Jewish Members of Congress: Barbara Boxer (Senator, California)

After a decade-long tenure in the United States House of Representatives, Senator Barbara Boxer was elected to the United States Senate in 1992. Boxer has authored important legislation establishing federal funding for after school programs and is a forceful advocate for quality education for all Americans. She is perhaps the Senate's leading advocate for women's reproductive rights, writing the Freedom of Choice Act of 2004 and leading the drive for the enactment of the Freedom of Access of the Clinic Entrances Act, which passed in 1994. Boxer also introduced the 401 (k) Pension Protection Act to protect workers' retirement funds and create a suitable safety net for all older Americans. A modified version of this bill passed as a part of the 1997 tax bill. She is also a leader on environmental protection, authoring an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act in order to protect children and other vulnerable populations. Boxer is the first woman to chair the Committee on Environment and Public Works. In addition to serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Commerce Committee, she is the Democratic Chief Deputy Whip, and serves on the Democratic Policy Committee's Committee on Oversight and Investigations. She has been married to Stewart Boxer for 45 years and has two children, a daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

For more information on Senator Boxer, please visit http://boxer.senate.gov/about/.