Democrat Barbara Lee represents California's 9th District in the United States House of Representatives.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html The former social worker and congressional aide won a special election in 1988 due to the resignation of her former boss, Congressman Ronald Dellums.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html Lee has been reelected seven times, never receiving under 80 percent of her district's vote.http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/458 She beat Republican challenger Gerald Hashimoto with 84 percent of the vote in the 2010 midterm elections.http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/458

Lee is a critic of the War on Terror and the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization of force in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Barbara_Lee She believed that the nature of the violent crimes had caused her colleagues in Congress to react emotionally and decide prematurely.http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Barbara_Lee Because of this stance, Lee received numerous death threats and required increased police protection.http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Barbara_Lee

Born in El Paso, Texas on July 16, 1946, Barbara Lee moved to the Bay Area in California to attend Mills College.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in 1973, she enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Social Welfare, where she trained in clinical psychology.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html Lee was an administrative assistant under Congressman Ronald Dellums for ten years.http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=8315 Her political career began when she won election to the California State Assembly in 1990.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html Six years later, she was elected to the California State Senate and served there for two years before making her way to Congress.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html

Lee is a fiscal and social liberal Democrat.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html While in Congress, she has advocated legislation that works to fight poverty, eradicate HIV/AIDS and bring federally funded universal health care to uninsured citizens.http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/meet_barbara.html Lee is pro-choice on the abortion issue, against capital punishment, for increasing the federal minimum wage and an advocate of same-sex marriage.http://www.votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=8315 She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/458