Dianne Feinstein

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Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
from California
Assumed office
November 10, 1992
Serving with Barbara Boxer
Preceded byJohn F. Seymour
Succeeded byIncumbent (2013)
38th Mayor of San Francisco
In office
December 4, 1978 – January 8, 1988
Preceded byGeorge Moscone
Succeeded byArt Agnos
Personal details
Born (1933-06-22) June 22, 1933 (age 90)
San Francisco, California
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Judge Jack Berman (div.)
Bertram Feinstein (deceased)
Richard C. Blum
Alma materStanford University

Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Feinstein holds a number of "firsts"; she was the first woman President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's first and only female mayor, the first woman to serve in the Senate from California, one of two first female Jewish senators, the first woman to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the first woman to chair the Rules and Administration committee of that body.

Early life and career

Feinstein was born Dianne Emiel Goldman[1] in San Francisco to Betty Rosenburg, a former model, and Leon Goldman, a nationally renowned surgeon who was the first Jewish person made tenured physician at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.[2] Feinstein's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, while her maternal grandparents, who were of the Russian Orthodox faith, left St. Petersburg, Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution;[3] Feinstein's maternal grandfather was an imperial army officer[4] who was a convert from Judaism to Christianity. Feinstein attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School and was given a Catholic religious education, but also attended Hebrew school and was confirmed in the Jewish faith at the age of thirteen, having said that she has "always considered [herself] Jewish".[3]

Feinstein has two sisters, Lynne Kennedy and Yvonne Banks. She received her B.A. degree in history in 1955 from Stanford University. In 1956, she married Jack Berman, a colleague in the San Francisco District Attorney's office. They were divorced three years later. Their daughter, Katherine Feinstein Mariano (b. 1957), is a superior court judge in San Francisco. Berman later became a judge; he died in 2002. In 1962, shortly after starting her career in politics, she married neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein, who died of colon cancer in 1978. In 1980, she married Richard C. Blum, an investment banker.

Feinstein has received scrutiny for husband Richard Blum's extensive business dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Critics have argued that Feinstein's support of policies that may benefit her husband may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest.[5] Suburban newspaper Metroactive has written in 2007 that Feinstein's husband holds large investments in companies that won large government contracts — without competitive bidding. In April 2007, Feinstein's office denied there was a conflict of interest and stated that her departure from the subcommittee had nothing to do with the reports in the Metro weeklies.

As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and Fedspending. Org, three corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 2003, Feinstein was ranked the fifth wealthiest senator, with an estimated net worth of $26 million.[6] By 2005 her net worth had increased to between $43 million and $99 million.[7] Her 347-page financial disclosure statement[8] — characterized by the San Francisco Chronicle as "nearly the size of a phonebook" — draws clear lines between her assets and those of her husband, with many of her assets in blind trusts.[9]

Early political career

Prior to elected service, she was appointed by then-California Governor Pat Brown to serve as a member of the California Women Parole Board. In 1969, Feinstein won a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She remained on the Board for nine years, becoming its first female president.

During her tenure on the Board of Supervisors, she unsuccessfully ran for mayor of San Francisco twice, in 1971 against mayor Joseph Alioto, and in 1975, when she lost the contest for a runoff slot (against George Moscone) by one percentage point, to supervisor John Barbagelata.

Mayor of San Francisco

As mayor of San Francisco, between 1978-1988

On November 27, 1978, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by a rival politician, Dan White, who had resigned from the Board of Supervisors only two weeks prior. Feinstein announced the assassinations to the stunned public, stating: "As president of the board of supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed."[10] As president of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein automatically ascended to the mayoral position on December 4. She served out the remainder of the term and was elected in her own right in 1979 and re-elected in 1983.

One of the first challenges to face Feinstein as mayor was the state of the San Francisco cable car system. In late 1979 the system had to be shut down for emergency repairs, and an engineering evaluation concluded that it needed comprehensive rebuilding at a cost of $60 million. Feinstein took charge of the effort, and helped win federal funding for the bulk of the rebuilding job. The system closed for rebuilding in 1982 and reopened in 1984 in time for the Democratic National Convention that was held in the city that year.[11]

In the run up to the convention, there was considerable media and public speculation that Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale might pick Feinstein as his running mate. However, he chose Geraldine Ferraro instead. Also in 1984, Feinstein proposed banning handguns in San Francisco, and became subject to a recall attempt organized by the White Panther Party. She won the recall election and finished her second term as mayor on January 8, 1988.

