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Barbara Boxer

 
Biography: Barbara Boxer
 

Barbara Boxer (born 1940) is a Democratic Senator from California.

Barbara Boxer was one of six women elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. Representing California as a Democrat, she was part of a larger movement that swept an increased number of women into positions of power within the government. A 10-year veteran of Congress, Boxer rose through her energetic and combative style, and her fealty to the liberal causes which had first inspired her entrance into politics - feminism and environmentalism chief among them. The product of a conventional background and upbringing, Boxer was inspired by the social upheavals of the 1960s to look beyond her home and family to make her mark on the world at large.

Boxer's origins and early years gave little hint of the career she would eventually pursue. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the child of immigrants, in 1940. Boxer later recalled a conventional and happy middle-class childhood, which included education in the local public schools. As a "child of the '50s, " Boxer wrote in her memoir, Strangers in the Senate, she wore cinch belts and layers of crinolines, as well as hoop skirts, to conform to the dictates of fashion. Nonetheless, in high school, she and a friend took on the job of coaching the boys' baseball team, an unconventional choice.

Boxer made another unconventional choice when she entered Brooklyn College in 1958 and became one of the few women at the institution to chose a major of economics, instead of education. For her minor, Boxer chose political science. She also served as a cheerleader for the Brooklyn College basketball team.

In her final year of college, at age 21, Barbara Levy married Stewart Boxer, another student, who was then 23. The two moved into a one-room efficiency apartment at the back of a building on Ocean Boulevard, paying $90 a month in rent. When the building's owner failed to provide promised amenities, such as a carpeted and painted lobby, the energetic Boxer circulated a petition in the building to pressure the landlord into fixing things up.

After graduating from college Boxer sought a job in the New York financial world to support her husband while he completed his law degree at Fordham University. She tried to enter one of the stockbroker training programs run by the big Wall Street firms, but was turned down on the basis of her sex. Boxer then took a job as a secretary, and studied for the stockbroker's exam independently. Even after she passed, Boxer was not allowed to sell securities and earn commissions, so she left her job and took a position with a firm that would allow her to do so.

Boxer was working as a stockbroker when the event that she later identified as the birth of her political consciousness took place: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. With this event, and the later political assassinations of the 1960s, Boxer began to look beyond her own private life and aspirations to address larger social issues and concerns.

In 1965 Boxer moved with her husband to northern California. The couple had been determined to own a house and raise a family, and they felt that real estate was more affordable there than in the New York metropolitan area. While her husband was completing his exams at Fordham, Boxer quit her job and relocated to San Francisco to find a house. She was seven months pregnant with her first child at the time, and gave birth to her son - two months prematurely - the day after she arrived.

Boxer and her husband soon settled in San Francisco, and their second child, a daughter, came into the family in 1967. Although Boxer later recalled that she was primarily concerned with her family life during that time, she and her husband opposed the war in Vietnam, and felt strongly enough about their position to take part in a peace march, which wound through the city to Golden Gate Park.

Also in 1967, Boxer and her husband moved to the city suburbs, buying a $40, 000 house in Marin County, north of the city. This area would later become the basis of her political constituency. The year after they had moved to Marin, Boxer witnessed the assassination of Robert Kennedy live on television, and this violent act, she later recalled, shocked her forever from her routine private life.

Joining with other women from her community, who were young, college-educated mothers like her, Boxer and her friends in the town of Greenbrae embarked on a number of social initiatives. Among their first efforts was a program called Education Corps of Marin, designed to train high school drop-outs for jobs. This program was eventually taken over by the local school system.

In addition, Boxer became involved in the environmental movement as well as in anti-war activities. In 1970 she oversaw publicity for a campaign to put a peace initiative on the ballot, which, surprisingly, carried the day. She worked for other local ballot initiatives and for progressive candidates. Marin Community Video and the Marin Alternative, a progressive, grassroots, political network, also earned her attention. At the same time Boxer devoted her energy to a number of women's and children's groups, helping to found the Kentfield After School Child Care Center, and taking part in Woman's Way, a women's support group.

Declares Candicacy

On the strength of these activities, Boxer declared her candidacy for elective office for the first time in 1971. Although her husband was equally well qualified to represent the progressive environmental constituency with which the couple had become involved, he could not afford to sacrifice his lucrative law practice for the $11, 000 annual salary paid to members of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, so Barbara ran, becoming the first serious female candidate in two decades. Although Boxer won a three-way primary race, she ran into serious obstacles in her main campaign, many of which were related to her gender. Even women who worked told her of their doubts that she could care for her young children properly while holding down such a responsible position. In the final election, in November of 1972, Boxer lost by a narrow margin.

Following this defeat, Boxer re-entered the workforce. She took a position as a reporter for the Pacific Sun, becoming an associate editor of the publication from 1972 to 1974. At that time, she returned to the world of politics, as a congressional aide working for the representative from the Fifth Congressional District of California. Boxer held this post until 1976, when she ran again for the Marin County Board of Supervisors. This time, she was elected.

