Zoe Lofgren

Infobox_Congressman
name =Zoe Lofgren


date of birth= birth date and age|1947|12|21
place of birth= San Mateo, California
occupation=attorney, political assistant
alma_mater=Stanford University, Santa Clara University
state = California
district = 16th
term_start = January 3, 1995
preceded = Don Edwards
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Democratic
religion = Lutheran
spouse = John Marshall Collins
residence = San Jose, California

Zoe Lofgren (born Sue Lofgren on December 21 1947), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 16th District of California ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ca16_109.gifmap] ), based in San Jose.

A lifelong Bay Area resident, Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, earned her B.A. at Stanford University and a J.D. at Santa Clara University. She left the San Jose area for a few years after graduation from Stanford, to serve years as a staff assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, where she worked, among other projects, on the attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. She was also instrumental in the creation of a Bay Area wilderness area that now bears the name of Edwards.

Returning to San Jose, Lofgren worked in Edwards' District Office, while at the same time earning her law degree. After two years as partner at an immigration law firm in San Jose, she was elected first to a Community College board, then to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she served as a county executive for 13 years. Lofgren also spent three years teaching classes on immigration law at her alma mater.

In 1994, Edwards decided to retire after 32 years in Congress. Lofgren entered the Democratic primary as a decided underdog, but managed to defeat the favorite, former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery. San Jose is heavily Democratic, and Lofgren's victory in the general election was considered a foregone conclusion. She has been reelected five times against weak Republican opposition, who had little funding. Lofgren is only the second representative of the 16th District (Edwards had served since the district's creation in 1963).

Lofgren is currently the chair of the 34-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and is the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. She also chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and serves on the House Homeland Security Committee.

During the 110th Congress, Lofgren worked for the development of fusion energy. She initated a bill that would accelerate its uses as an alternative energy solution. Another piece of legislation that she recently authored has the goal of providing lower Internet access rates to schools, libraries, and other public institutions.

Committee Assignments

*Committee on Homeland Security
**Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism
**Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology
*Committee On House Administration
**Subcommittee on Elections (Chair)
**Joint Committee on the Library
**Fine Arts Board
*Judiciary Committee
**Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
**Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law (Chair).
**Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
**Antitrust Task Force and Competition Policy
*Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/lofgren/ U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren] official House site
*CongBio|l000397
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H4CA16049 Federal Election Commission — Zoe Lofgren] campaign finance reports and data
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Zoe_Lofgren.htm On the Issues — Zoe Lofgren] issue positions and quotes
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00007479 OpenSecrets.org — Zoe Lofgren] campaign contributions
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNIP5883 Project Vote Smart — Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA)] profile
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Zoe_Lofgren SourceWatch Congresspedia — Zoe Lofgren] profile
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/l000397/ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Zoe Lofgren] voting record
* [http://www.lofgrenforcongress.com/ Zoe Lofgren for U.S. Congress] official campaign site