Jim McGovern (American politician)

James Patrick McGovern (born November 20, 1959) has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing since 2013. A Democrat, he is the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, chaired the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and is the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. His district, numbered as the 3rd district from 1997 to 2013, stretches from Worcester to the Pioneer Valley.

Born and raised in Worcester, McGovern attended Worcester Academy. While in college he worked as a congressional intern and then aide to U.S. Senator George McGovern (to whom he is not related), a two-time presidential candidate for whom he campaigned. From 1981 to 1996 he was a senior staff member for U.S. Representative Joe Moakley. McGovern first ran for Congress in 1994, losing the Democratic primary. He ran again in 1996, defeating Republican incumbent Peter Blute. He has been reelected every two years since without serious difficulty.

As chairman of the board of the Congressional Hunger Center, McGovern is known as a leading voice on ending hunger and food insecurity both in the United States and globally. He was a key architect of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. For his work he has earned a 2016 James Beard Leadership Award from the James Beard Foundation and a 2008 McGovern-Dole Leadership Award from the World Food Program USA.

Another focus of McGovern's career has been international human rights, which he has advocated for in countries such as El Salvador, Sudan, Colombia, and the region of Tibet. He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has been ranked as one of Congress's most liberal members. Provided by Wikipedia