Anna Eshoo
Encyclopedia
Anna Georges Eshoo is the U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. The district, which includes part of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

, includes the cities of Redwood City
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...

, Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...

, Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...

 and Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

. She is the only Member of Congress of Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 descent.

Family background

Anna Eshoo was born in New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....

, of Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 and Armenian heritage. Her father, Fred Georges, was a jeweler and watchmaker. She is a Chaldean Catholic and is the oldest of three children. She has a brother, Frederick Kenneth Georges, and a sister, Veronica May Georges. Her sister is married to Lawrence Patrick Purcell and they have two children, Celine and Alexander Purcell.

She was married to attorney George Eshoo and is now divorced, with two children, Karen and Paul. She now resides in Atherton, California
Atherton, California
Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200...

.

Education

  • Associate of Arts degree, English, Cañada College
    Cañada College
    Cañada College is a community college located at 4200 Farm Hill Boulevard in an unincorporated area of Redwood City, California, just off Highway 280. Cañada College opened in 1968 as part of the three-school San Mateo County Community College District. It is one of the smallest community...

    , 1975
  • Fellow
    Fellow
    A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

    , Coro Foundation

Professional career

  • Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), 1963–66
  • Arcata National Corporation, 1966–70

Political career

  • Chair
    Chair (official)
    The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...

    , San Mateo
    San Mateo, California
    San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...

     Democratic Party, 1978–82
  • Member, Democratic National Committee
    Democratic National Committee
    The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...

    , 1981–92
  • Chief-of-Staff to Speaker pro tempore
    Pro tempore
    Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

    Leo McCarthy of the California State Assembly
    California State Assembly
    The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

    , 1981–82
  • Member, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
    San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
    The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is the five-member elected body that supervises the operation of San Mateo County, California. Board members represent one of five districts of roughly equal population within the county, but are elected at-large by all county voters...

    , 1982–92
  • President, San Mateo County
    San Mateo County, California
    San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...

     Board of Supervisors, 1986
  • Representative, U.S. House of Representatives, 1993–present
  • an at-large Democratic Whip
    Whip (politics)
    A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

    , U.S. House of Representatives, 2003–present

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1988, in the middle of Eshoo's second term on the San Mateo Board of Supervisors, Anna Eshoo ran for Congress in what was then the 12th District, but lost narrowly to Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 law professor Tom Campbell. However, when Campbell made an unsuccessful run for the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 in 1992, Eshoo ran for his vacated Congressional seat, which had been renumbered the 14th as a result of redistricting. She won by 17 points, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district since its creation in 1953 (it was the 11th District from 1953 to 1983 and the 12th from 1983 to 1993). She has been reelected nine times, never facing serious opposition. Most recently, she defeated Dave Chapman on November 2, 2010, garnering nearly 70 percent of the vote.

In 2003, Eshoo was elected by her Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 colleagues in the 108th Congress as an At-Large Democratic Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

, and she has served in that position to the present. She is currently the only Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 American member of Congress and one of two Armenian American members of Congress. The other Armenian-American in Congress is Jackie Speier
Jackie Speier
Karen Lorraine Jacqueline "Jackie" Speier is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco.She is also a former member of the California State...

, who represents the rest of San Mateo County.

On January 30, 2008, Rep. Eshoo formally endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 for President.

Issues and legislation

Anna Eshoo's complete voting record can be viewed at Vote Smart

Energy

In 2005, Eshoo worked with Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...

 to develop the Democratic Innovation Agenda, which calls for America to achieve independence from Middle East oil over the next ten years. She has led efforts to raise fuel standards for automakers, and pursued reliance on alternative energy sources both in California and nationally. Legislation includes:

Click here to download a copy of Eshoo's floor statement on H.R. 3321, the New Direction for Energy Independence Act.

Human rights

Anna Eshoo is a strong supporter of the gay rights movement. In 1992 when a gay bashing
Gay bashing
Gay bashing and gay bullying is verbal or physical abuse against a person who is perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender . Such abuse is used also to bully heterosexual persons and persons of non-specific or unknown sexual orientation.A "bashing" may be a specific incident, and one...

 mailer was directed at Supervisor Tom Nolan (the first openly gay supervisor in San Mateo and her opponent for her congressional seat) Anna Eshoo stood fast in defending him, his record and years of service. She opposed the Marriage Protection Amendment and the Marriage Protection Act. Her website says the bill is "discriminatory, singling out for the first time a minority to prevent their interests from being considered by the highest courts in the land."

As one of just two Assyrian members of Congress, Eshoo has worked hard to protect indigenous Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 Christians in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 from continuing religious persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....

 and political exclusion. She authored an amendment to H.R. 2601, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, requesting that "special attention should be paid to the welfare of Chaldo-Assyrians and other indigenous Christians in Iraq."

Rep. Eshoo has been a strong supporter of the Congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

. She also supports closer ties between Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

 and the U.S.

Rep. Eshoo has fought strongly against certain provisions of the Patriot Act, particularly Section 215 (Access to Business Records), which gives federal investigators the right to obtain any tangible business record without obtaining a subpoena.

Rep. Eshoo also introduced "Kevin's Law
Kevin's law
Kevin's Law was proposed legislation that would have given the U.S...

," which would have given the U.S. Department of Agriculture the power to close down plants that produce contaminated meat.

