November 11: Senator Barbara Boxer

A United States senator from California since 1993, Barbara Boxer was born in Brooklyn on this date in 1940. She worked as a stockbroker and as a journalist before her election to the House of Representatives in 1982, where she served for five terms. Her major progressive contributions as a four-term senator have included blocking oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2003 (Boxer chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee); opposing the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act (she was one of only eight senators to do so); opposing the 2002 U.S. invasion of Iraq; and working with Senator Russ Feingold to establish a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops. One of the most solidly liberal politicians in Congress, she has ratings of 100 percent from the AFL-CIO, the Children’s Defense Fund, the Humane Society, NARAL Pro-Choice, and the National Educators Association (all as of 2006). Boxer has also written two novels.

“We have fought for social justice. We have fought for economic justice. We have fought for environmental justice. We have fought for criminal justice. Now we must add a new fight — the fight for electoral justice.” —Barbara Boxer