In 1985, at a press conference, she revealed details about the hunt for Richard Ramírez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker, and in so doing angered detectives by giving away details of his crimes, including displaying actual evidence at the press conference. These revelations subverted their investigation and Ramirez left the San Francisco area to commit another murder before he was finally captured in the Los Angeles area.[12]

In 1987, City and State magazine named Feinstein the nation's "Most Effective Mayor". Feinstein served on the Trilateral Commission during the 1980s while mayor of San Francisco.

Feinstein appears in archival footage and is credited in the Academy Award-winning documentary film The Times of Harvey Milk (1984).

Governor's race

In 1990, Feinstein made an unsuccessful bid for Governor of California, losing to Republican Senator Pete Wilson, who vacated his seat in the Senate to assume the governorship. In 1992, she was fined $190,000 for failure to properly report campaign contributions and expenditures associated with that campaign.[13]

U.S. Senate career

Official senate photo

On November 3, 1992, Feinstein won a special election to fill the Senate seat that became vacant in 1990 when Pete Wilson was elected governor (Wilson had then appointed John F. Seymour to that seat). The election was held at the same time as the general election for U.S. President and other offices. Senator Barbara Boxer was elected at the same time for the seat to be vacated by Alan Cranston. Because Feinstein was elected to an unexpired term, she became a senator as soon as the election was certified, and that is why she became California's senior senator even though she was elected at the same time as Barbara Boxer.

Feinstein was re-elected in 1994, 2000, and 2006. She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Senate Committee Assignments

Feinstein is a member of the following U.S. Senate Committees:

Political positions and votes

Iraq

Feinstein supported the Iraq war resolution in the vote of October 11, 2002; she has claimed that she was misled by President Bush on the reasons for going to war. However, former UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter has stated that Feinstein in summer 2002 acknowledged to him that she knew the Bush administration had not provided any convincing intelligence to back up its claims about the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction.[14]

In February 2007, Feinstein warned Republicans not to block consideration of a measure opposing President Bush's troop increase in Iraq, saying it would be a "terrible mistake" to prevent debate on the top issue in America.[15]

In May 2007, Feinstein voted for an Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill which continued to fund the Iraq occupation without firm timetables for withdrawal. The Senator said "I am deeply disappointed that this bill fails to hold the President accountable for his Administration’s flawed Iraq War policy. The American people have made their voices clear that there must be an exit strategy for Iraq. Yet this President continues to stubbornly adhere to more of the same;" however, she still voted for the bill.[16]

Wiretapping

In August 2007, Feinstein joined Republicans in the Senate in voting to modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by narrowing the scope of its protections to sharply alter the legal limits on the government's ability to monitor phone calls and email messages of American citizens.[17] Feinstein voted to give the attorney general and the director of national intelligence the power to approve international surveillance of the communications of Americans entirely within the executive branch, rather than through the special intelligence court established by FISA. Many privacy advocates have decried this law and Senator Feinstein's vote in favour of it. [18]

USA PATRIOT Act

Senator Feinstein was the original Democratic cosponsor of a bill to extend the USA PATRIOT Act. In a December 2005 statement, Senator Feinstein stated, "I believe the Patriot Act is vital to the protection of the American people."[19]

Immigration

Feinstein is a supporter and cosponsor of the H-1B Visa program.

Environment

Senator Feinstein and her predecessor Senator Alan Cranston worked for over 10 years to pass the California Desert Protection Act. The bill was signed in to law by President Clinton in 1994. The bill protected 7,661,089 acres (31,003 km2) of California's desert lands as wilderness and national parks.[1] The Act doubled the size of the National Wilderness Preservation System in California, and was the largest wilderness bill in California's history.

Californian Senators Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were the champions of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act which was signed in to law by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The bill protected 275,830 acres (1,116 km2) of federal land as wilderness and 21 miles (34 km) of stream as a wild and scenic river, including such popular areas as the King Range and Cache Creek.[2] Senators Feinstein and Boxer worked with Representative Mike Thompson, the sponsor of the bill in the House, in the 5-year effort to pass the legislation.

Dianne Feinstein along with her colleague Barbara Boxer voted in favor of subsidy payments to conventional commodity farm producers at the cost of subsidies for conservation-oriented farming.[20]

Death penalty

Feinstein is a supporter of capital punishment.

Free speech

She was the main Democratic sponsor of the failed 2006 constitutional Flag Desecration Amendment.[21]

She also voted for the McCain-Feingold legislation.

