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Barbara Lee

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California

In office
April 21, 1998 – January 3, 2025

Preceded by

Ron Dellums

Succeeded by

Lateefah Simon

Constituency

9th district (1998–2013)
13th district (2013–2023)
12th district (2023–2025)

Caucus positions 2005–⁠2011

Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick
Succeeded by	Emanuel Cleaver
Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2009 Serving with Lynn Woolsey
Preceded by	Peter DeFazio
Succeeded by	Raúl Grijalva

Member of the California State Senate
from the 9th district

In office
December 2, 1996 – April 17, 1998

Preceded by

Nicholas Petris

Succeeded by

Don Perata

Member of the California State Assembly

In office
December 3, 1990 – November 30, 1996

Preceded by

Elihu Harris

Succeeded by

Don Perata

Constituency

13th district (1990–1992)
16th district (1992–1996)

Personal details

Born

Barbara Jean Tutt

July 16, 1946 (age 78)
El Paso, Texas, U.S.

Political party

Democratic

Spouses

Carl Lee

(m. 1964; div. 1966)
Clyde Oden

(m. 2019)

Children

Education

Mills College (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (MSW)

Website

Barbara Jean Lee (born July 16, 1946) is an American politician. She served as a U.S. representative for California from 1998 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Her district was based in Oakland and covered most of Alameda County.

Born in Texas, Barbara Lee studied at Mills College and the University of California, Berkeley. She began her political journey working for Shirley Chisholm's presidential campaign. She also worked with the Black Panther Party. Before joining Congress, she served in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.

Lee was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998. She is known as a progressive leader. She led the Congressional Progressive Caucus from 2005 to 2009. She also chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2009 to 2011. She is a strong voice in the antiwar movement. She was the only member of Congress to vote against using military force after the September 11 attacks.

In 2024, Lee ran for the United States Senate but did not win. In January 2025, she announced her campaign for mayor of Oakland.

Early Life and Education

Barbara Jean Tutt was born in El Paso, Texas. Her parents were Mildred Adaire and Garvin Alexander Tutt, a military officer. She is African-American. DNA analysis shows her family comes from Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. She was raised Catholic.

In 1960, her family moved from Texas to California. She went to San Fernando High School in Pacoima. Before she was 20, she was a single mother of two children. She received public assistance while attending Mills College. She earned a master's degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975.

Starting Her Political Journey

As president of the Mills College Black Student Union, Barbara Lee invited Representative Shirley Chisholm to speak. She then worked on Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign. Lee was a delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

While a student, she volunteered at the Black Panther Party's Community Learning Center in Oakland. She also worked on Bobby Seale's campaign for mayor of Oakland in 1973.

Serving in California's Government

In 1990, Barbara Lee was elected to the California State Assembly. She served three terms there. In 1996, she was elected to the California State Senate. She left her Senate seat in 1998 after winning a special election to the U.S. House.

Lee was the first African-American woman to represent Northern California in the California State Legislature. She wrote 67 bills that became law. These included the California Schools Hate Crimes Prevention Act. She also worked to protect LGBTQ+ rights.

She was a member of the California Commission on the Status of Women. She also started the California Commission on the Status of African American Males.

Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives

Becoming a Congresswoman

Lee speaking in the House on December 19, 1998, before the vote to impeach President Bill Clinton.

When Ron Dellums left the U.S. House in 1998, Barbara Lee ran to take his place. She won the special election with 66% of the votes. Later that year, she was elected for a full term with 83% of the votes. She has been re-elected 12 more times since then.

Instead of running for a 14th term, Lee decided to run for the United States Senate in 2024.

Her Time in Congress

Lee first represented California's 9th congressional district until 2013. Then she represented the 13th district until 2023. Since 2023, she has represented the 12th district. Her district includes cities like Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro. It is one of the most Democratic districts in the country.

In 2007, the National Journal looked at Lee's voting record. She voted with a more liberal stance than 84.3% of the House. She was ranked as the 3rd most progressive member of the House in 2015 by GovTrack's report.

Lee at John Lewis's funeral in Atlanta on July 30, 2020.

Lee supported Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. In 2019, she supported Kamala Harris for the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. As of 2023, Lee voted with President Joe Biden's positions 99.1% of the time.

Voting Against War Powers

Lee became widely known in 2001. She was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF). This bill allowed the president to use military force after the September 11 attacks. She voted no because she felt the bill gave the president too much power. She believed the facts were not yet clear.

She warned her colleagues to "be careful not to embark on an open-ended war." She said it was a "blank check" to the president. Her vote caused a lot of strong reactions. Many people were angry and sent her threats. The Capitol Police had to provide bodyguards for her. In 2002, she received the Seán MacBride Peace Prize for her vote.

In her speech, she quoted Nathan D. Baxter: "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore."

In 2017, the House Appropriations Committee approved Lee's plan to cancel the 2001 AUMF. In 2021, she sponsored a bill to repeal the AUMF, which passed the House. However, the Senate did not vote on it.

Views on Foreign Policy

Lee is a progressive Democrat, but she sometimes disagreed with her party on foreign policy. In 1998, she voted against military action in Iraq. In 1999, she voted against U.S. involvement in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

In 2017, Lee criticized President Donald Trump's comments on North Korea. She said his words were "putting the world at risk." She felt the U.S. should be the "grown-up in the room."

In 2018, Lee and other Democrats wanted to end U.S. military involvement in the conflict in Yemen. In 2019, she asked Trump to sign a resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led group in Yemen. She said the conflict was causing suffering for many civilians.

