In 1992 Corrine Brown was part of the first group of
African-American lawmakers elected to the United States
House of Representatives from Florida since 1877. During
her congressional career, Brown worked to bring federal
programs to her Jacksonville district using her seats on the
Transportation and Infrastructure and the Veterans’ Affairs
Committees. She also pushed civil rights reforms both at
home in Jacksonville and abroad. Brown, who became the
subject of ethics investigations during her career, embraced
her admittedly outspoken legislative style and believed her
mission in the House went beyond her history-making
election in 1992. “It means a lot more than the glamor of
being elected,” she once remarked. “Once you’re elected it
means getting things done. It means representing people
that have not been part of the process.”1
Corrine Brown was born in Jacksonville, Florida,
on November 11, 1946. She grew up in the city’s
Northside neighborhood and graduated from Stanton
High School.2 As a single mother, she raised a daughter,
Shantrel. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 and a
master’s degree in 1971, both from Florida Agriculture and
Mechanical University. In 1972 Brown graduated with an
educational specialist degree from the University of Florida.
She taught at the University of Florida and Edward Waters
College before moving to Florida Community College in
Jacksonville, where she taught and served as a guidance
counselor from 1977 to 1992. She also opened her own
travel agency in Jacksonville.3
In 1979 Brown’s close friend, college sorority sister, and
political mentor, Gwen Cherry, died in a car crash. Cherry
was the first African-American woman elected to the Florida
house of representatives, and her death pushed Brown
toward politics. Two years later, Brown won a seat in the
Florida legislature and served for a decade.4
In 1992 Brown made the jump from state politics and
ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. No African-American candidate had won election to Congress from
Florida since Representative Josiah Thomas Walls served
during Reconstruction. During the redistricting process in
the lead up to the 1992 elections, Brown was among several
minority Florida lawmakers who called for more districts
with Hispanic and African-American majorities. One of the
new districts covered northeastern Florida and encompassed
Brown’s hometown. Resembling a “wishbone or horseshoe,”
the new district stretched from Jacksonville to Orlando and
west through Gainesville and Ocala.5 Brown officially filed
her candidacy after a federal court approved Florida’s new
district map.6
Brown faced stiff competition in the Democratic
primary. Her three challengers included Arnett Girardeau, a
Black state senator with 16 years’ experience; Orlando-based
school guidance counselor Glennie Mills; and the only
white candidate, talk show host Andy Johnson. Looking
to the grassroots, Brown branched out from Jacksonville
and crisscrossed the district. “I have really learned the back
roads,” she noted.7 Brown came in first in the primary
election, but since no candidate took a majority in the first
round of voting, Brown went to an October runoff where
she defeated Johnson.8
In the general election, Brown faced Don Weidner,
general counsel for the Florida Physicians Association.
Her campaign promised to direct federal resources to the
district: fixing the school system, bringing jobs to the area,
and protecting Social Security and Medicare. On Election
Day, Brown won by 18 points. She made history that fall
alongside Alcee Lamar Hastings and Carrie P. Meek as the
first African-American lawmakers elected from Florida since
Reconstruction.9 Although Florida’s redistricting process
was a constant hurdle during Brown’s career—Florida
changed her district borders four times over her tenure in
the House—she generally won re-election with 55 percent
or more of the vote.10
When Brown took her seat in the 103rd Congress
(1993–1995), she received assignments to three committees:
Government Operations; Veterans’ Affairs; Public Works
and Transportation. In the 104th Congress (1995–1997),
she stepped down from Government Operations, and in the
113th Congress (2013–2015) she left Veterans’ Affairs. She
retained her seat on Public Works and Transportation (later
named Transportation and Infrastructure) for her entire
career. Brown chaired the Transportation’s Subcommittee on
Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials during the
110th and 111th Congresses (2007–2011).
Brown was also a member of the Congressional Black
Caucus (CBC) in the House—not only was she one of the
first Black women elected from Florida, she was part of a
wave of Black lawmakers in 1992 that increased the roster
of the CBC from 26 to 40. Brown was elected the CBC’s
first vice chair in the 109th Congress (2005–2007). The
1992 election cycle also saw huge growth in the number of
women in Congress, and Brown was an active member of
the Women’s Caucus as well.11
Brown’s main priority in Congress was to improve the
economy in north Florida by steering federal aid to her
district.12 Unafraid to use earmarks—the practice in which
lawmakers fund specific projects and programs using large
discretionary congressional spending bills—Brown led the
effort to construct an $86 million federal courthouse in
Jacksonville. She also secured federal dollars to repair the
Fuller Warren Bridge in Jacksonville, where Interstate 95
crossed the St. John’s River. She later directed money to a
new mental health and rehabilitation center in Jacksonville
and funded a biofuel conversion project.13 When Congress
adopted a self-imposed moratorium on earmarks in the
112th Congress (2011–2013), Brown did not alter course.