As a Marin County Supervisor, Boxer maintained her strong commitment to the environmental movement. She urged the closure of all nuclear power plants in the state of California, and worked for other liberal causes during her six years in the post. From 1977 to 1982, she served on the Bay Area Air Quality Management Board, of which she was the president from 1979 to 1981. Boxer was also the president of the Marin County Board of Supervisors from 1980 to 1981.

Elected to House

In the early 1980s Boxer's local congressional district, the Sixth District of California, was redrawn in a manner that helped to insure the re-election of incumbent John L. Burton, a Democrat. When Burton, a longtime friend and mentor of Boxer, chose instead to retire, Boxer ran for the seat he was vacating in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won the 1982 election as a Democrat.

Boxer took office in Washington as a freshman representative at the start of 1983, and became president of the Democratic New Members Caucus of the House of Representatives. The district Boxer went on to represent for five terms, covering ten years, included parts of the city of San Francisco, as well as Marin County, her home base. In Congress, Boxer continued to champion the liberal causes that had brought her popularity with the constituents of this area in the past. Boxer was assigned to sit on the Armed Service Committee, where she was one of the few committed liberal members, and became co-chair of the Military Reform Caucus. Boxer was also appointed to the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. In addition, she chaired the subcommittee on government activities.

In Congress Boxer made a name for herself as a staunch opponent of defense spending. She opposed the costs of stealth aircraft and the Patriot missile, pushing repeated floor amendments in the house to cut government spending for these projects. Boxer also voted against funding for the Nicaraguan contras. In addition, she lent support to the Congressional Black Caucus in its recommendation that the defense budget be cut in half.

Boxer became best known as a representative for publicizing particularly egregious cases of wasteful military spending. Posing for photographers with a $7, 622 coffee pot for a cargo plane, and a $600 toilet seat cover, she dramatized the issue of government excess, bringing public pressure to bear on efforts to reform government procurement. As a result of these efforts, Boxer was able to take partial credit for a series of military procurement reform amendments, which included a 1988 measure to protect whistle-blowers, and a measure to allow competitive bidding for contracts to provide spare parts to the military. Despite her best efforts, however, Boxer was unable to keep the Presidio, a historical military base in San Francisco, off the list of military bases to eventually be closed.

Boxer opposed the entry of the United States into the Persian Gulf war in 1991, and she sponsored an effort that would have required prior Congressional approval of covert American actions in foreign countries. This resolution, which was seen a threat to the secrecy of war plans and anti-terrorist operations, was unanimously defeated on the floor of the House, as even Boxer withdrew her support for the amendment.

As a representative Boxer also maintained her commitment to women's issues. She was an original co-sponsor of the Family and Medical Leave Act benefitting workers with children or other family responsibilities, and she put up a strong opposition to the gag rule forbidding abortion counseling at federally funded health clinics. As a supporter of the Freedom of Choice Act, Boxer sponsored an amendment to provide federal funding for abortions in cases of rape or incest, which was passed, but vetoed by President George Bush. Boxer won the respect of the powerful former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Dan Rostenkowski, in her fight to pass this bill, with her forthright appeal for his support of the abortion amendment.

Boxer also pursued a campaign to open up the men's club of Congress to greater participation by women. As part of this effort, she tried to win more extensive locker room facilities for female representatives, inspiring an apocryphal story about her presence in the men's locker room at an inopportune moment. The most important moment in her struggle to instill greater equality for women in the U.S. Congress, however, came during hearings to consider Clarence Thomas for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, when Boxer joined with other female representatives to bring their concerns about the treatment of Anita Hill to the attention of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The group of women was refused entrance to a meeting of this committee, after being told that "strangers" were not permitted in the room. Boxer was so incensed by the idea that she and the other female representatives were considered "strangers" in the Senate that she later wrote a book using this phrase as its title, describing the progress of women in politics in her lifetime.

Runs for Senate

The treatment of Hill at the Senate hearings proved to be a political watershed, and when California Senator Alan Cranston announced that he would relinquish his seat after being tainted in a savings and loan scandal, Boxer decided to give up her secure Congressional berth and run for the Senate as a long-shot candidate in 1992. She made the lack of female representation in the U.S. Senate a cornerstone of her campaign.

Boxer's first obstacle in her campaign for the Senate was a tough primary, with two strong male contenders who also had solid records on women's rights. With a strong fund-raising operation in place, as well as the support of groups such as EMILY's List, and the Hollywood Women's Political Committee, Boxer raised more than $2 million by the start of 1992, which allowed her to triumph in the June primary.

Boxer then went on to face Bruce Herschensohn, a conservative television commentator, in the general election. Despite her ten-year Congressional career, she cast herself as a Washington outsider, whose gender made her a gadfly to the establishment. This picture was somewhat damaged by the revelation during the campaign that she had bounced 143 checks at the U.S. House of Representatives bank. Despite this setback, Boxer relied on her ability to identify issues that voters cared about, and get her position across in a punchy and appealing manner. In a year in which more women than ever before were elected to the Senate, Boxer won her race in November of 1992, becoming, along with Dianne Feinstein, one of two women to make up the California delegation.

