as president of her Democratic freshman class in Congress. During her ten years of distinguished service as a United States Congresswoman, Clayton served on the House Agriculture Committee and as the ranking member of the United States Department of Agriculture's Operations Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommmittees. She also served on the House Budget and Small Business Committees. She was actively engaged in the legislative development of the Department of Agriculture's Operation policy. She was a conferee on the 2002 Farm Bill and is recognized by national organizations, including the National Journal publications, for providing essential leadership by garnering support for nutritional programs and the civil rights and support for African American farmers in the final version of the Farm Bill. She provided additional leadership by serving as the bipartisan co-chair of the Rural Caucus and as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Clayton and other members of the House of Representatives objected to counting the 25 electoral votes from Florida which George W. Bush narrowly won after a contentious recount. Because no senator joined her objection, the objection was dismissed by Vice President Al Gore, who was Bush's opponent in the 2000 presidential election. Without Florida's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 2003, Clayton was appointed Assistant Director-General and Special Adviser to the Director-General on World Food Summit Follow-up with the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. She served in that capacity for three years, in which she was responsible for encouraging the establishment of global alliances and partnerships to fight hunger and poverty in twenty-four different countries around the world, including the United States, Brazil, Ghana, and Jordan. Clayton remains a strong advocate for the hungry and the poor and she continuously promotes sustainable agriculture and equality in this country and around the world. Clayton is currently an independent consultant for Eva Clayton Associates International (ECAI), where she focuses her efforts on improving global agriculture, food security, poverty reduction, and rural development. She advocates for the elimination of hunger, encourages corporations and other entities to actively engage in economic development, and promotes strengthening the infrastructure within rural communities. She is a recognized subject matter expert whose editorials receive attention in national publications. She is the recipient