Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (born 13 October 1962) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who serves as a member of the German Bundestag, the German federal parliament.
In addition to her parliamentary work, Schwarzelühr-Sutter was Parliamentary State Secretary in ChancellorAngela Merkel's third (from 2013) and fourth (from 2018) cabinet. Since December 2021, has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in ChancellorOlaf Scholz's first cabinet.
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1994 and has been a member of the executive board of the SPD party organization for Waldshut since 1995. Since 2001 she has been the chairwoman of the SPD constituency party for the district of Waldshut. She was a member of the municipal council of her home town of Lauchringen from 1999 to the end of 2013. Since 2004 she has also been a member of the district council of the rural district of Waldshut.[4][5]
Since September 2007 she has been a member of the SPD executive board in the state of Baden-Württemberg,[1] and from 2008 to 2009 she headed the national SPD Executive Committee's working group on sustainable mobility.[5]
From 1997 to 2005 Schwarzelühr-Sutter worked as an advisor and communications coordinator/strategist for Karin Rehbock-Zureich [de], a member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament.[2]
Member of Parliament, 2005–present
In the German federal election of 2005, Schwarzelühr-Sutter was elected to the Bundestag as a party list candidate. In parliament, she has since served on the Committee on Transport (2005-2009), the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (2010-2012), and the Committee on Economic Affairs and Technology (2012-2013).
By 2007, Schwarzelühr-Sutter was reportedly being groomed by the SPD as a future leader.[6] In the 2009 federal elections, she was placed at number 16 on the party list and narrowly missed re-election to the Bundestag[7][8] but was automatically re-elected in 2010 as designated successor following the death of Hermann Scheer.[9]
In July 2015, following irregularities involving the reactor pressure vessel at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland, near the German border, and near her parliamentary constituency, Schwarzelühr-Sutter demanded the final shutdown of the power plant, which is the oldest still operating nuclear power station in the world, having gone on line in 1964.[26]
In January 2016, in response to an incident at the Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland, near the German border, and near her parliamentary constituency, Schwarzelühr-Sutter criticized the operator's attitudes to safety.[27]
Personal life
Schwarzelühr-Sutter is married and has two children.[1]
^"Profil" (in German). Retrieved 18 February 2016. Vorsitzende des Aufsichtsrats ist die Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (BMUB)