As a senator Boxer has continued to push the liberal agenda she supported as a representative, and she has remained sensitive to issues of importance to women. She joined the effort to pressure Senator Bob Packwood, under fire for sexual harassment, to fully disclose his actions, and she mounted a campaign, with the other five women in the Senate, to punish a Navy admiral for the Tailhook sex scandal. Boxer has worked for increased funding for breast cancer research and domestic violence programs. She also staunchly supported an openly gay San Francisco woman for a job at the Department of Health and Human Services, and she fought to end restrictions on gays in the military.

In addition, Boxer has remained true to her roots in the environmental movement. She is on the Committee on Environment and Public Works and belongs to three of its subcomittees. She battled a plan to place a radioactive dump in the California desert and pushed for the restoration of ten wetlands areas in California. Boxer has also worked hard to restore the ailing economy of her home state. In the name of California jobs, she endorsed a controversial proposal to deploy National Guard troops along the Mexican border to cut down on illegal immigration. She also supported a move to give members of the agricultural industry more time to renegotiate federal water contracts.

As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on International Finance, Boxer promotes America's competitiveness in today's global economy by lowering trade barriers and expanding exports.

In support of her pro-choice stance, Boxer cosponsored the Freedom of Choice Act and pushed for passage of both the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the Family Medical Leave Act.

In an effort to keep in touch with the constituents of her vast state, Boxer began inviting voters to write to her, and she was soon receiving more mail than any other senator. This outpouring suggests that Boxer has done an effective job of reaching out to the voters of California. Boxer appears to be laying the groundwork for a long career in the Senate, capping her evolution into an effective feminist and liberal politician.

Further Reading

California Journal, April 1, 1992; June 1, 1994.

Ms., March/April 1992, p. 86.

National Review, October 19, 1992, p. 21.

New York Times, October 25, 1993, p. A15.

Additional information was obtained from Senator Boxer's Home Page on the Internet.

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Wikipedia: Barbara Boxer
 
Barbara Levy Boxer
Barbara Boxer

Incumbent
Assumed office 
5 January 1993
Serving with Dianne Feinstein
Preceded by Alan Cranston

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 6th district
In office
3 January 1983 – 3 January 1993
Preceded by Phillip Burton
Succeeded by Lynn C. Woolsey

Incumbent
Assumed office 
4 January 2007
Preceded by James Inhofe

Incumbent
Assumed office 
4 January 2007
Preceded by George Voinovich

Born November 11, 1940 (1940-11-11) (age 68)
Brooklyn, New York
Political party Democratic
Spouse Stewart Boxer
Children Douglas Boxer
Nicole Boxer
Residence Oakland, California[1]
Alma mater Brooklyn College
Occupation Journalist, Politician
Religion Judaism
Website Barbara Boxer: US Senator from California

Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American Democratic politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. She holds the record for the most popular votes in a statewide contested election in California, having received 6,955,728 votes in her 2004 re-election over former Republican Secretary of State Bill Jones.

Boxer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, becoming one of the first of two female Jewish senators, along with Dianne Feinstein. Throughout her career, Boxer has been a vocal advocate for environmental issues, abortion rights, gun control, and medical research. She is generally classified as a progressive or liberal and is often in conflict with conservative groups.

With the 110th Congress convening, Boxer has taken position as the first female Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and, following the resignation of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) from the post, she was also chosen as chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics, making her the only Senator to preside over two committees at the same time.

She has held the position of Chief Deputy Whip in Minority, and currently is the Chief Deputy Whip in Majority.

Contents

Early life and family

Boxer was born Barbara Levy in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents Sophie Silvershein (born in Austria) and Ira Levy.[2] She attended public schools, and graduated from Wingate High School in 1958.

In 1962, she married Stewart Boxer and graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics.

Boxer worked as a stockbroker for the next three years, while her husband went to law school. Later, the couple moved to Greenbrae, Marin County, California, and had two children, Doug and Nicole. She first ran for political office in 1972, when she challenged incumbent Peter Arrigoni, a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, but lost a close election. Later during the 1970s, Boxer worked as a journalist for the Pacific Sun and as an aide to John Burton, then a member of Congress.[3] In 1976, Boxer was elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, serving for six years.[4] During this time she served as the first woman president of the board.[5]

In 1994, her daughter Nicole married Tony Rodham, brother of then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a ceremony at the White House. The couple had one son, Zachary, and divorced in 2000.[6]

Boxer's husband, Stewart, is a prominent attorney in Oakland, who specializes in worker's compensation cases (on the side of injured workers) and is known for keeping a very low profile when it comes to politics. Many cases are referred to him by labor unions, including the Teamsters. In 2006, the Boxers sold their house in Greenbrae, where they had lived for many years, and moved to Oakland – , near Stewart's office. Their son, Douglas, a lawyer, practices with Stewart and is a member of the Oakland Planning Commission, having been appointed to that office by then-mayor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr.

According to one story, which Boxer has acknowledged, in 1972, Stewart had planned to run for the Marin County Board of Supervisors, but decided the campaign would interfere with his law practice in Oakland – . so Barbara ran instead. She was supported in that election by Marin Alternative, a broad-based, liberal political organization which she had helped found a few years before. A very active force in Marin County politics for a while, Marin Alternative dissolved in the late 1970s.

