Barbara Sue Boxer is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017.
69 Facts About Barbara Boxer
2.
Barbara Boxer worked as a stockbroker for several years before moving to California with her husband.
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Barbara Boxer served on the Marin County Board of Supervisors for six years and became the board's first female president.
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Barbara Boxer was the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and the vice chair of the Select Committee on Ethics.
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On January 6,2005, Barbara Boxer joined Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones in filing a US Congressional objection to the certification of Ohio's Electoral College votes in the 2004 US presidential election.
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Barbara Boxer was succeeded by former California Attorney General and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
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In January 2020, Barbara Boxer joined Washington, DC-based lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs as co-chairwoman.
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In January 2021, it was reported that Barbara Boxer was working as registered foreign agent for Hikvision, a Chinese state-sponsored surveillance company implicated in human rights abuses, which prompted the Biden inaugural committee to return a donation she had made.
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Barbara Boxer Sue Levy was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jewish immigrants Sophie and Ira Levy.
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Barbara Boxer attended public schools, and graduated from George W Wingate High School in 1958.
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In 1962, she married Stewart Barbara Boxer and graduated from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in economics.
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Barbara Boxer worked as a stockbroker for the following three years while her husband went to law school.
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Barbara Boxer first ran for political office in 1972, when she challenged incumbent Republican Peter Arrigoni, a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, but lost a close election.
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Later in the 1970s, Barbara Boxer worked as a reporter and editor for the Pacific Sun and then managed the Marin campaign of John Burton, the brother of Phillip Burton, who then was the Congressman representing southern San Francisco, California.
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Burton narrowly won both crowded races and was sworn into office in 1974, gaining seniority on those new members being seated in 1975, and Barbara Boxer became his staff aide.
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In 1976, Barbara Boxer was elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, serving for six years.
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Barbara Boxer narrowly won her first election with 52 percent of the vote, but easily won reelection four times, never dropping below 67 percent of the vote.
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Barbara Boxer was a member of the original Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families that was established in 1983.
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In 1992, Barbara Boxer was implicated in the House banking scandal, which revealed that more than 450 congressional representatives and aides, herself included, wrote overdraft checks covered by overdraft protection by the House Bank.
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In what was billed as the "Year of the Woman", Barbara Boxer beat fellow Rep.
21.
On January 6,2005, Barbara Boxer joined Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones in filing a US Congressional objection to the certification of Ohio's Electoral College votes in the 2004 US presidential election.
22.
Barbara Boxer called the objection her "opening shot to be able to focus the light of truth on these terrible problems in the electoral system".
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Barbara Boxer has worked as a paid consultant on behalf of Poseidon Water as part of that company's effort to install a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, California, and for CityLift Parking, a company in Oakland, California, that designs automated parking lifts.
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Barbara Boxer has been accused of involvement in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
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On July 26,2021, Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed of her mobile phone in the Jack London Square section of Oakland, California.
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Senator Boxer was, along with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, one of only two Senate Democrats to support Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President George W Bush.
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Barbara Boxer voted against John Bolton's nomination for US Ambassador to the United Nations in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and filibustered him on the Senate floor.
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Barbara Boxer voted against the confirmation of Chief Justice of the United States nominee John Roberts, and against the confirmation of Associate Justice nominee Samuel Alito.
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In March 2004, Barbara Boxer offered an amendment to the Federal budget to create a $24 billion jobs reserve fund.
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On October 1,2008, Barbara Boxer voted for Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
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Senator Barbara Boxer was one of only eight members of the Senate to vote against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 before the Financial Crises.
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Barbara Boxer established the Excellence in Education award to recognize teachers, parents, businesses and organizations working to make positive changes in education.
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Since 1997 Senator Barbara Boxer has presented the Excellence in Education Award to 38 recipients.
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Barbara Boxer voted for the 2002 Help America Vote Act, which mandated the use of voting machines across the country, among other provisions.
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Barbara Boxer introduced a bill on November 15,2016, calling for a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and to select future presidents by a simple national vote only.
