Hank Johnson, Vocal Anti-War Advocate, Serves Despite Odds

Representative Hank Johnson may be one of the newest members of Congress, having only served one previous term before being reelected last November, but he has proven himself in those short years as a leader among progressives on the Hill.  He represents Georgia’s 4^th Congressional district which includes, among other areas, portions of Dekalb County, the very large suburban county east of Atlanta.

While dealing with challenges like living with the side effects of Hepatitis C, a serious liver virus condition that affects more than 4 million Americans, for over a decade, Johnson has remained active and outspoken on a variety of issues.  Perhaps most notable is his opposition to the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

In fact, he was one of the earliest legislators to speak out against America’s continued occupation of the middle eastern country, stating in 2007 after President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address making the case for going to war.  “This war has proven to be one of the gravest missteps in the recent history of our country,” Johnson has said.  “It is time for President Bush to face the music and respond to the urgent demands of a frustrated country.”

Johnson has also supported, and voted in favor of, legislation that advanced consumer protection, education, civil liberties and public safety issues. As with many other progressives, he voted against the Wall Street bailout, but backed the President by voting for the Healthcare Act and the stimulus bill.

Before being elected to Congress, the Congressman was a Dekalb county magistrate for 12 years, a county commissioner for five and the chair of the Dekalb County Budget Committee for three years.

The Washington, D.C. native is a product of the District’s public school system. A graduate of Clark College and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, Johnson practiced civil and criminal law for 27 years and is one of several dozen lawyers in Congress.

He was a member of the influential House Judiciary Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy during the 111th Congress.  He has also served on the House Committees on Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure.

Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt represents small, women, and minority owned business and technology companies at The Ghatt Law Group LLC, the nations’ first communications law firm owned by women and minorities. She's won landmark cases on behalf of her clients which include national civil rights and public interest organizations. In addition to actively authoring several blogs, being a radio show host and sitting on the boards of three non-profits, she is a tech junkie who has been developing online web content since the very early years of the Internet, 1991 to be precise! Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks, on her blog, Jenebaspeaks, which covers the intersection of politics and technology or on her Politics of Raising Children blog at The Washington Times Communities section.

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