After heavily supporting President Bush's Immigration Reform Bill, she mentioned that she was "looking into revising" the Fairness Doctrine, specifically targeting Talk Radio. [22]

Gun politics

She is opposed by gun rights organizations, who say that her proposals on gun control are unconstitutional.

In 1993, Feinstein, along with then-Representative Charles Schumer (D-NY), led the fight to ban many semi-automatic firearms and restrict the sale of firearm magazines deemed assault weapons. The ban was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. In 2004, when the ban was set to expire, Feinstein sponsored a 10-year extension of the ban as an amendment to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act; while the amendment was successfully added, the act itself failed. The act was then revived in 2005, and, despite Feinstein's best efforts, was passed without an extension of the assault weapons ban.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), said on CBS-TV's 60 Minutes, February 5, 1995, "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them . . . Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in, I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren't here."

In July 2006, Feinstein voted against the Vitter Amendment to prohibit Federal funds being used for the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms during a disaster.

[23]

Intellectual property

Feinstein has supported Hollywood and the content industry when it has come into conflict with technology and fair use on intellectual property issues. In 2006 she cosponsored the "PERFORM Act" or the "Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006" to the Senate, which would require satellite, cable and internet broadcasters to pay fair market value for the performance of digital music. Additionally, the bill would require the use of readily available and cost-effective technological means to prevent music theft. Over the Air Broadcasting would not be affected.[24] Feinstein's consistent backing of the content industry and attacks on fair use have earned her poor marks with the EFF and IPac.

Corruption scandals and accusations

Between 2001 and 2006[25], Diane Feinstein served as the ranking member of the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, also known as the "MILCON" subcommittee. Feinstein also served as chair of the MILCON subcommittee when the Democrats controlled the Senate in 2001 and 2002.

While on the MILCON subcommitte, Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions of dollars to firms owned by her husband, Richard C. Blum.[5] This included millions of dollars in contracts awarded to Blum's Perini Corporation to provide goods and services in Iraq and Afghanistan.[26]

As the ranking Democratic, Feinstein would have again become chair of the MILCON subcommittee when the Democratically controlled Senate of the 110th Congress was sworn in on January 4, 2007. However, Feinstein resigned from the subcommittee prior to the new congressional term, forfeiting chairmanship of the MILCON subcommittee to Tim Johnson.[27] Metro Newspapers reported that Feinstein's resignation was attributable to a series of articles, partially funded by the progressive Nation Institute, exposing the potential conflict of interest posed by Feinstein's voting to award contracts to her husband's firms.[28] [29]

In April 2007, Feinstein's office denied any ethical conflict,[30] however, the director of the Project on Government Oversight who has examined evidence assembled by investigative reporter Peter Byrne stated that “the paper trail showing Senator Feinstein’s conflict of interest is irrefutable.”[31][32]

Additional scandal arose when it was revealed that members of Feinstein's Senate staff attempted to purge references to these alleged conflicts of interest from the Wikipedia articles on herself and her husband.[33][34]

Additionally, in 1990, Senator Feinstein failed to disclose that her husband had guaranteed her 1990 campaign loans, which resulted in a US$190,000 fine.[35] This information was also initially deleted from Wikipedia by a Feinstein staffer in 2006.[36][34]

2006 re-election

Main article: California United States Senate election, 2006

Feinstein was elected for a third full term in 2006. She defeated Republican Richard Mountjoy, Libertarian Michael Metti, Green Todd Chretien, and Peace and Freedom Marsha Feinland in the general election.

Ideological ratings

Electoral history

2006 California United States Senatorial Election

Dianne Feinstein (D) (inc.) 59.2%
Dick Mountjoy (R) 37.4%
Don Grundmann (American Independent) 1.8%
Todd Chretien (Green) 1.7%
Michael Metti (Lib.) 1.6%
Marsha Feinland (Peace and Freedom) 1.3%

2000 California United States Senatorial Election

Dianne Feinstein (D) (inc.) 56%
Tom Campbell (R) 38%
Medea Benjamin (Green) 3%
Gail Lightfoot (Lib.) 2%

1994 California United States Senatorial Election

Dianne Feinstein (D) (inc.) 47%
Michael Huffington (R) 45%

1992 California United States Senatorial Election

Dianne Feinstein (D) 54.3%
John F. Seymour (R) (inc.) 38%
Gerald Horne (Peace and Freedom) 2.8%

