| Latest News
Clyburn's Halls of History
June 18, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC—Not too far back, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) had reproductions made of the official House portraits of three pioneering Members — Joseph Rainey (R-S.C.), Romualdo Pacheco (R-Calif.) and Jeannette Rankin (R-Mont.), respectively the first black, Hispanic and female Representatives — for the halls of his Capitol leadership suite.“Those are reminders to people we are all standing on someone’s shoulders here,” says Clyburn, only the second black to rise to the No. 3 House leadership position.
'We all need each other,' Clyburn says
April 11, 2007
The most influential black politician from South Carolina in more than a century stood before a rare joint assembly of the state Legislature Tuesday to deliver a message of unity.
Clyburn carves out a Capitol moment
April 11, 2007
On a momentous day at the state Capitol, Clyburn, the state's only black federal elected official and the first to serve as a member of Congress since 1897, stood where few others of his race have, accepting an honor afforded him by a conservative, Republican-controlled Legislature.
Clyburn: SC legislators should do more for environment, energy
April 10, 2007
South Carolina legislators should aggressively promote the production of alternative energy like biofuels, which could help struggling rural residents along Interstate 95, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told a joint assembly of the state Legislature on Tuesday.
S.C.'s Clyburn Takes Center Stage
April 10, 2007
Clyburn is widely seen as one of the Palmetto State's most influential politicians, and aides to the congressman are billing the speech as an important message to candidates hoping to win the state's Jan. 29, 2008, Democratic presidential primary.
37 years later, Clyburn makes it to S.C. Legislature
April 4, 2007
On election night in 1970, James Clyburn went to bed comfortable that he had won a South Carolina state House seat by 500 votes. He awoke to learn of a different result. Someone moved a decimal point, it seemed, and he had lost by a margin as narrow as the one he thought had secured his victory.
CQ&A: An Interview with House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn
April 3, 2007
Democratic Rep. James E. Clyburn already held a significant distinction in African-American politics: His election in 1992 made him the first black congressman from South Carolina since 1897, as racial barriers that had stood for most of a century gave way.
Clyburn's Pending Speech to Legislature Symbolic of Blacks' Progress
April 3, 2007
When House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn addresses a joint session of the legislature in his home state of South Carolina on April 10, he will do so with a sense of pride — and a sense of history.
Iraq Whip Team Shifts Into Gear
March 19, 2007
Despite the defection of at least one Chief Deputy Majority Whip, Democratic leaders have begun a full-court press on their Caucus to round up crucial support as the House prepares to take up the $124 billion Iraq War supplemental spending bill this week.
Clyburn plans historic Statehouse address
March 17, 2007
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn will address the S.C. General Assembly next month, becoming the first black congressman to do so in more than 100 years.
House Dems will 'survey' but not whip Iraq bill votes
March 14, 2007
House Democratic leaders will not whip the Iraq supplemental spending bill, on grounds they don’t want to apply political pressure on a matter of war and peace.
Hidden Power on the Hill
February 25, 2007
A 15-year veteran of the House and the highest-ranking African-American in Congress (the first black congressman from his state since 1897), Clyburn, 66, talks in the deep baritone of a minister's son. He traces his political success to lessons learned in a fundamentalist home in Sumter, S.C. His father went to divinity school but made only $10 a week from the Church of God and instead supported his family as a contractor; his mother graduated from college when he was 13 and then just hung the diploma in her beauty shop.
Effort to preserve Gullah and Geechee culture moves forward
February 24, 2007
With breakneck development washing over the sea islands along the Southeast coast, a new effort is moving forward to preserve the Gullah and Geechee culture created by West African slaves and nurtured by their descendants.
Clyburn Wooed as Kingmaker in South Carolina Presidential Race
February 23, 2007
As Clyburn settles into his new duties as the third-highest-ranking leader in the 110th Congress, the person responsible for lining up votes on key pieces of legislation, he shows no sign of letting the pressure alter his personal, low-key approach. His high-pitched laugh still made him easy to pinpoint as he chatted with fellow lawmakers recently on a crowded House floor.
Mr. Clout
February 18, 2007
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn knows his new position is pressure-packed, one where even watching the Super Bowl can take on political overtones.
