Zoe Lofgren - U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1994, Edwards decided to retire after 32 years in Congress. Lofgren entered the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—as a decided underdog, but managed to defeat the favorite, former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery. Lofgren's victory virtually assured her of becoming only the second person to represent the district since its creation in 1963 (it was numbered as the 9th District from 1963 to 1975, as the 10th from 1975 to 1993 and has been the 16th since 1993). She has been reelected eight times with no substantive opposition.

Lofgren is currently the chair of the 34-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and is the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. In April 2011, she became the first member of Congress to call for federal investigation into the Secure Communities deportation program.

During the 110th Congress, Lofgren worked for the development of fusion energy. She initiated a bill that would accelerate its uses as an alternative energy solution. Another piece of legislation that she recently authored has the goal of providing lower Internet access rates to schools, libraries, and other public institutions.

She is a leader on intellectual property law issues, and has fought against what she views as the unnecessary expansion of copyright law.

Beginning in 2009, Lofgren served as chair of the House Ethics Committee. In doing so, she presided over a rare sanction of censure, against long-time member Charles B. Rangel.

On December 15, 2011, she was declared "a Hero of the Internet" for her role in the Stop Online Piracy Act House Judiciary Committee hearings, in which she defended the current state of the internet in opposition of the bill. She has also opposed the data retention requirements in the H.R. 1981 (the Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011).