Jane Harman

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Jane Harman
Jane Harman, official portrait, 111th Congress.jpg
President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 28, 2011
Preceded by Lee Hamilton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 36th district
In office
January 3, 2001 – February 28, 2011
Preceded by Steven Kuykendall
Succeeded by Janice Hahn
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by George Brown
Succeeded by Steven Kuykendall
Personal details
Born Jane Margaret Lakes
(1945-06-28) June 28, 1945 (age 67)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Richard Frank (1969–1980)
Sidney Harman (1980–2011)
Alma mater Smith College
Harvard University
Religion Judaism

Jane Margaret Lakes Harman (born June 28, 1945) is the former U.S. Representative for California's 36th congressional district, serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

She resigned from Congress in February 2011 to become the head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.[1]

Contents

Early life and education [edit]

Harman was born Jane Margaret Lakes in New York City, the daughter of Lucille (née Geier) and Adolph N. Lakes.[2] Her father escaped Nazi Germany in 1935,[3] and worked as a medical doctor. Her maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia.[4] Harman attended Los Angeles public schools, graduating from University High School in 1962. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1966 and was Phi Beta Kappa.[5] Harman continued her studies at Harvard Law School, earning her law degree in 1969.[6] Harman divorced Richard Frank in 1980 and later married Sidney Harman, 26 years her senior.[7]

Career [edit]

Early career [edit]

After graduating from law school, Harman began her political career in Washington, D.C., by serving as chief counsel and staff director for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. She served in that position until moving over to the Executive Branch of government where she served as special counsel to the Department of Defense, and as Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet, both positions in the Carter Administration.

US Representative, 1993 to 1999 [edit]

Harman was first elected to Congress in 1992. From 1993 to 1999, Harman represented the 36th, serving in the 103rd, 104th, and 105th Congresses. In 1994, she barely survived reelection in a heavily Republican year, winning by 812 votes.

1998 California gubernatorial campaign [edit]

Harman did not run for the 106th United States Congress in 1998, instead entering the 1998 California gubernatorial race. It was during that race that she called herself "the best Republican in the Democratic Party."[8]

After losing the Democratic nomination to Gray Davis, she briefly taught public policy and international relations at UCLA before running for and winning her old congressional seat in the 2000 election.

U.S. Representative, 2000 to 2011 [edit]

Harman won her old seat in 2000, and was easily re-elected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

In the June 2006 Democratic primary, Progressive Democrats of America candidate Marcy Winograd challenged Harman.[9] After watching Harman defend the recently revealed Bush program of warrantless wiretapping on Meet the Press,[10] Winograd moved into the congressional district and filed for Harman’s seat. Winograd criticized Harman's role as ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee in failing to protest when briefed on the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program and voting for the Iraq war authorization[11] Then-Vice-President Dick Cheney later confirmed that Harman knew about and approved of the program.[12]

Harman won the primary, 62.5% to 37.5%.[13] Harman was re-elected in the 2006 general election to the 110th United States Congress, defeating Republican challenger Brian Gibson.

AIPAC controversy [edit]

In October 2006, Time magazine, quoting anonymous sources, asserted that an FBI and U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Harman was underway. The magazine alleged that Harman had agreed to lobby the Department of Justice to reduce espionage charges against Steve J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, two officials at the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In exchange, Time said there was a quid pro quo in which AIPAC would lobby then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to appoint Harman as chair of the House Intelligence Committee if the Democrats captured the House after the 2006 elections.

Harman, the FBI, the Justice Department and Pelosi's office all denied knowledge of or involvement with any investigation.[14] AIPAC denied it had engaged in a quid pro quo with Harman. "AIPAC would never engage in a quid pro quo in relation to a federal investigation or any federal matter and the notion that it would do so is preposterous," a spokesperson said at the time.[14]

Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House committee prior to the 2006 election,[15] making her the most likely appointee as chair of that House committee after the Democrats took control of the House in January 2007. Pelosi appointed Silvestre Reyes instead.[16]