Senator Boxer is physically diminutive, standing at 4'11". Along with Barbara Mikulski,[7] Boxer is one of the two shortest United States Senators currently in office.[8] She uses a box (known as the Boxer Box) for height when speaking at a lectern.[9]

Boxer's first novel, A Time to Run, published in 2005 by San Francisco-based publishing company Chronicle Books, was released to mixed reception.[10]

U.S. Representative

Boxer was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, defeating Louise Renne. Her slogan was "Barbara Boxer Gives a Damn." In the House, she represented California District 6 (Marin and Sonoma Counties) for five terms.[11]

During this time she focused on human rights, environmental protection, military procurement reform, and abortion issues, from a pro-choice stance. She was also involved in seeking protection for whistleblowers in government and pushed for higher budget allocations for health, biomedical research, and education.

Boxer, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, exposed, with the help of the Project on Military Procurement (now Project On Government Oversight, known as POGO), the '$7,600 Pentagon coffee pot' and successfully passed more than a dozen procurement reforms.

Boxer was embarrassed by the House banking scandal, in which more than 450 Congressional representatives and aides, herself included, wrote overdraft checks covered by overdraft protection by the House Bank. In response, she issued a statement saying "in painful retrospect, I clearly should have paid more attention to my account" and wrote a $15 check to the Deficit Reduction Fund for each of her 87 overdrafts.[12]

In 1991, during the Anita Hill Senate hearings, where Hill accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, Boxer led a group of women House members to the Senate Judiciary Committee – demanding that the all-white, all-male Committee of Senators take Hill's charges seriously.[13] This helped propel Boxer's candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 1992, when a record number of women ran for the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Senator

Elections

Senator Boxer's predecessor, Democrat Alan Cranston, retired in 1992. She won the open seat contest in the US Senate elections that year. She defeated Bruce Herschensohn, a conservative television political commentator, by 3 percentage points after a last-minute revelation that Herschensohn had attended a strip club.[14] In 1998 she was re-elected for a second term, beating Matt Fong, a former state treasurer, by 10 percentage points.[15] She had decided to retire in 2004 but says she decided to run to "fight for the right to dissent" against conservatives like Tom DeLay. After facing no primary opposition in the 2004 election, Boxer defeated GOP candidate Bill Jones, a former California Secretary of State, by a margin of 20 percentage points.[16]

A December 2007 poll placed her approval rating at 51% and her disapproval rating at 37%.[17]

Committee Assignments

A member of the Senate Democratic Leadership, Boxer serves as the Democratic Chief Deputy Whip, which gives her the job of lining up votes on key legislation. She also serves on the Democratic Policy Committee's Committee on Oversight and Investigations.

Objection to certification of 2004 U.S. Presidential Election electoral votes

On Valentine's Day 2005, Senator Boxer received 4,500 roses for calling attention to alleged voting irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election.

On 6 January 2005, Boxer joined Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio in filing a Congressional objection to the certification of Ohio's Electoral College votes in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.[18] She called the objection her "opening shot to be able to focus the light of truth on these terrible problems in the electoral system".[19][20] The Senate voted the objection down 1-74; the House voted the objection down 31-267.[21] It was only the second Congressional objection to an entire State's electoral delegation in U.S. history; the first instance was in 1877.[22][23]

As a gesture of appreciation and support for her stance on the alleged Presidential election irregularities and Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings, Stacy Davies of California began, via e-mail, the "Barbara Boxer Rose Campaign", wherein people collaborated to buy Senator Boxer roses.

2008 Democratic nomination campaign

Boxer speaks during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

As a superdelegate, Boxer had declared that she would support whoever would win the California Democratic primary, 2008 contest.[24] However, she remained neutral and only officially backed Barack Obama's candidacy the day after the last primaries, once he had garnered enough delegate votes to clinch the nomination. [25]

2010 election

On 19 February 2007, Boxer announced that she will seek a fourth term in 2010.[26] "You can't wait until the last minute", she said. She estimates that she will need $20 million for the campaign. The announcement was made at a fundraiser hosted by Barack Obama. It is unlikely that she will face a major challenger in the Democratic primary.

Bills and policy positions

Health care

Senator Boxer is part of a coalition to increase medical research to find cures for diseases. In 2007, she authored successful bipartisan legislation with Senator Gordon Smith to combat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis globally.[27] She authored a Patients' Bill of Rights in 1997. She has written a bill to make health insurance tax deductible and another bill to let any American buy into the same health insurance program that members of Congress have. She supports comprehensive prescription drug coverage through Medicare and the right of all consumers to purchase lower-cost prescription drugs re-imported from Canada.[28]

In October 2002, Boxer urged the Bush Administration to take specific steps to address the causes of the steep increase in autism cases in California.[29] She wrote Health and Human Services (HHS) 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 (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to work with the states to create a national chronic disease database.

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.[30]

Education

Boxer introduced legislation providing Federal funding for local after-school programs, which have been shown to increase student performance while decreasing juvenile delinquency, crime, and drug use.[31] Her 'Computers in Classrooms' law encourages the donation of computers and software to schools.