In 2019, Lee voted against a House resolution that condemned the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israel.

In 2021, Lee supported President Joe Biden's plan to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. In 2023, she voted to remove U.S. troops from Syria.

Lee supports U.S. aid to Ukraine during its invasion by Russia. She voted for all aid bills to Ukraine. She believes it helps "preserve democracy." However, she opposed Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine in 2023.

Gun Control

Lee strongly supports laws that limit access to guns. She took part in the 2016 sit-in against gun violence in the House. She said that Republicans had blocked efforts to pass "common sense gun reforms." She believes "weapons of war" should not be on America's streets.

Lee meets with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the STS-129 Space Shuttle crew in 2010.

Environment

In 2018, Lee introduced the Women and Climate Change Act. This bill aims to create a group to study women and climate change. Lee stated that climate change affects the world's poorest people the most. She noted that women are especially vulnerable to environmental changes.

Education

Lee wrote the Shirley A. Chisholm United States−Caribbean Educational Exchange Act. This act would improve U.S. relations with Caribbean nations. It would help schools in the Caribbean by providing teacher training. The bill is named after Shirley Chisholm, who inspired Lee's political career.

Black Panthers

In 1968, Lee started volunteering at the Black Panther Party's Community Learning Center in Oakland. She also worked on Bobby Seale's 1973 campaign for mayor of Oakland.

In 2017, Lee disagreed with the National Park Service removing funding for a Black Panther Legacy Project. She said the Black Panther Party was important to the civil rights movement. She believed the public has a right to know their history.

Presidential Election Objections

In 2001, Lee and other House members objected to counting Florida's electoral votes. This was for the 2000 presidential election. The objection was dismissed because no senator joined it.

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

After the 2016 presidential election, Lee objected to Michigan's and West Virginia's electoral votes. These objections were also dismissed.

Lee attends a bill signing ceremony in 2009.

Defense Budget

Lee has called for a 10% cut to the military budget of the United States. She supported an amendment to reduce the size of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. However, most Democrats and Republicans voted against it.

Housing

Lee has made affordable housing a top priority. She has supported laws to help people own homes. She also works to improve public housing and help people experiencing homelessness.

Health Care

Lee supports Medicare for All. This is a plan for a single-payer healthcare system.

Economy

Lee was among the 46 Democrats who voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. This bill dealt with the national debt.

Death Penalty

In 2002, Lee received the Mario Cuomo Act of Courage Award. This was for her opposition to the death penalty.

Committee Assignments

For the 118th Congress, Barbara Lee served on these committees:

Committee on Appropriations
- Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Ranking Member)
Committee on the Budget

Caucus Memberships and Leadership

Lee is part of many groups in Congress:

House Democratic Steering Committee (co-chair)
Medicare for All Caucus
Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity (chair)
Congressional Caucus on HIV/AIDS (co-chair)
Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus (co-chair)
Congressional Progressive Caucus (former co-chair and former whip)
Congressional Black Caucus (former chair, 2008–2010)
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus (vice chair and founding member)
Congressional Social Work Caucus (chair)
Congressional Arts Caucus
Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus (co-founder and co-chair)
Afterschool Caucuses
Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment

In 2013, Lee relaunched the Congressional Social Work Caucus as its new chair. She co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus from 2005 to 2009. She also chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2009 to 2011.

In 2018, she tried to become chair of the House Democratic Caucus but did not win. Later that year, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi recommended Lee to be a co-chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. This change was approved in December 2018.

United Nations Assignments

Lee was a U.S. representative to the United Nations General Assembly in 2013, 2015, and 2017.

2024 U.S. Senate Campaign

In January 2023, it was reported that Lee planned to run for the U.S. Senate. She wanted to take the seat held by Dianne Feinstein. Other Democrats, like Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, also announced their campaigns. Lee officially started her Senate campaign in Oakland on February 21, 2023. Feinstein passed away in September 2023. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to fill the rest of the term.

2025 Oakland Mayoral Campaign

After the 2024 Oakland mayoral recall election, Barbara Lee announced her campaign for mayor of Oakland. She made this announcement on January 8, 2025.

Personal Life

Lee with Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Jr. on their wedding day, December 31, 2019.

Barbara Lee married Carl Lee in 1964. They divorced when she was 20. They had two sons, Tony and Craig. She raised them as a single mother. Both sons now work in the insurance industry.

Lee married Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Jr. on New Year's Eve in 2019. He is a retired pastor. They live in Oakland.

In 2002, the Peace Abbey in Boston gave Lee the Courage of Conscience Award. This was for her vote against the call to war after the September 11 attacks. She repeated her quote, "let us not become the evil that we deplore."

In 2003, Lee was honored as a Woman of Peace at the Global Exchange Human Rights Awards. In 2010, she took the food stamp challenge. She also appeared in the documentary film Food Stamped.

In 2014, Lee contributed to Enitan Bereola II's book Gentlewoman: Etiquette for a Lady, from a Gentleman. In 2015, Lee won the 43rd Thomas Merton Award. Lee is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho.

Images for kids

Lee speaking in the House on December 19, 1998, before the vote to impeach President Bill Clinton.
Lee at John Lewis's funeral in Atlanta on July 30, 2020.
Lee meets with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the STS-129 Space Shuttle crew in 2010.
Lee attends a bill signing ceremony in 2009.
Lee with Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Jr. on their wedding day, December 31, 2019.