Representative Barbara Lee

...I have not endorsed because we're working to try to make sure that all of the candidates have the kind of scrutiny that they deserve...

...Barbara Lee was born into a military family in El Paso, Texas...

...Q: When people look back at your political legacy, what do you hope people will say...

...Lee: I really don't think about it much...

...She briefly received public assistance as a young single mother of two while attending Mills Andrea Lewis is a San Francisco-based journalist who was recently named a Stanford University Knight Journalism Fellow for 2007-2008...

...I want my constituents to evaluate all of them...

...So I don't have any tolerance for people who are cynical...

...We have to remember: We're digging ourselves deeper in a hole by staying there, and you don't dig yourselves out of a hole by digging yourself deeper...

...Lee: Well, if you lose faith in the political system, guess who runs the show...

...Q: Going back even further, you were the only person in all of Congress to vote against authorizing the Bush Administration's use of force in September 2001...

...Unfortunately, we didn't have enough votes to kill it...

...For progressives, especially those in Northern California, Lee was a singular, sane voice...

...We're working on legislation to repeal these tax cuts for the wealthy and put the money in poverty-elimination initiatives...

...Senator Obama came and got a phenomenal response: 15,000 people showed up...

...The longer we stay there the worse it's going to get...

...Second of all, Al Qaeda is there...

...That's happening...

...That was not only authority given to the Bush Administration, that was authority given to any Administration (unless we repeal it, of course, which I doubt if we will do) to use force in perpetuity as long as they can claim that it's part of the war on terror...

...As dissatisfaction with the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership has continued to grow, Lee's star within the Democratic Party has steadily risen...

...People need to yell, we need to put street heat on elected officials...

...And that is the result of the Bush Administration...

...It's a resolution that I knew was ripe for abuse...

...College in Oakland...

...It was there that she became involved with the Black Panther Party, volunteering at a local community center the party ran...

...What is your response to that...

...Here's the money to fully fund withdrawal, and to fully fund protecting the troops, which we must do, because there's going to be chaos, and also to fully fund a major diplomatic effort in the region and a reconstruction effort that is for real, that allows Iraqis to get involved in taking back their country...

...What I can do everyday to end poverty and end racism...

...We're talking about funding to protect them and bring them home...

...Those that are violent or invisible don't get anything...

...Q: How long do you see yourself in office...

...That was my amendment, which we couldn't get a vote on last time...

...And as we do with environmental-impact studies, I want poverty-impact statements on all of our policies...

...Con-gresswoman Maxine Waters, Lynn Woolsey, and I have gone to Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, to the early primary states, to try to help grassroots organizations and voters look at these candidates in the context of where they stand on the occupation, where they stand on poverty, where they stand on global warming, where they stand on education, and, of course, universal health care...

...The war, the occupation, the bombing, the destruction of that country created a real haven for Al Qaeda...

...So what I have to do every day is not think about my length of time in office, but what I can do to make this a better world and how I can help my constituents...

...Here in America, thirty-seven million people live in poverty...

...Not only did Lee persevere through those difficult times, she has expanded her role as one of the nation's most respected progressive politicians...

...Lee: No, I'm listening...

...they get the action...

...Q: Are you backing anyone in the 2008 Presidential race...

...Lee: Well, you know, I've never really thought about that...

...Congress in a special election in 1998 to fill Dellums's Congressional seat after his retirement...

...We're talking about stopping the funding to wage this unbelievable occupation that has created a civil war...

...If you don't register to vote, your lives are dictated by those who don't care about human beings but profits...

...It particularly affects communities of color, especially African Americans, women, here at home...

...In person, Barbara Lee is poised and confident, but she also radiates a surprisingly down-to-earth, unassuming air...

...So a lot of what I'm doing here in Congress has to do with closing these gaps: health care disparity gaps, criminal justice gaps in terms of the incarceration rates of young African American boys and men, affordable housing, and funding for education...

...It's also been used for domestic surveillance, for spying...

...Q: Many Americans have become cynical about politics...

...I think it was a step backward...

...Lee: The next step is to fully fund withdrawal...

...Every day I say, what can I do today to move the progressive agenda forward, to help more progressives and people of color get elected to Congress...