Boxer supported the No Child Left Behind Act. Since its passage in 2001, she claims that the bill has been underfunded by billions of dollars. She vows to work towards a goal that assures it will be fully funded going forward, as originally pledged by President George W. Bush.

Boxer has voted to increase the maximum award for the Pell Grant program, which provides grants to lower income students for college. In addition, she has supported tax benefits that she claims will help more families pay for higher education.

Boxer has co-introduced legislation that she claims is designed to allow college graduates to refinance their student loans at market rate, in order to ease the financial burden on those starting their careers.

Boxer established the Excellence in Education award to recognize teachers, parents, businesses and organizations that are working to make positive changes in education. Since 1997 Senator Boxer has presented the Excellence in Education Award to 38 recipients.[32]

The economy

Senators Boxer and John Ensign (R-NV) are the authors of the Invest in the USA Act. This legislation, which was signed into law in October 2004 as a small part of the more comprehensive American Jobs Creation Act, is intended to encourage American companies to bring overseas profits back to the United States, to create jobs in the U.S., and stimulate domestic economic growth. According to one economic estimate, the Invest in the USA Act will create over 600,000 new American jobs.[33]

In March 2004, Boxer offered an amendment to the Federal budget to create a $24 billion jobs reserve fund. The amendment would set aside funds for a variety of investments to improve the economy and create jobs by establishing a manufacturing jobs tax credit for companies that create jobs in the United States, expanding investment in science research and development, providing a tax credit to small businesses to pay for health insurance for their employees, and expanding trade adjustment assistance to help those who lose their jobs because of foreign trade. The Boxer amendment would also end the tax break that companies receive after moving plants overseas.

On October 1, 2008, Boxer voted in favor of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, also known as the Bailout Bill.[34]

The environment

Boxer successfully led the 2003 Senate floor battle to block oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.[35] In 2005, Boxer voted again to block oil drilling at ANWR.

Boxer has introduced the National Oceans Protection Act (NOPA) of 2005.[36] Some of the provisions of this act are: strengthen ocean governance; protect and restore marine wildlife and habitats; address ocean pollution; improve fisheries management. The bill also addresses needs regarding marine science, research and technology, marine mammals, coastal development, and invasive species.

Boxer is an original cosponsor of Senator Jim Jeffords’ (I-VT) Clean Power Act.[37] This legislation would reduce emissions of four pollutants coming from power plants; sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and mercury.

As the new head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in January 2007, Boxer wants to reduce energy consumption. She is trying to curb global warming by leading pilot programs. The few things that she and some of her fellow Senators are doing could cut electricity consumption by as much as 50 percent in their Capitol Hill offices.[38]

Senator Boxer was the Senate sponsor of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which was signed in to law by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The bill protected 275,830 acres (1,116 km2) of federal land as wilderness and 21 miles (34 km) of stream as a wild and scenic river, including such popular areas as the King Range and Cache Creek.[39] Senator Boxer worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Mike Thompson (the bill's House sponsor) in the five-year effort to pass the legislation.

Boxer along with her colleague Dianne Feinstein voted in favor of subsidy payments to conventional commodity farm producers at the cost of subsidies for conservation-oriented farming.[40]

Abortion

Boxer speaking at an ACLU event.

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.

Boxer is an original cosponsor of the Title X Family Planning Services Act of 2005, S.844, by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). This legislation aims to improve access to women's health care. It authorizes funding for family planning services grants; allows states to provide such services to individuals who may not be eligible for Medicaid; prohibits health insurance providers from excluding contraceptive services, drugs or devices from benefits; establishes a program to disseminate information on emergency contraception; requires hospitals receiving federal funding to offer emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault; provides grants to public and private entities to establish or expand teen pregnancy prevention programs; and requires that federally funded education programs about contraception be medically accurate and include information about health benefits and failure rates.

Boxer does not support restrictions on the availability of abortion, such as a ban of late-term (sometimes called "partial-birth") abortion procedures, and parental notification requirements.

Victims of violence

As a member of the House of Representatives, Boxer authored the original Violence Against Women Act. Later in 1994, she cosponsored, and the Senate passed, the Violence Against Women Act, which provided reforms to the criminal justice system to better prosecute violent crimes against women, and provided Federal funding to local law enforcement agencies for training and equipment necessary for prosecution. Boxer has also authored the Violence Against Children Act, based on the successful VAWA. (Boxer has been a consistent advocate of the death penalty until recently. In 2006 she introduced a bill calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.)

Social Security

Boxer supports the current system of Social Security, and opposed President George W. Bush's plan for partial privatization of Social Security.[41][42] She introduced the 401(k) Pension Protection Act to protect retirement by requiring the diversification of 401(k) plans. A modified version of the bill was signed into law as part of the 1997 tax bill.

Following the Enron scandal, Boxer again worked to ensure that retirement plans are diversified. She also introduced a bill to prohibit accounting firms from auditing and consulting for the same company.

National security

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Boxer authored a bill to protect commercial airliners against attacks by shoulder-fired missiles, and wrote the law allowing airline pilots with special training to carry guns in the cockpit.

Senator Boxer has lunch with California Marines during her visit to Iraq. (2005-03-22)

Boxer wrote the High-Tech Port Security Act, and sponsored the Chemical Security Act to address terrorist threats against chemical plants. Senator Boxer also cosponsored comprehensive rail security legislation.