She vowed “to continue what I have been doing every single
day since my first election in 1992, specifically bring home
a fair share of the federal dollars.”14
From her seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, Brown fought to initiate Florida rail projects
to meet the state’s booming transportation needs. In 1998
she orchestrated a nearly 60-percent increase in funding
for federal transportation programs back home. She was
especially mindful of Amtrak’s budget, cosponsoring
and arguing in favor of more funding for the rail carrier
throughout her career. Brown also frequently defended
the CSX Corporation, a railway freight company based
in her district. Rail safety was a key issue for Brown, and
she supported multiple bills funneling funding to railroad
security—especially during her time leading the Railroads,
Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.15
With a large military presence in her district, most
notably the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Brown regularly
supported defense funding. Brown described the military
as a place where working-class Americans could find
opportunities unavailable elsewhere, and she wanted more
resources for personnel training.16 As a member of the
Veterans’ Affairs Committee, she was also attentive to the
needs of women veterans and veteran’s health care. Brown
sponsored bills strengthening infant and maternal care, as
well as legislation opening access to breast cancer treatment.17
At times, Brown addressed issues far outside her
district. In 1993, shortly after arriving on Capitol Hill, she
worked with other Florida and CBC Members to push the
William J. (Bill) Clinton administration to apply economic
pressure on Haiti to restore its democratic government
by re-installing deposed President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.18 Brown saw military force in Haiti as an option
of last resort, preferring to use foreign aid as a means to
encourage change. She urged U.S. officials to offer political
asylum to thousands of Haitians who arrived in the United
States looking for help.19
Brown also took up the cause of Liberians, pushing to
extend temporary visa status for thousands who came to
America after a civil war in Liberia during the early 1990s.
In 2000 she gave an impassioned speech on the House
Floor imploring Congress to budget more money to fight
the global AIDS epidemic. “AIDS in Africa is a direct threat
to our country, especially in today’s interconnected world,”
she observed.20
Brown had an outspoken legislative style that often
made headlines. One reporter summarized her politics as
a mix of “one part partisan politics with two parts moral
indignation.”21 Brown briefly lost her speaking privileges on
the House Floor in 2004 when she accused Republicans of
executing a “coup d’état” and of stealing the contested 2000
presidential election results in Florida. The House had her
“words taken down,” a parliamentary procedure invoked
when a Member has violated House decorum—in this case,
accusing another Member of a crime. The House also voted
to have her words stricken from the Congressional Record.22
Brown remained unapologetic about the incident. “If they’re
going to take down my words for telling the truth, that’s
OK,” she responded.23
Although Brown ran into ethical and legal trouble
during her career, her constituents continued to return her
to office, and she ran unopposed in 2006 and 2008.24 As
she approached her primary election in 2016, however,
she faced two challenges. A state court ordered Florida to
redraw its districts after ruling that the existing borders
purposefully segregated minority voters into a single district.
Brown’s new district stretched east-to-west along the
Georgia border from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, and though
it remained 63-percent African American, Brown lost
much of her traditional constituency along the St. John’s
River.25 Secondly, in July 2016, a grand jury charged Brown
and her chief of staff with 24 counts of mail and wire fraud,
conspiracy, obstruction, and filing false tax returns. The
charges stemmed from Brown’s tie with a charity which
provided scholarships to low-income students. The lawsuit
alleged that Brown and several associates siphoned off
money to pay for personal expenses.26
Just a few weeks after the indictment landed, Brown
lost a three-way race in the Democratic primary.27 After a
month-long trial, Brown was convicted on 18 counts
on May 11, 2017.28 On December 4, 2017, Brown was
sentenced to five years in prison.29 She reported to Coleman
Federal Correctional Institute in Sumter County, Florida,
on January 29, 2018.30 On January 9, 2020, the U.S.
Court of Federal Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected
Brown’s appeal.31
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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