41 Facts About Barbara Lee

1.

Barbara Jean Lee is an American politician serving as the U S representative for.

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2.

Now in her 12th term, Barbara Lee has served since 1998, and is a member of the Democratic Party.

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3.

Barbara Lee is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the chair emeritus and former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus .

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4.

Barbara Lee's is the vice chair and a founding member of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.

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5.

Barbara Lee has co-chaired the House Democratic Steering Committee since 2019.

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6.

Barbara Lee is African-American, and according to a DNA analysis, she descends primarily from the people of Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.

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7.

Barbara Lee moved from Texas to California in 1960 with her military family parents, and attended San Fernando High School in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles.

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8.

Barbara Lee's received an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975.

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9.

Barbara Lee's won the seat in her own right later that year with 82.

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10.

Barbara Lee endorsed Barack Obama for president in the 2008 Democratic primary.

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11.

Barbara Lee gained national attention in 2001 as the only member of congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, stating that she voted no not because she opposed military action but because she believed the AUMF, as written, granted the president overly broad powers to wage war at a time when the facts regarding the situation were not yet clear.

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12.

Barbara Lee's "warned her colleagues to be 'careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target".

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13.

In June 2021, Barbara Lee sponsored a bipartisan bill in the House to repeal the AUMF, which passed, 268 to 161.

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14.

Barbara Lee's voted to limit military operations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, against authorizing air strikes, and for a Republican-backed plan to completely withdraw U S troops from the operation, all in 1999.

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15.

Barbara Lee's was one of only 46 Democrats to vote for the Online Freedom of Speech Act of 2005.

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16.

In November 2009 Barbara Lee was one of 36 representatives to vote against House Resolution 867, which condemned the UN's Goldstone Report.

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17.

Barbara Lee's voted to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011.

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18.

Barbara Lee voted in favor of similar resolutions involving troop withdrawal from Pakistan and, most recently, Libya.

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19.

Barbara Lee's joined her Republican colleagues, one of 70 Democrats to do so, in voting against a resolution to authorize limited use of force in Libya.

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20.

Barbara Lee was one of only 36 Democrats to vote to limit funds appropriated for military operations in Libya.

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21.

In July 2019, Barbara Lee voted against a House resolution condemning the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement targeting Israel.

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22.

In October 2020, Barbara Lee co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemning Azerbaijan's offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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23.

Barbara Lee is a strong advocate for legislation restricting the availability of guns.

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24.

Barbara Lee's participated in the 2016 sit-in against gun violence in the House of Representatives.

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25.

Barbara Lee introduced the Women and Climate Change Act in February 2018.

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26.

The bill is named for Shirley Chisholm, who helped inspire Barbara Lee to become involved in politics when Chisholm ran for the Democratic nomination for president; Barbara Lee was the Chisholm campaign's Northern California Chair.

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27.

In 1968, Barbara Lee began volunteering at the Black Panther Party's Community Learning Center in Oakland.

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28.

Barbara Lee's worked on Bobby Seale's 1973 campaign for mayor of Oakland.

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29.

Barbara Lee disagreed with the National Park Service removing funding for a Black Panther Legacy Project in 2017.

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30.

Barbara Lee has supported a number of efforts to reform cannabis laws in Congress.

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31.

Barbara Lee was an original cosponsor of the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act when it was first introduced in 2011.

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32.

In 2005, Barbara Lee was one of 31 House Democrats who voted not to accept Ohio's electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election.

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33.

Barbara Lee's backed an amendment to reduce the size of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, but a majority of Democrats and Republicans rejected it.

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34.

Barbara Lee has made affordable housing in the East Bay area and beyond a top priority.

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35.

Barbara Lee's has supported and backed legislation meant to expand home ownership opportunities, improve public housing quality, and assist the homeless.

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36.

Barbara Lee was strongly critical of the Stupak–Pitts Amendment, which places restrictions on health insurance plans providing coverage for abortions in the context of the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

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37.

Barbara Lee chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2008 to 2010.

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38.

In 2003, Barbara Lee was recognized as a Woman of Peace at the Global Exchange Human Rights Awards in San Francisco with Bianca Jagger, Arundhati Roy and Kathy Kelly.

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39.

In 2010, Barbara Lee took the food stamp challenge and appeared in the documentary film Food Stamped.

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40.

Barbara Lee was married before and divorced by the age of 20, raising her two sons as a single parent.

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41.

In 2014, Barbara Lee received endorsements from the California Labor Federation, AFL–CIO, Feminist Majority Political Action Committee, J Street PAC, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Sierra Club, and United Auto Workers.

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