Iraq War

In October 2002 Boxer voted against the joint resolution passed by the U.S. Congress to authorize the use of military force by the Bush Administration against Iraq.[43][44][45] Later on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart she characterized that vote as "The best vote of my life."

In June 2005, Senators Boxer and Russ Feingold (D-WI) cosponsored Senate Resolution 171 calling for a timeframe for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Boxer's petition demanding an exit strategy from Iraq drew 107,218 signatures.[46]

Surveillance

In June 2008 Boxer spoke in the Senate in opposition to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008,[47] a pending bill in the United States Congress to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,[48] and later broke with her counterpart Sen. Dianne Feinstein and voted against it.[49]

Election reform

Senators Boxer and Clinton unveil the Count Every Vote Act. (2005-02-18)

On 18 February 2005 Senators Boxer, Hillary Clinton, and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones introduced the Count Every Vote Act of 2005, which would provide a voter verified paper ballot for every vote cast in electronic voting machines and ensure access to voter verification for all citizens. The bill mandates that this ballot be the official ballot for purposes of a recount. The bill sets a uniform standard for provisional ballots and requires the Federal Election Assistance Commission to issue standards that ensure uniform access to voting machines and trained election personnel in every community. The bill also mandated improved security measures for electronic voting machines.[50] The bill did not pass.

Bush nominees

During the confirmation hearings for the United States Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice in January 2005, Boxer challenged her to admit to alleged mistakes and false statements made by the Bush Administration in leading the United States into the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and ultimately voted against confirmation, along with twelve other senators.[51][52] The dissent was the highest vote against a Secretary of State nominee since 1825 when Henry Clay was so named.[53]

Boxer voted against John Bolton's nomination for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and filibustered him on the Senate floor. As a result of the strong Democratic opposition Bolton could not obtain Senate approval. However, President Bush bypassed the Senate by employing the constitutional right of recess appointment, only the second time such an appointment has been used for a United States ambassador to the United Nations since the UN's founding in 1945. Recess appointments themselves have been used numerous times by various presidents.

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.[54][55] Her votes against these two nominees were motivated by concerns over their record on abortion, women's rights, and the proper role of executive authority.

Foreign policy

In 1997 the Senate passed a 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.

Senator Boxer meets Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. (2005-03-30)

In 2002, Senator Boxer voted against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She has subsequently referred to that vote as the best vote of her career. She also voted against the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) while a member of the House in 1991[56] and was a very vocal protester against the Vietnam War in the 1970s.[57]

Boxer is a cosponsor of S. 495, or the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005, which would impose sanctions against perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The Internet

Along with former Republican Senator George Allen (R-VA), Boxer authored the Jumpstart Broadband Act. This bill would make more spectrum available for use by devices that incorporate new broadband technology, such as WiFi. The Federal Communications Commission is now implementing the Boxer-Allen bill.

Boxer opposes access and sales taxes on the Internet, co-authoring a bill with Republican Sen. George Allen in 2001 to extend the Internet tax moratorium for five years.

Gun control

Senator Boxer joined colleagues to pass a Federal ban on various semi-automatic firearms and established the COPS program. She supports reauthorization of both programs.

LGBT issues

The Human Rights Campaign gave Boxer ratings of 100%, 88% and 100% for the 107th, 108th, and 110th sessions of Congress, respectively, indicating a support of the HRC's slate of pro-gay legislative issues.[58] In 1996, she was one of fourteen Senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act[59] and also voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006,[60] although when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples she stated that she supported California's domestic partnership law but agreed with its definition that marriage was between a man and a woman.[61] She has also co-sponsored the Matthew Shepard Act,[62] which would expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include crimes based on the victim's sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as the Uniting American Families Act.[63] She opposed Proposition 8, a bill that, if passed, would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Proposition 8 passed with a 52.30% to 47.70% majority.[citation needed]

India-U.S. nuclear deal

Boxer is one of the most outspoken critics of the nuclear energy deal between the United States and India. Boxer is of the opinion that India should not get help from the U.S. in the civilian nuclear energy sector until it breaks its relationship with Iran.[64]

Indian gaming

The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly the Federated Coast Miwok, was officially recognized by the U.S. government on 27 December 2000, pursuant to an act of Congress. California 6th District Representative Lynn Woolsey introduced the Graton Rancheria Restoration Act (105th CONGRESS, 2d Session, H.R. 4434) 6 August 1998. It was ultimately approved and signed by President Clinton as Title XIV of the Omnibus Indian Advancement Act (Public Law No. 106-568).

Representative Woolsey's original bill (H.R. 4434, later H.R. 946) would not have permitted the FIGR to have a casino. Senator Boxer removed that prohibition when she included Woolsey's bill in the Omnibus Act.

Censuring President Bush

Senator Boxer is, along with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, one of only two Senate Democrats to come out in favor of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President George W. Bush.[65]

Support for Fellow Democrats

Senator Boxer is a major supporter of fellow Democrats running for office. Boxer’s PAC for a Change, an ActBlue-active PAC, is a progressive organization that advocated for basic human rights, economic justice, and social justice, and supports candidates who share those values.

