Rep. Joe Neguse, (D-CO)

U.S. House of Representatives
Boulder, CO

U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) was elected to his first term in November 2018, becoming the first African-American member of Congress in Colorado history. In 2021, Rep. Neguse, Rep. Alan Lowenthal and Chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife Rep. Jared Huffman reintroduced their resolution (H.Res. 69: Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a national biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and future) to create a national biodiversity strategy. In 2020, Rep. Neguse introduced The Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticide Act of 2020 would ban some of the most toxic pesticides used in the U.S., including all organophosphates, neonicotinoids and paraquat. The legislation would also set new restrictions on the “conditional registration” loophole within the FIFRA law that allows pesticide manufacturers to get new chemicals approved and into the marketplace before the EPA has reviewed all the available science to determine if it is safe. Additionally, the legislation calls for measures to protect farmworkers. It would require pesticide labels to be printed in English and Spanish, require employers to report injuries to farmworkers from pesticide exposure, and require the suspension of a pesticide when it causes a death of a farmworker.

Rep. Neguse serves as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Additionally, he serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. Before his election, Rep. Neguse served in the Governor of Colorado's Cabinet as the Executive Director of Colorado's consumer protection agency. As one of the youngest people to serve as a state-Cabinet secretary at age 31, he achieved key victories, including the recovery of millions of dollars for consumers, investigations culminating in significant financial-fraud cases, the championing of legislation to combat financial fraud against seniors, and the launch of the state’s first online filing system for civil rights discrimination complaints. He also worked in the Colorado House of Representatives, as a Commissioner at Boulder Housing Partners and co-founded New Era Colorado, the state’s largest youth voter registration and mobilization non-profit. He received his B.S. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he graduated summa cum laude, and received his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law. Over 40 years ago, Rep. Neguse’s parents immigrated to the United States from Eritrea. He and his wife Andrea live in Lafayette, where they are raising their young daughter, Natalie.