Press Releases

CBC Announces Task Forces for 115th Congress

WASHINGTON, August 25, 2017

Today, the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA-02), announced the co-chairs and issue areas of the CBC’s task forces and working group for the 115th Congress. The 11 task forces and one working group will help streamline and strengthen CBC’s legislative and communications efforts, allowing more members of the 49-member caucus to use their interests and expertise to address issues in the African-American community. This is critically important as the Chairman initiates Caucus-wide efforts such as #RootOutRacism, a substantive messaging campaign the CBC launched this week to root out racism in federal policy, federal property, and the White House.

“As they say, to whom much is given much is required,” Chairman Richmond said. “The CBC is a historic 49 members strong this Congress and there are many challenging issues facing the 78 million Americans we represent. The task force structure will help us better serve those who depend on the CBC to be their voice in Congress.”

More information about the taskforces can be found here and more information about the CBC’s agenda for the 115th Congress can be found here.

Below are the co-chairs and issues areas of the CBC task forces and working group:

Taskforce Ex-Officio Member

  •  Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) 

Note: As Member At-Large of the CBC Executive Committee, Representative Yvette Clarke serves as an Ex-Officio Member of all 11 task forces and one working group.

 Budget, Appropriations, and Taxation Task Force: “Investing in Our Future”

  • Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) 
  •  Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)

Civil and Voting Rights Task Force: “Resisting the Rollback”

  • Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.)
  • Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Al.)

Criminal Justice Reform Task Reform: “Fighting the New Jim Crow”

  •   Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.)
  •    Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)

Diversity Task Force: “Enriching Institutions by Diversifying”

  • Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)
  • Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)   

Economic Development and Wealth Creation Task Force: “Entrepreneurship, FinTech, and Community Development in the 21st Century”

  • Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.)
  •    Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio)
  •  Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.)


Education and Labor Task Force: “Preparing for the Work of the Future”

  • Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)
  • Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.)
  • Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)  


Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force: “Clean Communities, Clean Economies”

  • Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-Ga.)
  • Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.)

Foreign Affairs and National Security Task Force: “Protecting the Homeland, the Motherland, and the African Diaspora”

  •  Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.)
  •   Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas)

Healthcare Task Force: “Health Equity for All”

  • Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)
  • Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.)

Judicial Nominations Working Group: “Protecting the Judiciary”

  • Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.)

Poverty Reduction Task Force: “Building Ladders of Opportunity”

  • Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

  • Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)


Technology and Infrastructure Development Task Force: “Rebuilding and Modernizing the Black Community”

  •  Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)

  • Rep. Val Butler Demings (D-Fla.) 

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