Congressional scorecards

See also

Project Vote Smart provides the following results from congressional scorecards.[66]

Ideological ratings

The American Civil Liberties Union has given her 75%.[68]

The League of Conservation Voters has given her 100% on environmental issues.[69]

The American Conservative Union has given her a lifetime rating of 3%[70]

The Human Rights Campaign has given her ratings of 100%, 88%, and 100% (in 2006, 2004, and 2002 respectively) on issues of GLBT equality.[71]

Criticizing Condoleezza Rice's judgment

Boxer criticized then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's judgment in relation to the war in Iraq: "I personally believe – this is my personal view – that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell the war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth."[72]

In January 2007, Boxer was in the news for comments she made when responding to Bush's plans to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. "Who pays the price?" Boxer asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a personal price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families... not me, not you." When Rice interjected, Boxer responded by saying, "Madam Secretary, please. I know you feel terrible about it. That's not the point. I was making the case as to who pays the price for your decisions. And the fact that this administration would move forward with this escalation with no clue as to the further price that we're going to pay militarily... I find really appalling."[73]

The New York Post and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow considered this an attack on Rice's status as a single, childless female and referred to Boxer's comments as "a great leap backward for feminism."[74] Rice later echoed Snow's remarks, saying "I thought it was okay to not have children, and I thought you could still make good decisions on behalf of the country if you were single and didn’t have children." Boxer responded to the controversy by saying "They’re getting this off on a non-existent thing that I didn’t say. I’m saying, she’s like me, we do not have families who are in the military."[75]

Keith Olbermann accused the commentators, particularly Rush Limbaugh, of making Boxer's comments into an issue when the same people were not outraged when "Laura Bush said Secretary Rice would never be elected president because she was not married."[76]

Television appearances

She has made cameo appearances as herself in several television shows, including Murphy Brown (1994),[77] Gilmore Girls (2002)[77] and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007),[78] as well as a cameo in the 2000 film Traffic.[77]

Awards and honors

Boxer has been honored in Congress by:

Boxer has been recognized as a champion of human rights by:

Boxer has been awarded with two Doctor of Laws honorary degrees, one from Mills College and the other from Dominican University of California.

Major speeches and statements

Electoral history

California United States Senate election, 1992
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Barbara Boxer 5,173,567 47.3
Republican Bruce Herschensohn 4,644,182 43.0
American Independent Jerome McCready 373,973 3.4
Peace and Freedom Genevieve Torres 372,817 3.4
Libertarian June R. Genis 235,919 2.1
Total votes 10,799,436 100%
California United States Senate election, 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Barbara Boxer (incumbent) 4,410,056 53.0 +5.9
Republican Matt Fong 3,575,078 43.0 + 0
Libertarian Ted Brown 93,926 1.1 -1.1
American Independent H. Joseph Perrin, Sr. 54,699 0.7 -2.1
Peace and Freedom Ophie C. Beltran 48,685 0.6 -2.2
Total votes 8,182,444 100%
California United States Senate election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Barbara Boxer (incumbent) 6,955,728 57.7 +5.2
Republican Bill Jones 4,555,922 37.8 +1.5
Peace and Freedom Brian M. Rees 243,846 2.2 +0
Libertarian James P. Gray 216,522 1.8 -0.3
American Independent Don Grundmann 81,224 0.7 -0.4
Total votes 12,053,242 100%

Congressional service

Public Offices
Office Branch Location Elected Term began Term ended
Representative Legislative Washington, D.C. 1982 3 January 1983 3 January 1985
Representative Legislative Washington, D.C. 1984 3 January 1985 3 January 1987
Representative Legislative Washington, D.C. 1986 3 January 1987 3 January 1989
Representative Legislative Washington, D.C. 1988 3 January 1989 3 January 1991
Representative Legislative Washington, D.C. 1990 3 January 1991 3 January 1993
Senator Legislative Washington, D.C. 1992 3 January 1993 3 January 1999
Senator Legislative Washington, D.C. 1998 3 January 1999 3 January 2005
Senator Legislative Washington, D.C. 2004 3 January 2005 3 January 2011
United States Congressional service
Dates Congress Chamber Majority President Committees Class/District
1983–1985 98th U.S. House Democratic Ronald Reagan Armed Services District 6
1985–1987 99th U.S. House Democratic Ronald Reagan Armed Services District 6
1987–1989 100th U.S. House Democratic Ronald Reagan Armed Services District 6
1989–1991 101st U.S. House Democratic George H. W. Bush Armed Services District 6
1991–1993 102nd U.S. House Democratic George H. W. Bush Armed Services District 6
1993–1995 103rd U.S. Senate Democratic Bill Clinton Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
1995–1997 104th U.S. Senate Republican Bill Clinton Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
1997–1999 105th U.S. Senate Republican Bill Clinton Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
1999–2001 106th U.S. Senate Republican Bill Clinton Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
2001–2003 107th U.S. Senate Republican George W. Bush Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
2003–2005 108th U.S. Senate Republican George W. Bush Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
2005–2007 109th U.S. Senate Republican George W. Bush Commerce, Environment, Foreign Relations Class 3
2007–2009 110th U.S. Senate Democratic George W. Bush Commerce, Environment (chair), Foreign Relations Class 3
2009-Present 111th U.S. Senate Democratic Barack Obama Commerce, Environment (chair), Foreign Relations Class 3