House Democratic Whip Touts Diversity
February 3, 2007
"The Democratic caucus values the exchange of different ideas." "It was the diverse ideas and perspectives of our caucus that came together to develop our successful First 100 Hours agenda."
Presidential Hopefuls Chasing Congressional Endorsements, But Value is Unclear
January 29, 2007
In the past few weeks, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., has taken a phone call from Hillary Rodham Clinton, lunched with Barack Obama and spoken several times with John Edwards.
Clyburn Response to the State of the Union
January 23, 2007
“I often reflect on the book of James, which tells us it is not enough to tell those in need to go in faith. He reminds us that ‘faith without works is dead.’ We must go beyond rhetoric this Congress and deliver for the American people. I’ll be watching closely in the coming months to see if the president’s words match his deeds.”
A historic State of the Union address
January 23, 2007
I can appreciate that a State of the Union address may only serve to capture particular moments and events in time. But as I anticipate President Bush’s seventh State of the Union address, I am reminded of the words of former United States Sen. Robert Kennedy, who said, “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”
House Democratic Leaders on What They Would Like to Hear From the President Tomorrow
January 22, 2007
“The American people voted for an end to the rubber stamp, do-nothing, ethically challenged Congress. Our widely bipartisan 100 Hours Agenda was the Democrats’ response, and concrete evidence of our commitment to working together in Congress to meet the needs of the American people rather than the special interests. I hope the President comes before Congress with that change in mind; prepared to debate, rather than dictate the road ahead.”
House Completes 100 Hour Agenda
January 18, 2007
House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today delivered the following statement on the passage of the Democrats’ 100 Hours Agenda: “We showed the political will to advance an agenda, not for the special interests, but for the American people: greater access to affordable education, safer and more secure communities, a fairer wage for an honest day’s work, a pathway to energy independence, and lower prescription drug costs.
Clyburn says there must be oversight in Iraq plan
January 16, 2007
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn says there must be congressional oversight for President Bush's new plan for Iraq and American troops should be redeployed from the areas of heaviest fighting.
House GOP Shows Its Fractiousness In the Minority
January 14, 2007
House Republican leaders, who confidently predicted they would drive a wedge through the new Democratic majority, have found their own party splintering, with Republican lawmakers siding with Democrats in droves on the House's opening legislative blitz.
Clyburn sworn in with Gullah Bible
January 8, 2007
Clyburn has been instrumental in pushing a Gullah-Geechee Heritage Corridor Act through Congress over the past two years. The program will help preserve and protect historic Gullah-Geechee sites along the coast between Wilmington, N.C. and Jacksonville, Fla. Clyburn is not Gullah, but his wife, Emily, is a Gullah descendant. Clyburn's oath of office was administered by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Clyburn is the first South Carolinian and the second African-American to ever assume majority whip position in Congress.
Clyburn vows parties will work together
January 5, 2007
An elated Jim Clyburn greeted his elevation to House majority whip Thursday as a historic day for his party, his race and his state.
No 'Sharp Elbows' for Whip Clyburn
December 11, 2006
When incoming House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D) contemplates his approach to leadership, the admittedly soft-spoken South Carolinian compares himself, at least stylistically, to the classic Kenny Rogers tune “The Gambler.”
Democrats name Clyburn whip; House lawmakers unanimous in selecting S.C. congressman for leadership position
November 17, 2006
Democratic lawmakers unanimously chose U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn as their majority whip Thursday, making the S.C. congressman the No. 3 leader of the House and the floor general charged with moving legislation through the chamber.
Clyburn's rise no surprise; Current and former colleagues - and his barber - say leader will do well
November 16, 2006
Friends say Clyburn has long drawn together Republicans and Democrats, blacks and whites, to make government work for people.“This puts him right in position to be the first Speaker of the House in history from South Carolina,” said former 3rd District U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick, who has known Clyburn for 40 years and practices law in Washington. It all goes back to a story Clyburn told Toliver in 1992, the year he beat out four other African Americans for Congress.
A Season of Change in Washington
November 15, 2006
I look toward the 110th Congress with great hope and anxious anticipation, emotions I share with a great majority of the American people. Last Tuesday Americans voted to take this country in a new direction. They have asked the Democrats to lead this effort, and as a member of the House Democratic leadership team, I humbly accept the challenge.
| 
