| Betty McCollum was elected to Congress in 2000, becoming only the second woman to be elected to federal office from Minnesota in 142 years. Over her career representing Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District, McCollum has been a champion for the environment, universal health care, quality education, economic opportunity, and a smart national security policy. Rep. McCollum is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee where she serves as the ranking Democrat on the Defense subcommittee and as the number two Democrat on the Interior-Environment subcommittee.
Throughout her career in Congress, Betty has been a strong progressive voice for protecting the environment, combating climate change, fighting for the women's reproductive rights, workers' rights, and civil rights for all communities facing discrimination and inequality. A former educator, McCollum believes in investing in lifelong learning from early childhood education to quality K-12 schools, to affordable post-secondary higher education, including free community college. As a champion for universal access to healthcare, Rep. McCollum has co-sponsored "Medicare for All" legislation to ensure every American receives quality, affordable healthcare.
McCollum is currently serving as the lead Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee where she supports responsible, accountable investments to ensure a strong and smart approach deterring adversaries and supporting allies. McCollum is committed to supporting our service members and their families by working for an inclusive volunteer force that welcomes diversity and respects men and women in uniform from all racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and sex orientation backgrounds. Ranking Member McCollum strongly believes in zero tolerance for sexual misconduct or extremist behavior in the ranks. McCollum supports a balanced and well-funded national security posture that emphasizes diplomacy, development, and defense to keep the peace and achieve superiority in the event of conflict.
At home in St. Paul and the East Metro, McCollum has prioritized investments in rebuilding critical infrastructure and, most recently, protecting vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic by delivering $73 billion in federal assistance to Minnesota, including over $500 million directly to the City of St. Paul, Ramsey County, and St. Paul Public Schools that has saved lives, jobs and prevented families from falling into poverty. In 2023, McCollum delivered nearly $50 million in community funded projects to support investments in local government and non-profits with a focus on community development, small businesses, law enforcement, workforce, and arts enterprises.
McCollum has also been an outspoken champion for protecting Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from copper-ore mining, and protecting the Mississippi River as a source of drinking water and vital habitat. She has legislation moving through the 118th Congress to protect both the BWCA and the Mississippi River. McCollum has leveraged her powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee to protect federal funding for the arts and humanities from being eliminated by the Trump administration, increasing funding for our National Parks and public lands, and for Indian Country by putting hundreds of millions of dollars in additional investments in Indian health and education.
For years, Rep. Betty McCollum has been the leading voice in Congress working to advance human rights around the world, including protecting girls from forced marriage, supporting orphaned and vulnerable children resulting from the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation. McCollum made history when she introduced Promoting Human Rights by Ending Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act, a bill to prohibit the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to support the Israeli military's detention, interrogation, abuse, and ill treatment of children in violation of international humanitarian law.
Betty McCollum is the mother of two adult children and a proud grandmother of two grandsons. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. |