In April 2009, CQ Politics, also quoting anonymous sources, said Harman had been captured on a National Security Agency wiretap prior to the 2006 elections, telling an "Israeli agent" that she would "waddle into" lobbying the Department of Justice on the AIPAC case. Harman ended the phone call, according to CQ, by saying, "This conversation doesn’t exist."[17][18] Harman denied the allegations, saying: "These claims are an outrageous and recycled canard, and have no basis in fact. I never engaged in any such activity. Those who are peddling these false accusations should be ashamed of themselves."[16]

According to CQ, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales pressed Central Intelligence Agency Director Porter Goss to drop the agency's investigation of Harman because he wanted Harman's support during the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy about to break in The New York Times.[14] Harman called The New York Times and urged them not to publish details on the program.[19] Gonzales and Goss declined to comment.[17]

Political positions [edit]

Harman is on most issues a liberal, earning a 95-percent rating from the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action. On intelligence and defense issues, she tends to be a moderate. For example, she was one of many Democrats who supported the Iraq War.[19] As a member of the Democratic Leadership Council, Harman has combined a moderate stance on economic, trade, and foreign policy issues with a more liberal stance on social issues. For instance, while voting with Republicans to restrict rules on personal bankruptcy, for lawsuit reform, and to abolish the estate tax — as well as on protecting those defense contractors with business interests in her congressional district — Harman voted against the ban on partial-birth abortions, lawsuits against gun manufacturers, the Defense of Marriage Act, and banning indecent broadcasting.

H.R. 1955 [edit]

Harman was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for submitting HR 1955, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, which passed in the House 404-6. The ACLU claimed the bill included unconstitutional limitations on free speech and beliefs.[citation needed] A related piece of legislation in the US Senate, S. 1959, was submitted by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins in 2007 but died in committee.[citation needed]

Armenian Genocide [edit]

Harman was a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution bill in 2007. However, while still cosponsoring the bill, she wrote a letter to House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Tom Lantos urging him to withdraw the bill.[20] Her argument was that while the genocide deserved recognition, it was not a good time to embarrass Turkey, given that country's role in moderating extremism in the Middle East.[21]

Warrantless wiretapping [edit]

Harman defended the Bush administration's use of international (cross-border) warrantless wiretapping through the National Security Agency, saying: "I believe the program is essential to U.S. national security and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities."[22] Harman suggested that both the original "despicable"[23] whistleblowers and The New York Times, which broke the story, should be investigated, and in the case of The Times, "limits on press immunity" should be looked into.[24] Harman repeatedly pressured the Times not to publish the warrantless wiretap story. In late 2004, Harman called Phillip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief of the Times, to discourage him from running the story. In December 2005, Harman was among a group of lawmakers who visited Taubman in an attempt to convince him not to run the story.[25] Following reports in April 2009 of her conversations being recorded without her knowledge, she appeared to take a different stance regarding wholly domestic wiretaps. In an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC:

That's what I've asked Attorney General Holder to do—to release any tapes, I don't know whether they were legally made or not, of my conservations about this matter... and to hope that he will investigate whether other members of Congress or other innocent Americans might have been subject to this same kind of treatment. I call it an abuse of power in the letter I wrote him this morning... I'm just very disappointed that my country — I'm an American citizen just like you are — could have permitted what I think is a gross abuse of power in recent years. I'm one member of Congress who may be caught up in it, but I have a bully pulpit and I can fight back. I'm thinking about others who have no bully pulpit, and may not be aware, as I was not, that right now, somewhere, someone is listening in on their conversations, and they're innocent Americans.
—Jane Harman, [26]

U.S. House committee assignments [edit]

Personal life [edit]

Harman's first marriage was to Richard Frank, in 1969, with whom she had two children.[27] Her second marriage was to audio pioneer and mulch-millionaire Sidney Harman, who at the time was Undersecretary of the Department of Commerce in the Carter administration.[28] She also had two children with him.[27]

Asked in 2010 about a possible conflict of interest, Sidney Harman said: "We’ve been married for over 30 years. I’ve never told her how to run the government and she’s never told me how to run the business [Harman International Industries]. That’s absolutely fundamental to us."[29] He died in April 2011.[28]

