Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee represented California districts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1998 to 2025 (105th-118th Congresses). Before her tenure in Congress, Lee served as chief of staff for Congressman Ron Dellums. She also served in both the California State Assembly and California State Senate. In Congress, Lee was a member of the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee which oversees all federal government spending. On the Appropriations Committee, Lee served as ranking member on the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs and a member of both the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. In January 2021, Lee became the first African American to chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Lee has played a significant role in the antiwar movement, notably in her vocal criticism of the Iraq War and, following the September 11 attacks, for being the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization of the use of force. Lee received a bachelor’s degree from Mills College and a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of California, Berkeley.