Current Position: U.S. Representative (since 1991)
Credit: Congress Bio Directory
Why She Matters
Waters has never been afraid of the spotlight. Starting with her career in the California State Assembly where she rose to Democratic Caucus chair, the Los Angeles congresswoman has been an outspoken proponent of affirmative action, poverty-assistance programs, and many other liberal causes, both local and international, throughout her political career.
The 1992 L.A. race riots, which ripped apart neighborhoods in her South Los Angeles district, put Waters on the national stage early in her House career, and she has been equally vocal about issues ranging from Kenneth Starr to the war on drugs and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. She is a compelling national figure both within the African-American community and the most liberal factions in the Democratic Party.
Waters serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, and is chairwoman of its subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, where she has been outspoken in her criticism of CEOs and Wall Street bankers. She is also co-founder and chair of the ‘Out of Iraq’ Congressional Caucus and has been a major opponent of the Iraq war.
Even after her election to the U.S. House, Waters has remained a major player in Los Angeles politics through the power of her endorsements, and has traditionally supported many younger black politicians. But with the shifting demographics of her district – which in 2000 was 34 percent black and 47 percent Hispanic – Waters has recently also supported Latino candidates such as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Calif.), who she helped elect in 2005.
At a Glance
Current Position: U.S. Representative (since 1991)
Career History: State Assembly (1976 to 1990); Deputy to City Councilman David Cunningham (1973 to 1976); Head Start teacher (1966)
Birthday: August 15, 1938
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Alma Mater: California State, L.A., B.A. 1970
Spouse: Sidney Williams
Religion: Christian
Committees: N/A
DC Office: 2344 Rayburn House Office Building, 202-225-2201
District Offices: Los Angeles, 323-757-8900; Westchester, 310-642-4610
Email
Website
Path to Power
Waters was the fifth child born to a poor single mother in St. Louis, Mo., in 1938, and has often publicly discussed her childhood on welfare. When she was just 13, Waters began working in factories and segregated restaurants. After moving to Los Angeles in 1961, she worked in a garment factory while raising two children, and in 1970 she graduated from California State University in L.A. with a sociology degree.,
Waters’ political career began in 1973 when she began working for Los Angeles City Councilman David Cunningham (D). In 1976 she was elected to the California State Assembly, where she made a name for herself in both local and national party politics. Locally, she helped pass legislation divesting California funds from South Africa, expanding affirmative action, establishing a child-abuse prevention programand restricting police strip searches. She served on the Democratic National Committee beginning in 1980, and was active in Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) 1980 presidential campaign.
When then-Rep. Augustus Hawkins (D-Calif.), the first African-American from California to serve in Congress, retired in 1990, Waters was already a rising star in the California Democratic Party and thus an obvious successor. She won the seat easily with over 79 percent of the popular vote, and has never faced significant re-election challenges since in the heavily Democratic district. Waters continues to be a force in L.A. politics through the power of her endorsements; the inclusion of a candidate on her Progressive Connections slates that are mailed out to thousands of black voters (a privilege which they pay for) can make the difference between electoral victory and defeat.
Though Waters has never been indicted, and the accusations apparently did not affect political career, she has faced corruption allegations related to her local and family connections. In 2005, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed her as one of the “13 most corrupt members of Congress,” citing a December 2004 Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed that Waters’ family members made more than $1 million over eight years doing business with companies, candidates and causes that she endorsed or assisted.
In Her Own Words
"To the captains of the universe sitting here before all of us, all of my political life I have been in disagreement with the banking industry,” Waters said during hearings on the 2008-2009 financial crisis. “Underneath all of this is a conversation about the linkages and the connections of a small group of Wall Street types that are making decisions.”
The Issues
Throughout her 18 years in the House, Waters has remained one of the loudest voices of the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party, and she has often drawn attention for her biting attacks on political foes. During the period when Republicans held the House majority, she achieved a rare legislative victory with an amendment to triple spending to erase the debts of poor countries, mostly in Africa. She voted with her Democratic colleagues 97.3 percent of the time during the 111th Congress.
Health Care
Waters supports a strong public option that is not activated with a trigger.
Civil Rights
Beginning with her 14-year tenure in the California State Assembly and her roles in both the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Waters has made a name for herself as an important political figure in the black community, both locally and nationally. She has long been a proponent of affirmative action and measures to support minority-owned small businesses. In 1998, she led the development of the Minority AIDS Initiative that now receives approximately $400 million annually.
Early in her House career, Waters had a chance to expand her visibility on the national stage in the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. race riots, which ravaged large swaths of her district. After the riots broke out, Waters flew back to her district immediately and was instrumental in returning running water to the riot area and pushing a post-riot emergency act through Congress. She also seized the chance to be in the national spotlight, warning that, “Los Angeles is under siege. The violence could spill over to many other cities in this country.”
Waters has also framed drug policy as a race issue, claiming that the war on drugs, as played out in places like south central L.A., amounts to “apartheid.” She has sponsored numerous bills to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug crimes.
The Economy
From her seat on the House Financial Service Committee, Waters has had ample opportunity to berate the CEOs of banks receiving federal bailout money. At a February 2009 hearing, she addressed the heads of J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and five other large finance firms: “To the captains of the universe sitting here before all of us, all of my political life I have been in disagreement with the banking industry,” she said.
She also publicly grilled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about his connections to investment bank Goldman Sachs. “Underneath all of this is a conversation about the linkages and the connections of a small group of Wall Street types that are making decisions,” she said. Waters voted with the Democrats for the $700 billion financial bailout measure in fall 2008, and for the $789 billion federal stimulus package that passed in February 2009.
One United Controversy
Yet Waters has shown support for black-owned banks in her district, including Boston-based OneUnited, one of the nation’s largest black-owned banks, which operates branches in South L.A. and Miami. She has long been an opponent of so-called predatory lending practices, redlining and other forms of discriminatory lending.
In December 2008, OneUnited became one of the first minority-owned institutions to receive federal funds – $12 million – through the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, thanks in part to a September 2008 meeting between bank executives and Treasury officials that Waters arranged. In March 2009, the discovery of her husband’s connections to the bank (he previously served on the board and owned at least $250,000 of its stock) cast a shadow over the deal.
Iraq War
In 2002, Waters was one of 11 House members who voted against the use of force in Iraq. Along with Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and several other House Democrats, Waters founded the “Out of Iraq Caucus” in 2005, and currently chairs the caucus. In the summer of 2006, she campaigned in Connecticut for Ned Lamont in his primary battle against Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) because of Lamont’s anti-war stance.
At the time of its creation, the anti-war group was on the left-most fringe of the Democratic Party, but by 2007, with popular opinion shifting against the war, Waters, Lee and Woolsey became important figures in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)’s effort to pass a bill requiring the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq by August 2008. The bill ultimately failed.
The Network
Waters is an influential member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and an important leader of the growing number of members of Congress who are in favor of U.S. troop withdrawal in Iraq. She is a major player in local L.A. politics, with strong ties to black and Latino elected officials.
In July 2006, well before President Barack Obama announced his candidacy, Waters commented on the approach of Obama and other moderate black politicians like Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), saying, “There will be those black elected officials who decide they need to be more conservative so they can attract more white voters who happen to be more conservative.” But she warned that such an approach would “place them in terrible conflict” with black voters.
Waters initially endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, but on June 3, 2008, the day of the last Democratic primary, she switched to endorse Obama.