Jane Harman maintains a residence in Venice, Los Angeles, California.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "The Fix - Jane Harman to resign from Congress". Washington Post. February 7, 2011. 
  2. ^ Current Women Members
  3. ^ Wilgoren, Jodi (May 5, 1998). "Harman: A Focus for Her Ambitions". Los Angeles Times. 
  4. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/reps/harman.htm
  5. ^ Jane Harman
  6. ^ "HARMAN, Jane L. – Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2008. 
  7. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Wz9OB2xLGecC&pg=PA832&lpg=PA832&dq=%22Jane+Margaret+Lakes%22+married+1980&source=bl&ots=neiE5nBJnD&sig=tJViY1q8o2wPcPALnH5Dr3gpqKc&hl=en&ei=7t9QTfSyKo66sQOK37XzBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&sqi=2&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22Jane%20Margaret%20Lakes%22%20married%201980&f=false
  8. ^ Skelton, George (March 23, 1998). "California and the West; In the Ring, With Contenders for Governor.". Los Angeles Times. LATimes.com. p. 3. Retrieved September 31, 2008. 
  9. ^ "The Abolitionist and the Whig," LA Weekly, May 18, 2006.
  10. ^ "Transcript for February 12: Peter Hoekstra, Jane Harman, Pat Roberts & Tom Daschle." Meet the Press. February 12, 2006.
  11. ^ "Democrats Battle Over Safe Seat in Congress," Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2006.
  12. ^ Salon: Cheney says Top Congressional Democrats Complicit in Spying
  13. ^ "Statement of Vote, Summary Pages." California Elections and Voter Information. California Secretary of State. 2006.
  14. ^ a b c Burger, Timothy (October 10, 2006). "Exclusive: Feds Probe a Top Democrat's Relationship with AIPAC". Time magazine (Time magazine). Retrieved April 20, 2009. 
  15. ^ "A Year Later, Goss's CIA Is Still in Turmoil". 
  16. ^ a b Neuman, Johanna (April 20, 2009). "Jane Harman denies CQ report she was heard on NSA wiretap lobbying for AIPAC officials". LATimes.com (Los Angeles Times). Retrieved April 20, 2009. 
  17. ^ a b Stein, Jeff (April 19, 2009). "Sources: Wiretap Recorded Rep. Harman Promising to Intervene for AIPAC". CQ Politics. Congressional Quarterly. Retrieved April 20, 2009. [dead link]
  18. ^ Lewis, Neil A. and Mark Mazzetti (April 20, 2009). "Lawmaker Is Said to Have Agreed to Aid Lobbyists". New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2011. 
  19. ^ a b "Pelosi, Harman Have Long History". The Washington Post. April 23, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009. 
  20. ^ "House Rep. Flip-Flops On Armenian Genocide Stance". CBS. Associated Press. October 10, 2007. 
  21. ^ Healey, John (October 5, 2007). "Harman flip-flops on Armenian genocide resolution". LA Times. 
  22. ^ "Bush Says, Bring It On; the Critics Will". TIME. January 3, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2009. 
  23. ^ "Transcript for February 12". Meet the Press. February 12, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2009. 
  24. ^ "Jane Harman: I Deplore NSA Leak". Newsmax. February 12, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2009. 
  25. ^ Lewis, Neil A.; Mazzetti, Mark (April 20, 2009). "Lawmaker Is Said to Have Agreed to Aid Lobbyists". New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2009. 
  26. ^ Harman, Jane; Mitchell, Andrea (April 21, 2009; 13:00 ET). Andrea Mitchell Reports: Wiretapping Congress? (Television interview). MSNBC.
  27. ^ a b Jane Harman Papers
  28. ^ a b Shapiro, Taylor (2011). Arts Patron, Industrialist Sidney Harman Dies At 92 The Washington Post. April 13, 2011.
  29. ^ Vega, Tanzina (2010). Audio Pioneer Buys Newsweek. The New York Times. August 2, 2010.

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jane Harman
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
George Brown		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 36th congressional district
1993–1999		 Succeeded by
Steven Kuykendall
Preceded by
Steven Kuykendall		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 36th congressional district
2001–2011		 Succeeded by
Janice Hahn
Academic offices
Preceded by
Lee Hamilton		 President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
2011–present		 Incumbent
Authority control
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