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Barbara Boxer opposed the nuclear energy deal between the United States and India.
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Barbara Boxer believes India should not receive aid from the US in the civilian nuclear energy sector until it breaks its relationship with Iran.
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Barbara Boxer successfully led the 2003 Senate floor battle to block oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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In 2005, Barbara Boxer voted again to block oil drilling at ANWR.
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Barbara Boxer introduced the National Oceans Protection Act of 2005.
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Barbara Boxer is an original cosponsor of Senator Jim Jeffords' Clean Power Act.
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Senator Boxer was the Senate sponsor of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which was signed into law by President George W Bush on October 17,2006.
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Senator Barbara Boxer worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Mike Thompson in a five-year effort to pass the legislation.
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In 1997, the Senate passed a Barbara Boxer resolution calling on the United States not to recognize the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan because of its human rights abuses against women.
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In 2002, Senator Barbara Boxer voted against the proposed US invasion of Iraq.
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Barbara Boxer has subsequently referred to that vote as the best vote of her career.
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Barbara Boxer voted against the first Gulf War while a member of the House in 1991 and was a very vocal protester against the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
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In October 2002, Barbara Boxer voted against the joint resolution passed by the US Congress to authorize the use of military force by the Bush Administration against Iraq.
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Barbara Boxer's petition demanding an exit strategy from Iraq drew 107,218 signatures.
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Barbara Boxer was sharply critical of US Army General David Petraeus' testimony regarding the political and military situation of Iraq in 2007, charging him with reporting while wearing "rosy glasses".
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Senator Barbara Boxer joined colleagues to pass a federal ban on various semi-automatic firearms and established the COPS program.
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Barbara Boxer was part of a coalition to increase medical research to find cures for diseases.
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Barbara Boxer has written a bill to make health insurance tax-deductible and one to let any American buy into the same health insurance program that members of Congress have.
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In October 2002, Barbara Boxer urged the Bush Administration to take specific steps to address the causes of the steep increase in autism cases in California.
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Barbara Boxer wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to establish a common national standard for the diagnosis of autism; instruct the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to convene a task force to review the current literature on autism and conduct its own study if necessary; and direct the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control to work with the states to create a national chronic disease database.
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Barbara Boxer is an advocate for embryonic stem-cell research, which has the potential to help those with diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injuries, and other diseases.
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Barbara Boxer has come out against reforming marijuana policy and is opposed to the California Ballot measure to legalize and tax marijuana for those 21 and older in the state.
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Barbara Boxer wrote the High-Tech Port Security Act, and sponsored the Chemical Security Act to address terrorist threats against chemical plants.
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Barbara Boxer maintains a strong stance in support of reproductive rights and the pro-abortion movement.
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Barbara Boxer authored the Freedom of Choice Act of 2004 and participated in the floor fight for passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
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Barbara Boxer was strongly critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which would prevent taxpayer-funded abortions possibly resulting in women not being able to pay with their own funds for abortion coverage Affordable Health Care for America Act.
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In June 2008 Barbara Boxer spoke in the Senate in opposition to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a pending bill in the United States Congress to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and later broke with her counterpart Sen.
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In January 2007, Barbara Boxer was in the news for comments she made when responding to Bush's plans to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq.
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Barbara Boxer has made cameo appearances as herself in several television shows, including Murphy Brown, Gilmore Girls and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as a cameo in the 2000 film Traffic.
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In November 2016, Barbara Boxer appeared in an episode of Chelsea, presented by Chelsea Handler, entitled "Do Not Despair About Our Country", filmed shortly after the result of the 2016 US presidential election was known, during which Handler wept about the result.
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Barbara Boxer has been awarded two Doctor of Laws honorary degrees, one from Mills College and the other from Dominican University of California.
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The Foundation for Ethics in Public Service has accused Barbara Boxer of failing to disclose real property on her Personal Financial Disclosure Reports between 2002 and 2010.
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Barbara Boxer failed to disclose a million dollar home she owns.
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Barbara Boxer was reelected in 1998, in 2004, and in 2010.