On Wednesday, October 28th, the Johns Hopkins College Democrats, Her Campus Johns Hopkins and the Students for Socio-Economic Equity hosted Congresswoman Donna Edwards for a question and answer period in Charles Commons Salon C. Edwards has served Maryland’s 4th Congressional District since 2008 and is now running for the Senate, via a seat opened up by the retiring Senator Mikulski. Her primary opponent is Representative Chris Van Hollen, from Maryland’s 8th district—if elected, Edwards would be the first black female senator from the state of Maryland.
Her Campus had the opportunity to chat with the Congresswoman more exclusively after the event, and learn more about how, if elected, Edwards will protect students, women and the Baltimore Community.
As a single mom, and black woman, Edwards seems to connect to a large demographic of Baltimore. Her story as a mother is reflected in the legislation she has sponsored in Congress, like imposing the After School Supper Program (which provides dinner to Baltimore school students who are eligible to receive breakfast and lunch), an initiative that has served 10,000 students. Efforts like these, Edwards claims, were once oversights that she swiftly changed upon her election.
Edwards’ focus on providing for primary students has expanded into a passion for affordable higher education, something that certainly resonated with the students. Especially in light of recent tuition-free debates among some Democratic Presidential candidates, the subject has sparked a conversation about tuition at both public and private universities. Though making debt-free, higher education for public institutions would assist many to obtaining a college degree, there would still be economic barriers for those looking to attend private institutions. Edwards explained to Her Campus after the question and answer period that endowments, as well as the opportunity to attend a public school for two years for free or for very little before attending a private university like Hopkins to get a degree, can pave the way to affordable higher education at private universities.
As a champion of women’s rights, one of Edwards’ primary goals in office is to protect women—both domestically and financially. “I don’t think you can make important life decisions unless you are safe in your home,” says Edwards, after sharing that one in four women experience some sort of partner-violence. Her aim to end domestic violence contributes to her views on gun control—making gun laws tougher would reduce domestic murder, as she claims that most who die from domestic violence die from a firearm. “We have to figure out a way to stop the violence.”
Edwards continues to fight for the rights of women at the office as well, specifically for the right to equal pay Edwards claims that women make on average 78 cents to the dollar as men, where as black women only make 70 cents the dollar and Latinos make 49 cents to the dollar. “You should be able to earn the equivalent that your male colleagues do,” she said in her address. Addressing this inequality and suggestion legislation to improve unequal pay seams to also be on the Congresswoman’s extensive to-do list.
Additionally, the Edwards commented on her plans to fight the heroin overdose epidemic in Baltimore: “It’s not enough just to talk about it, we have to put resources into it,” Edwards claims, siting a spike in opioid overdose deaths both nationally and locally. By providing more substance abuse treatment resources and clinics, as well as reducing the stigma around addiction, Edwards believe she can help to change the unfortunate label that National Geographic Channel’s “Drugs, Inc.: The High Wire” gave Baltimore in 2014: “Heroin capital of America.”
Referencing President Obama’s new opioid memorandum that he announced on October 21, Edwards says, “We are making some progress,” she says. “But it’s a shame we have to make this progress while people are dying.”
Representative Edwards is a proactive politician, and one that certainly aims high: one hopes that Edwards’ promises for protecting Baltimore are not empty. Though her goals may be too idealistic (and hard to achieve for a first time Senator), her understanding of what’s important—and her willingness to try— is what sets her apart. “It’s not the stuff that makes the headlines,” she says, “but the stuff that changes people’s lives.”
Photo: Edwards’ Twitter Account.