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Fa - Fe". Real Names of Famous Folk. Retrieved October 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Seymour "Sy" Brody. "Dianne Feinstein: United States Senator From California". Jewish Heroes and Heroines in America. Retrieved October 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Slater, Robert (2004). Great Jewish Women. Middle Village, New York: Jonathan David Publishers. p. 78. ISBN0-8246-0370-2 1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/senators/feinstein.htm
  5. ^ a b Byrne, Peter (2007-01-24). "Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict". Metro Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  6. ^ Loughlin, Sean (2003-06-13). "Millionaires populate U.S. Senate". CNN. Retrieved 2007-05-07. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Personal Financial Disclosures Summary: 2005". opensecrets.org. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  8. ^ "Senate Public Financial Disclosure Report for Senator Diane Feinstein" (PDF). US Senate/Washington Post. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  9. ^ Coile, Zachary (2004-06-26). "Bay lawmakers among wealthiest". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  10. ^ "The Times of Harvey Milk". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  11. ^ "Museums in Motion - 1984 - Rejuvenation". Market Street Railway. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  12. ^ "The Night Stalker: Serial Killer Richard Ramirez". Court TV. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  13. ^ "Enforcement Cases: F". California Fair Political Practices Commission. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  14. ^ Ritter, Scott (2005-12-04). "What Happened to Iraq's WMD". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  15. ^ "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer". transcript. CNN. 2007-02-04. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  16. ^ "Senate Approves FY'07 Supplemental Appropriations Bill". Senator Feinstein's Official Site. 2007-05-25. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  17. ^ "S.1927 vote tally". U.S. Senate. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  18. ^ "Bush Signs Law to Widen Reach for Wiretapping". New York Times. 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  19. ^ "Statement on the President's Comments Regarding Patriot Act and Domestic Spying" (Press release). Sen. Dianne Feinstein. 2005-12-19. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  20. ^ Becker, Elizabeth. "California Farmers Reconsidering Opposition To Subsidies". New York Times.
  21. ^ "Statement in Support of Flag Protection Amendment" (Press release). Sen. Dianne Feinstein. 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  22. ^ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe22Vn6wJEM accessdate = 2007-06-27 "Dianne Feinstein on FOX News to Support the Fairness Doctrine"] (Press release). FOX News. 2007-06-27. {{cite press release}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing pipe in: |url= (help); line feed character in |url= at position 43 (help)
  23. ^ "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session". US Senate. 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  24. ^ "Testimony of Mr. Edgar Bronfman". US Senate Judiciary Committee. 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  25. ^ Press Release (2006-12-08). ""Senator Feinstein Applauds Defense Department for Postponing Plans to Build Permanent Guantanamo Courthouse Until Formal Congressional Approval is Secured"". www.feinstein.senate.gov. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  26. ^ "Perini Corporation". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  27. ^ Byrne, Peter (2007-03-14). "Feinstein Resigns". Metro Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  28. ^ Byrne, Peter (2007-03-14). "Feinstein Resigns". Metro Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  29. ^ Lucas, Fred (2007-04-02). "Feinstein Leaves Senate Defense Panel Amid Controversy". CNSNews.com. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  30. ^ Lucas, Fred (2007-04-04). "Feinstein's Office Denies Conflict of Interest Charges". CNSNews. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  31. ^ Peter Byrne. "The Feinstein Files". Peter Byrne : Investigative Reporting. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  32. ^ Keene, David (2007-04-30). "Feinstein's Cardinal shenanigans". The Hill. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
  33. ^ "Wikinews investigates Wikipedia usage by U.S. Senate staff members". Wikinews. 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  34. ^ a b Lochhead, Carolyn (2006-02-09). "Former Feinstein staffer edited Wikipedia entries". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  35. ^ Noguchi, Yuki (2006-02-09). "Wikipedia's Help From the Hill". Washington Post. pp. A21. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  36. ^ "Political Skeletons, Cut and Pasted". Op-Ed. New York Times. 2006-02-11.
  37. ^ "American Civil Liberties Union Congressional Scorecard". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  38. ^ "National Environmental Scorecard: Dianne Feinstein". League of Conservation Voters. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  39. ^ "2005 U.S. Senate Votes". American Conservative Union. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  40. ^ "National Rifle Association Ratings". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  41. ^ "Voting History: Dianne Feinstein" (PDF). Peace Action West. Retrieved 2007-07-03.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dianne Feinstein.

Articles

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of San Francisco
1978 – 1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee
2007 – present 		Incumbent
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Senator from California (Class 1)
November 10, 1992 – present
Served alongside: Alan Cranston, Barbara Boxer 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California
1990 		Succeeded by
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