Congresswoman Barbara Lee was first elected to represent California's ninth Congressional District in 1998, in a special election to fill the seat of retiring Congressman Ron Dellums.

After serving on the International Relations and Financial Services Committees, in 2007 she joined the House Appropriations Committee, which controls the federal purse strings and is widely viewed as one of the most powerful committees in Congress. On that committee, she serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee, and the State Foreign Operations Subcommittee and is Vice-Chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee.

She also serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-founder of the Out of Iraq and Out of Poverty Caucuses, a Senior Democratic Whip and is First Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), where she serves as Co-Chair of the CBC Outreach Task Force and Chair of the CBC Task Force on HIV/AIDS.