Linda Sánchez

Linda Sánchez
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 38th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Grace Napolitano
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th district
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Ed Royce
Succeeded by	Ed Royce
Personal details
Born	(1969-01-28) January 28, 1969 Orange, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jim Sullivan
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles

Linda T. Sánchez (born January 28, 1969) is the U.S. Representative for California's 38th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2003. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life, education and career

Sánchez was born in Orange, California and grew up with six siblings, raised by Mexican immigrant parents in Anaheim. She earned her BA in Spanish in 1991 at the University of California, Berkeley and her Juris Doctor degree in 1995 at the UCLA School of Law, where she was an editor of the Chicano-Latino Law Review.

Sánchez was an attorney specializing in labor law prior to her public service career. In 1998, she joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and became a compliance officer. In 2000 she was unanimously elected to the position of Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Orange County Central Labor Council.

Political campaigns

Sánchez started her political career after a new 39th congressional district was created following the 2000 Census (the old 39th district had very different boundaries). She finished first in a six person primary for the Democratic Party nomination in March 2002. She won the primaries with 33.5% of the vote, with the second place candidate receiving 29.3%. She went on to win the general elections against Republican Tim Escobar by a 54.9% to 40.8% margin. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primaries in 2004, and faced Escobar again in the general elections. She defeated Escobar by a margin of 60.7% to 39.3%. For the 2006 elections, she defeated two challengers in the primary with 77.8% of the vote, and defeated attorney James L. Andion in the general election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Congresswoman Sanchez participates in Long Beach's Veterans Day celebration.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ethics (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Ways and Means

Party leadership and Caucus membership

• House Democratic Party Steering and Policy Committee
• Co-founder of the Labor and Working Families Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus

She has two committee assignments in the House: the Committee on Ethics and the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. In 2005, she was appointed Assistant Minority Whip. She is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and is Co-Chair of the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus (she co-founded this caucus).

Davis-Bacon Act

Following Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005, President George W. Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, a 1934 law that requires government contractors to pay prevailing wages. Linda Sánchez was a very vocal critic of the suspension, and led the fight to reverse it. Sánchez eventually won, as Bush reversed himself on October 26, 2005.

Cyber-bullying prevention

In 2009 and again in 2009, Linda Sanchez introduced the "Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act," H.R. 1966, a bill which would criminalize the use of electronic communications if "the intent is to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person." This bill is a response to the suicide of Megan Meier, a 13 year old girl whose 2006 suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website MySpace. The bill has drawn criticism from members of the on-line community, legal scholars, and others who have contended that the bill would infringe the constitutional right of freedom of speech.

Controversies

After the Arizona State Legislature passed State Senate Bill 1070 and after Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed it into law, Linda Sanchez generated controversy when she claimed that the law, and similar laws throughout the United States, were the product of white supremacists: "There's a concerted effort behind promoting these kinds of laws on a state-by-state basis by people who have ties to white supremacy groups. It's been documented. It's not mainstream politics." Rep. Gary Miller called Sanchez's comments "an outrageous accusation." Her comments were also condemned by Steve Poizner.

In 2011, Sánchez voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

Personal life

Linda and her sister Loretta Sanchez are the first pair of sisters to serve simultaneously in the United States Congress.

Sánchez is married to Jim Sullivan, whom she married on April 13, 2009, in the district office of Congressman John B. Larson, who introduced the two about two years prior to the wedding. The marriage is the second for Sanchez, and Sullivan has three children from a previous marriage. On May 13, 2009, she became the 8th woman to have given birth while serving in Congress when she gave birth to her first son, Joaquin Sánchez Sullivan.

Sánchez's father, Ignacio, suffers from Alzheimer's disease, which Sánchez has cited as a motivation for finding a cure for the disease.

She is the younger sister of 46th District Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who is nine years her senior, making them the first and to date only sister pair to serve in Congress. Linda Sánchez is considered to be more Progressive than her older sister. While Loretta began her political career as a moderate Republican before becoming a Democrat, Linda has always been a Democrat. Also, while Loretta is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition, Linda is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Stephen Colbert interviewed Sánchez for his 434-part series "Better Know A District" on The Colbert Report. The segment was aired on Comedy Central on March 9, 2006.

Sánchez delivered the Spanish version of the Democratic Radio Address on May 6, 2006.

In September 2006 Linda Sanchez won the contest "Funniest Celebrity in Washington" during a charity fundraiser.

Works

• Linda Sánchez, Loretta Sánchez and Richard Buskin, Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress, Grand Central Publishing (September 2, 2008) ISBN 978-0-446-50804-9, foreword by Nancy Pelosi

In 2008 sister congresswomen Loretta Sanchez and Linda Sanchez published the joint memoir Dream in Color: How the Sanchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress. Publishers Weekly reviewed the book and wrote: "Linda and Loretta Sanchez present their compelling story—noteworthy not only for their history-making achievements (including first sisters or women of any relation to serve together in Congress, first woman and person of color to represent a district in Orange County, first Latina on the House Judiciary Committee and first Head Start child to be elected to Congress) but also for its “American Dream” aspect—their parents immigrated from Mexico and despite lacking a formal education managed to send their seven children to college. Interweaving childhood vignettes with accounts of serving in Congress, both from California, this refreshing book evades many of the tropes of the typical political memoir—perhaps because these two women are not typical politicians."

Issue Positions

In the 2012 Political Courage Test, Linda Sánchez refused to answer the 13 major issues questions in the test, showing 0% political courageousness. Project Vote Smart, using public statements, voting record, and evaluations from special interest groups, was able to infer the major issues Sánchez would or not agree upon. Though not officially admitted by Sanchez, it is concluded that Sánchez:

• Supports Pro-choice legislation.
• Does not support combat operations in Afghanistan.
• Supports reducing defense spending to balance budget.
• Supports spending to increase economic growth.
• Supports federal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
• Supports the restriction of the purchase and possessions of guns.
• Does not support the requirement for illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship.
• Supports same-sex marriage.
• Supports strong social security legislation

Abortion

According to careful research done by Project Vote Smart, they were able to determine that Linda Sánchez was pro-choice in the issue of abortion.

• Linda Sánchez "supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 0 percent in 2010."
• On 13 October 2011, Linda Sánchez "strongly opposed" the Protect Life Act (H.R. 358).
• Linda Sánchez supported the interests of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
• Linda Sánchez has voted Nay in many anti-abortion legislation, such as the Abortion Pain Bill, prohibiting Federally Funded Abortion Services, prohibiting Taxpayer Funding of Abortion, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

Same-sex marriage

On October 4, 2011, Linda Sánchez made a statement on the LGBT History Month, saying: "We must continue to strive to end discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and fight so that all Americans have the right to marry and start families with those they love. I remain committed to supporting marriage equality, investments in HIV/AIDS care, treatment and research, and campaigns that take action against bullying in schools."

On a letter written on February 9, 2010 to President Barack Obama, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Charles Schumer, Sánchez explained how "Currently, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses (and other immediate family members) for immigration purposes. But, same-sex partners committed to spending their lives together are not recognized as "families" under U.S. immigration law and thus do not have this same right." and how "This is unacceptable, and we believe comprehensive immigration reform legislation must include a strong family reunification component inclusive of LGBT families."

External links

• U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sanchez official U.S. House site
• Linda Sanchez for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch
• Works by or about Linda Sánchez in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Book Review of Dream In Color at Letters On Pages

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Ed Royce	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th congressional district 2003–2013	Succeeded by Ed Royce
Preceded by Grace Napolitano	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 38th congressional district 2013–present	Incumbent