...There already is a civil war, and we created it, first of all...

...Congress gave up so many of our constitutional duties in terms of declaring war...

...A growing chorus on both sides of the Congressional aisle and many others around the country are now openly critical of the Bush Administration's policies...

...Poverty should be an oxymoron here in the richest nation...

...The notion that we were going to give him another blank check to continue this failed policy at a cost of thousands of American lives and untold Iraqi lives is just wrong, and people know that, and sooner or later I think we'll have the votes to stop it...

...There is a real struggle within our Democratic caucus...

...And trust me: I see every day constituents that yell loud...

...Barbara Lee: Sure, we had probably 160 or 170 votes against it...

...You can still see the "Barbara Lee Speaks for Me" bumper stickers on vehicles around the Bay Area, and though some of them are now a bit faded, the support for Barbara Lee's courage and integrity is stronger than ever...

...I've invited all the candidates to come to my district...

...I hope the kids have a better chance at the future that they deserve, and I hope that the world is a bit more peaceful...

...I don't have any tolerance for people who say it doesn't matter...

...Barbara Lee is no longer a lone voice...

...And it is ravaging sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, and other regions...

...If you're not at the table, you're not considered...

...Lee started as an intern in Del-lums's office, and eventually became his chief of staff...

...That was very disappointing...

...And for those of us who are committed, like a majority of the American people are, to ending this occupation and bringing the troops home, it did remind us of how much work there still is left to do...

...A large percentage is African American and Latino...

...What would you say to those who have lost some faith in our political system...

...That's not what we're talking about...

...Q: Another argument is that Al Qaeda will be strengthened and will claim victory if the United States withdraws...

...Because in a democracy, it's those who yell the loudest who get heard...

...I encourage young people to come work with me, and really see how this stuff works...

...And so for them to try to turn around and say we've got to stay there because that might happen is one of their disingenuous positions...

...Lee: The Bush Administration needs to be honest...

...After half a dozen postponements and reschedules, I spoke with Barbara Lee by telephone on a busy day in Congress...

...Others with more conservative political views slammed Lee, some going as far as sending her death threats...

...She can generate applause simply by entering a public gathering, and is a major draw at local events focusing on everything from AIDS to peacemaking...

...Lee's political career is closely tied to that of Ron Dellums, the former Congressman who is currently mayor of Oakland...

...I'm also concerned about economic inequality and the elimination of poverty...

...Q. Can you comment on the Iraq War funding • bill that passed in May...

...I have to give the Speaker a lot of credit: She's been able to pull together, for the most part, a majority of the caucus to be committed to finding a way to end this occupation and civil war...

...Looking back on that, how do you feel about that vote today...

...I'm focused on the present, and what it really means now to be in the majority...

...Many said, "Oh, you want to cut the funding from under our troops...

...But I hope what I'm doing will change people's lives and make them a little bit better...

...That simple phrase—with plain white text on a black background—began appearing on Bay Area bumper stickers shortly after Congresswoman Barbara Lee cast a lone vote against President Bush and his desire to wage war without restraint in the fall of 2001...

...Lee: It was a resolution that gave the President a blank check to wage an undefined war against an undefined enemy for an undefined period of time...

...After serving in the California state assembly from 1990 to 1996, and the state senate from 1996 to 1998, she was first elected to the U.S...

...Q: How do you think we'll be able to get out of Iraq...

...Q: Beyond the so-called war on terror, what are some of the issues you are most focused on...

...Lee is also a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, first vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and a senior Democratic whip...

...We shouldn't have given him that authority...

...Lee: Well, of course this HIV/AIDS pandemic, both domestic and abroad...

...What can I do to put issues on the Democratic agenda that heretofore have been too controversial or wouldn't get addressed because they didn't have a huge constituency...

...This is the only way I see an out...

...And once you see it, you say, "Oh my God, we've got to participate, otherwise we're leaving it up to the others to run the country and the world...

...She joined the House Appropriations Committee (which controls the federal purse strings) earlier this year, and also serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee, the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and the Legislative Branch Subcommittee...

...That, to me, is totally unacceptable...

...When Panther co-founder Bobby Seale ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, Lee helped out with the campaign...