campaign over a campaign-finance report that showed thousands of dollars spent on vague categories such as campaign visibility and services rendered . His campaign paid his wife , Carolyn , $50,000 in 2015 for consulting , and his brother , Marlon Rush of Lansing , $13,000 in 2016 for two months work as campaign manager , according to FEC reports . Oxford Media Group Inc. , an Oak Brook company owned by multimillionaire businessman Joseph Stroud , paid the Commonwealth Edison bill — which was well past due , totaling $17,900 for Rushs Beloved Community Christian Church in 2010 . Rush had personally been named in a ComEd lawsuit over the churchs previous unpaid bills . Stroud was trying to break into the wireless phone industry dominated by Verizon and AT&T , and Rush was pushing for federal tax incentives that would give one of Strouds other companies a leg up as a minority-owned business . A nonprofit Rush started got $1 million from the charitable arm of whats now AT&T for what turned out to be a failed effort to create a technology center in Englewood . At the time , the telecom giant was seeking support for legislation in a House committee on which Rush was a key member . From 2001 to 2013 , businesses counting on favorable actions by Rush in Congress donated roughly $1.7 million to Rushs pet charities . Rush attracted more charitable corporate giving than any other Illinois congressman , by a large margin , according to a Sunlight Foundation study of expenditures from 2009 to 2011 . While it is impossible to assign cause and effect , at critical junctures Rush parted with fellow liberal Democrats in Congress to take pro-industry positions aligned with corporate benefactors SBC/AT&T , Comcast and ComEd . Beloved Community Christian Church . Rush is pastor of the Beloved Community Christian Church in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago . Leaders of other Englewood non-profit organizations complained that the churchs programs — a community development corporation Rebirth of Englewood , a public health center , and a group serving teens convicted of crimes — received an inordinate amount of government aid and weighed heavily on their own efforts for renewal . Unpaid taxes and wage garnishment . In 2013 , Rush and his wife , the Beloved Community Christian Church of which Rush is pastor , and another nonprofit organization operating out of the church had tax delinquencies that added up to $195,000 , and the pattern of tax delinquency was a decade old . Unpaid taxes included property taxes , income taxes , and employee withholding taxes . New City Bank sued Rush and his wife for $500,000 , claiming they failed to pay their property taxes in 2009 . In 1994 , Rush owed the Internal Revenue Service $55,000 in federal income taxes , according to Cook County records . Beginning in 2018 , 15 percent of Rushs congressional salary is being garnished to repay more than $1 million he owes on a delinquent loan for the now-closed church he founded in Chicago . Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander White ordered Rush to repay the $550,000 loan that New City Bank granted him and seven other co-signers in 2005 . With the money , Rush bought the former Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Chicagos Englewood neighborhood and restyled it as the Beloved Community Church of God in Christ . Personal life . Rush has been married three times . His first marriage , when he was 19 years old , was to Sandra Milan , until their divorce in 1973 . They had two children together . He later married community organizer , precinct captain , and political strategist Carolyn Thomas from 1980 or 1981 until her death from congestive heart failure on March 13 , 2017 . Their blended family had seven surviving children at the time of her death . On June 30 , 2018 he married his third wife , minister and author Paulette Holloway . Rushs son , Huey Rich , was murdered on the South Side of Chicago at age 29 , in October 1999 . He was named after Black Panther co-founder Huey P . Newton . Richs mother was Saundra Rich , who Rush never married . On October 18 , 1999 , Rich was approached outside his apartment building by Leo Foster and Darcell Prince , who falsely claimed to be police officers . They wore bulletproof vests , and carried walkie-talkies , guns , and badges , but Rich didnt believe them and ran . Foster and Prince chased and shot Rich , then stole several hundred dollars and keys from his pockets . He died in hospital four days later from extensive blood loss . Foster told police that he and Prince were coming to collect $110,000 worth of cocaine that Rich had been paid to procure but hadnt delivered . Richs friends didnt believe Fosters story , with some suggesting it may have been a case of mistaken identity . Rush said Rich was involved in positive—as far as I know—endeavors , adding as parents , we dont always know . Foster was sentenced to 60 years in prison for Richs murder , and Prince was sentenced to 50 years . The murder prompted Rush to prioritize efforts to reduce gun violence . In 2008 , Rush had a rare type of malignant tumor removed from his salivary gland . Rush is a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity , Inc . According to a DNA analysis conducted under the auspices of the TV program , Know Your Heritage , he is descended mainly from the Ashanti people of Ghana . Rush attributed his election to Congress to Tony Robbins . His heroes include Abraham Lincoln , Kit Carson , and Huey P . Newton . In 2018 , Rushs son Flynn Rush unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives , losing in the Democratic primary to Curtis Tarver .