As an Assyrian and Armenian American, Rep. Eshoo is co-chair and co-founder of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus. She also serves on the Board of Advisors of THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated freedom of religion organization.

Immigration

Rep. Eshoo has worked to create a legal "pathway to citizenship" for foreign worker
Foreign worker
A foreign worker is a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen. The term migrant worker as discussed in the migrant worker page is used in a particular UN resolution as a synonym for "foreign worker"...

s of all kinds, from doctors and computer programmers to migrant farm workers. She has voted to increase the annual cap on H-1B visa
H-1B visa
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101. It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations...

s to allow more temporary foreign professionals to work in the United States (especially those with Master's Degrees or higher).

In her state of California, where as much as 90% of the agricultural workforce is composed of illegal immigrants, Rep. Eshoo cosponsored H.R. 371, the Agricultural Jobs Act, which would confer blue card status on illegal immigrants who had worked an agricultural job in the United States for 150 days or more. This bill never became law.

Other legislation includes:

Technology

In November 2005, Rep. Eshoo led the House Democratic Caucus in introducing the "Innovation Agenda." Representative Eshoo developed this comprehensive policy in conjunction with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...

 and others after extensive consultation with Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

 and tech leaders around the country, venture capitalists, and scholars.

She authored a bill authorizing electronic signatures and introduced controversial legislation to help alleviate the proliferation of unsolicited email, known as spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...

. The U.S. House of Representatives passed The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (S. 877), which authorizes a “Do Not Spam” list, regulates commercial email, and imposes fines on spammers. Eshoo authored the Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act of 2001 (H.R. 237), created a program to provide discounts to schools and libraries for Internet access, and authored the Computer Donation Incentive Act.

Rep. Eshoo introduced HR 2428, the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act
Broadband Conduit Deployment Act
The Broadband Conduit Deployment Act of 2009, HR 2428, would require new federal road projects to include plastic conduits buried along the side of the roadway, and enough of them to "accommodate multiple broadband providers."...

 of 2009. The bill would require new federal road projects to include plastic conduits buried along the side of the roadway, and enough of them to "accommodate multiple broadband providers." “According to industry experts, more than half of the cost of new broadband deployment is attributable to the expense of tearing up and repaving roads,” said Rep. Eshoo. “By putting the broadband conduit in place while the ground beneath the roadways is exposed, we will enable any authorized communications provider to come in later and install fiber-optic cable at far less cost.” The bill is supported by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

.

Together with Rep. Edward Markey Eshoo introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, which would make Net Neutrality the law.

Rep. Eshoo currently serves as co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus, a bipartisan group of over 150 members of the House and Senate working to educate their colleagues about the promise and potential of the Internet.

Youth

Eshoo created student advisory boards in 1993 consisting of youth from her congressional district, who advise her on policies and make recommendations, and are located in Palo Alto, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. The students attend biweekly meetings and choose one topic to focus on each year. Past topics have included health care, the crisis in Darfur, medicine, voter reform, foreign affairs, and the media. Eshoo also hosts a congressional arts competition, which students can apply to win.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Energy and Commerce
    United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
    The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...

    • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (Ranking Member)

Caucuses

  • Congressional E-911 Caucus, Co-Chair
  • Cancer Care Working Group, Co-Chair
  • House 21st Century Health Care Caucus, Vice Chair
  • House Information Technology Working Group, Co-Chair
  • Congressional Internet Caucus, Founding Member & Co-Chair
  • House Medical Technology Caucus, Co-Chair
  • Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease
  • California Democratic Congressional Delegation
  • Armenian Caucus
  • Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE)
  • Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
  • Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus
  • Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
  • Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
  • Congressional Coalition on Adoption
  • Congressional Diabetes Caucus
  • Congressional Food Safety Caucus
  • Congressional Kidney Caucus
  • Congressional Organic Caucus
  • Congressional Prevention Coalition
  • Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus
  • Congressional Taiwan Caucus
  • Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus
  • House Biotechnology Caucus
  • House Cancer Caucus
  • House National Marine Sanctuary Caucus
  • House Oceans Caucus
  • House Recycling Caucus
  • Long-Term Care Caucus
  • United States-Philippines Friendship Caucus

Electoral history


Organizations

  • Chair, San Mateo County General Hospital Board of Directors, 1984–1992
  • Member, American Association of University Women
  • Former Chair, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
  • Former Member, Bay Conservation and Development Commission
  • Democratic Activists for Women Now
  • Junior League
    Junior League
    The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...

     of Palo Alto
  • League of Conservation Voters
  • Member, League of Women Voters
  • Co Founder, San Mateo Women's Hall of Fame.

Awards and honors

  • 1989 Legislator of the Year Award from the California's Governor's Committee on the Employing of the Disabled
  • 1991 Margaret Sanger Community Service Award from San Mateo County Planned Parenthood
  • 1990 Friend of BAYMEC Award
  • 1989 Public Official of the Year by the State Commission on Aging
  • 1987 Humanitarian of the Year by Easter Seal
  • First woman to join her local chapter of Kiwanis International.
  • Honorary doctorate, Humane Letters, Menlo College
    Menlo College
    Menlo College, often referred to as Menlo, is a private, four-year baccalaureate college specializing in business located in the Silicon Valley town of Atherton, California.-Campus:...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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