Congresswoman Lauren Underwood represents Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, a suburban, exurban, and rural district in northern Illinois.
In 2018, Congresswoman Underwood was the first person of color, first woman, and first millennial elected to represent her district. She flipped IL-14 from red to blue in a historic fashion in 2018, defeating a four-term Republican incumbent. When she was sworn into office in 2019, she became the youngest Black woman to ever serve in Congress. In 2022, Lauren was elected to serve in House Leadership by her colleagues. She currently serves as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, where she focuses on messaging.
Congresswoman Underwood has proven herself to be a hard worker and an effective leader for her community. She currently serves on the House Committee on Appropriations, where she is a senior member on the Agriculture and Homeland Security subcommittees. Lauren has had fourteen pieces of legislation signed into law by both Democratic and Republican presidents.
She has made access to high-quality, affordable health care a signature issue. Her bill, the Healthcare Affordability Act, was signed into law as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, and extended in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Congresswoman Underwood co-founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus to combat America’s unacceptably high maternal death rates and the significant disparities experienced by Black mothers. In 2020, alongside colleagues in the House and Senate, she first introduced the Momnibus, a package of evidence-based bills to save moms’ lives. Congresswoman Underwood is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Prior to her election to Congress, she worked to implement the Affordable Care Act as a career civil servant in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She was later appointed by President Obama to serve as a Senior Advisor at HHS, where she helped communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to public health emergencies, bioterror threats, and other disasters.
Congresswoman Underwood received her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Science in Nursing and Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.