Profile

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici represents the First Congressional District of Oregon, which includes large portions of Washington and Multnomah Counties, and Tillamook, Clatsop, and Columbia counties.

Strengthening public education is one of Suzanne’s top priorities and one of the reasons she got involved in public service. Suzanne spent hundreds of hours volunteering in public schools before serving in the Oregon State Legislature, where she passed legislation to reduce duplicative testing. In Congress, she is a leader on the Education and the Workforce Committee and Ranking Member of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee. The Congresswoman has long been an advocate for equity in education policy and funding. She is dedicated to setting national policies that give students the support and opportunities they need to succeed in school and in life. She played a lead role in the passage of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind, reduced testing, put more focus on well-rounded education, and gave more decision-making back to states and local districts.

Suzanne worked her way through college in Eugene, first at Lane Community College and then at the University of Oregon, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and law degree. She is focused on making college more affordable and providing workers with in-demand skills to enter the workforce. Suzanne is the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus, which encourages innovation and creative thinking by integrating arts and design with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education.

Suzanne was honored to serve on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and she is continuing work to implement the Climate Action Plan, take immediate action to reduce emissions, create good-paying jobs, support a just transition, and strengthen the resilience of our communities. She is also a senior member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and a leader on the Subcommittee on Environment, and Subcommittee on Research and Technology. From this position, she works to defend science, address the causes and consequences of climate change, and make sure that policy decisions are based on independent science. As a representative of coastal Oregon and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus and Congressional Estuary Caucus, she is working to draw attention to issues that affect coastal communities.

In Congress, Suzanne is fighting to help working families get ahead and to build an economy that gives everyone the opportunity to succeed. She is a strong advocate for retirement security. In addition to protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, Suzanne also advocates for policies that help workers save for retirement. Suzanne also supports paid family leave, raising the federal minimum wage, making sure workers have a voice on the job, and workforce development programs. Suzanne is vigilant about making sure that women have access to a full range of family planning services, including abortion.

During college and law school, Suzanne worked at Lane County Legal Aid. After law school, Suzanne was an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., where she was in the Credit Practices Division of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. She then practiced law in Portland, where she represented individuals and small businesses. Suzanne has brought her commitment to consumer protection and access to justice to her work in Congress.