Barbara Lee

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Barbara Lee

Barbara Jean Lee (born July 16, 1946 in El Paso , Texas ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . She has represented the State of California in the United States House of Representatives since 1998 .

Family, education and work

Barbara Lee moved to California from Texas with her military parents in 1960. There she first attended Fernado Hill High School , then Mills College and until 1975 the University of California at Berkeley . During her student days, she was involved in the Black Panther movement .

Barbara Lee has two sons.

Political career

Beginnings in California

Lee was on the advisory board of Congressman Ron Dellums and sat in the California House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997 . From 1997 to 1998 she was a member of the California Senate .

Congressman

After the resignation of MP Dellum, several ballots were necessary to fill his seat again. Finally, Barbara Lee won the election. She took up her new office in Washington on April 7, 1998 and has been re-elected since then. Lee initially represented California's 16th congressional electoral district until 2013, and has represented the 13th district since 2013.

She supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election . In the 111th Congress from 2009 to 2011, Lee served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus . After the 2012 House election , Lee ran for the strategic leadership position of Chairmanship in the House Democratic Caucus , but withdrew in favor of Joe Crowley . In 2016, she took up the position of deputy chairwoman, losing to Linda Sánchez by two votes. After the Democrats regained a majority in the 2018 election , Lee re-emerged as chairman of the caucus but was defeated by the younger member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Hakeem Jeffries .

Positions and Awards

Lee was the only person in both houses of Congress to vote against authorizing military force in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . For this she was awarded the Aachen Peace Prize for 2002. She saw approval of the bill as a blank check for the president, which she was unwilling to issue. The reactions to their behavior ranged from approval to resolute rejection, with the rejecting votes clearly in the majority at the time. She was accused of “communism” and was labeled a traitor. That even went as far as death threats. Lee was a critic of the Iraq war and advocates the creation of a peace ministry. She received support for her politics from the peace movement.

Lee was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the 1000 Women Project . This was justified as follows: “Barbara Lee, Democratic Congressman of California, gained worldwide attention when she was the only one to vote against the post-September 11th resolution that gave President Bush the authority to use military force against anyone who committed the crime or her Planning was suspected. She is the leader of a policy for international peace, security and human rights and is on the front lines for legislation that stops the spread of HIV / AIDS and promotes healing. She consistently defends the most vulnerable, especially women and children. "(Quote)

Web links

Commons : Barbara Lee  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Wikisource: Barbara Lee  - sources and full texts (English)

supporting documents

  1. ^ Nolan D. McCaskill, John Bresnahan: The chairman fight pits old guard vs. new generation of black leaders. In: Politico , November 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ 1000 PeaceWomen Worldwide. Barbara Lee , accessed on: April 15, 2018, (In: German digital version of: Verein 1000 Frauen für den Nobel Friedenspreis (Ed.): 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe , Series: Contrast Book, Verlag Scalo, Zurich 2005).
personal data
SURNAME Lee, Barbara
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lee, Barbara Jean (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH El Paso , Texas