Electoral history

References

  1. ^ Ashley, Beth (July 13, 2006). "Boxer moves from Marin County to Oakland". Oakland Tribune. 
  2. ^ 1
  3. ^ Information on Senator Barbara Boxer of California
  4. ^ Bioguide
  5. ^ Barbara Boxer (1940– ) By Seymour "Sy" Brody
  6. ^ The New York Times: "A Rose Garden Wedding", May 30, 1994, accessed 6 May 2006
  7. ^ http://www.shortsupport.org/cgi/n_whowho_bio.cgi?seq=13&orderby=height&direction=ASC
  8. ^ http://www.shortsupport.org/cgi/n_whowho_bio.cgi?seq=301&orderby=height&direction=ASC
  9. ^ 10 Questions For Barbara Boxer - TIME
  10. ^ SFGate.com, Accessed 6 May 2006
  11. ^ Government Relations
  12. ^ The House Bank; House Bank Overdrafts Add to Voters' Outrage - New York Times
  13. ^ Clinton Woes a Snag for 3 Female Incumbents
  14. ^ Beware the Trickster
  15. ^ BioGuide
  16. ^ "U.S. Senate Detail" (PDF). http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/sov/2004_general/formatted_us_sen_detail.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-09-11. 
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  25. ^ "Another bloc of Senate supers for Obama". Politico. 2008-06-04. http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0608/Another_bloc_of_Senate_supers_for_Obama.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-29. 
  26. ^ "Barbara Boxer Running for Re-election in 2010". NewsMax.com, Associated Press. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/20/123257.shtml?s=po. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. 
  27. ^ Recent Press Release from Barbara Boxer, US Senator from California
  28. ^ Strengthening the Economy: Barbara Boxer, US Senator, California
  29. ^ For the whole paragraph: Boxer page on U.S. Senate website, Accessed 6 May 2006
  30. ^ An Open Letter to Nancy Reagan, by Barbara Boxer, Accessed 6 May 2006
  31. ^ For the whole section except where noted: U.S. Senate Boxer website, Education, Accessed 6 May 2006
  32. ^ Boxer website: Excellence in Education Awards, Accessed 6 May 2006
  33. ^ http://boxer.senate.gov/issues/economy/
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  35. ^ For the whole section, except where noted: Boxer Website: The Environment, Accessed 6 May 2006
  36. ^ oceanconservancy.org: Senator Boxer Introduces National Oceans Protection Act of 2005, Accessed 6 May 2006
  37. ^ Senate.gov: Statement by Barbara Boxer before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, June 12, 2002, Accessed 6 May 2006
  38. ^ Barbara Boxer Asks Senators to Save Energy". Associated Press, 26 January 2007.
  39. ^ http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=pubLawLibResults&PLID=150&WID=0
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  41. ^ Boxer Delivers Major Speech On Social Security
  42. ^ SOCIAL SECURITY PRESS CONFERENCE
  43. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20021017220016/http://boxer.senate.gov/newsroom/200210/20021003_frelat.html
  44. ^ http://www.hlrecord.org/media/paper609/news/2002/10/24/News/Senator.Boxer.Defends.Vote.On.Iraq.Resolution-304772.shtml
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  50. ^ S. 450 [109th]: Count Every Vote Act of 2005 (GovTrack.us)
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  53. ^ The New York Times > Washington > Rice Is Sworn In as Secretary After Senate Vote of 85 to 13
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  58. ^ http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRCscorecard2006.pdf
  59. ^ U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 104th Congress - 2nd Session
  60. ^ Barbara Boxer on the Issues
  61. ^ Top state Dems criticize S.F. mayor / TIGHTROPE: Politicians try not to anger voters - 50% of Californians oppose same-sex unions
  62. ^ Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
  63. ^ Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
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  65. ^ Call to Censure Bush Is Answered by a Mostly Empty Echo - New York Times
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  71. ^ http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Congress_and_Scorecard&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=34268
  72. ^ Why the Crass Remarks About Rice?. The Washington Post, 22 January 2005.
  73. ^ Barrett, Ted. GOP senator: Bush plan could match Vietnam blunder CNN, January 11, 2007
  74. ^ White House Spokesman Blasts Sen. Boxer's Exchange With Secretary Rice. FOXNews.com, 12 January 2006.
  75. ^ "Exchange Turns Into Political Flashpoin", The New York Times, 12 January 2007
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Articles

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Phillip Burton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 6th congressional district

1983 – 1993
Succeeded by
Lynn C. Woolsey
United States Senate
Preceded by
Alan Cranston
United States Senator (Class 3) from California
1993 – present
Served alongside: Dianne Feinstein
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Jim Inhofe
Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
2007 – present
Incumbent
Preceded by
George Voinovich
Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee
2007 – present
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Breaux
Chief Senate Democratic Deputy Whip
2005 – present
Incumbent

 
 

 

Copyrights:

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