Congresswoman Barbara Lee has been representing California’s 13th District since 1998. She is the highest ranking African American woman in Democratic Leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. She also serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending.
Her father was a veteran of two wars and her mother broke many glass ceilings and racial barriers. After grammar school, Congresswoman Lee moved to San Fernando, California and worked with the local NAACP to integrate her high school cheerleading squad.
Ending poverty is personal for Congresswoman Lee. During a very difficult period as a young single mother, Congresswoman Lee received public assistance while attending college and raising her two sons. As chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality and Opportunity, she continues fighting to protect bridges over troubled water for struggling families so everyone has the opportunity to live the American dream.
As a member of the powerful federal spending committee, Congresswoman Lee has led the fight to preserve and expand critical safety net programs like unemployment insurance, housing assistance, child care, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She firmly believes that ending poverty in the world’s rich and most powerful nation is a moral and economic imperative. Additionally, Congresswoman Lee has long championed global poverty eradication efforts.