Rep. Barbara Lee

Representative for California’s 12^th District

pronounced BAHR-bruh // lee

Lee is the representative for California’s 12^th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2023. Lee is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. She is 78 years old.

She was previously the representative for California’s 13^th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2022; and the representative for California’s 9^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1998 to 2012.

Lee's Official Website OpenSecrets Bioguide C-SPAN

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Misconduct

Lee was arrested at a protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building on July, 19 2022. The same month the Committee published a committee report indicating they will pay a $50 fine.

Jul. 29, 2022

House Committee on Ethics published a committee report indicating they will pay a $50 fine

Earmarks

Lee proposed $36 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:

$8 million to San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission for “The Middle Harbor Enhancement Area Project”
$6 million to Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) for “The Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone and KOO Labs Design Center and Production House”
$3.1 million to Western Regional Center for “Modernization of the USDA's Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA”

View all requests and justifications on Lee’s website »

View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »

These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.

Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Lee is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Lee has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Aug 20, 2024. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Barbara Lee sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Appropriations
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee Ranking Member
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittees
House Committee on the Budget

Enacted Legislation

Lee was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:

View All »

Does 4 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Lee sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (29%) International Affairs (21%) Taxation (10%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (10%) Armed Forces and National Security (10%) Education (8%) Social Welfare (7%) Arts, Culture, Religion (5%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Lee recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Lee voted Nay

H.Res. 1160: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 8034) making emergency supplemental appropriations to respond to the situation in …

Passed 316/94 on Apr 19, 2024.

Lee voted Nay

H.R. 7900: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

Passed 329/101 on Jul 14, 2022.

Lee voted No

H.R. 2500: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020

Passed 220/197 on Jul 12, 2019.

Lee voted Nay

H.R. 4909: STOP School Violence Act of 2018

Passed 407/10 on Mar 14, 2018.

After February’s Parkland high school massacre, a Republican bill introduced mere weeks before is now gaining significant traction — including the Democratic representative from Parkland. …

Lee voted No

H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Lee voted No

H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

Lee voted No

H.R. 2701 (111th): Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

Passed 235/168 on Feb 26, 2010.

Lee voted Nay

H.Res. 847 (110th): Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.

Passed 372/9 on Dec 11, 2007.

Missed Votes

From Apr 1998 to Jul 2024, Lee missed 582 of 17,045 roll call votes, which is 3.4%. This is worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1998 Apr-Jun	175	3	1.7%	51^st
1998 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	2	2.6%	51^st
1999 Apr-Jun	184	7	3.8%	65^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	1	0.7%	24^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	1	1.1%	20^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	2	0.7%	27^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	7	5.4%	82^nd
2000 Oct-Dec	101	2	2.0%	18^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	1	1.3%	44^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	1	0.7%	31^st
2001 Oct-Dec	153	2	1.3%	32^nd
2002 Jan-Mar	79	4	5.1%	72^nd
2002 Apr-Jun	203	1	0.5%	16^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	1	1.1%	40^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	3	1.4%	34^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	26	16.1%	96^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	6	6.7%	75^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	7	2.6%	55^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	9	6.2%	94^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	7	4.3%	75^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	5	6.2%	82^nd
2006 Apr-Jun	276	7	2.5%	58^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	5	3.1%	65^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	1	0.3%	9^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	3	0.9%	24^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	26	9.9%	95^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	0	0.0%	0^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	7	2.2%	44^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	24	11.7%	96^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	1	0.6%	24^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	1	0.3%	10^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	1	0.4%	10^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	4	1.6%	39^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	2	1.0%	25^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	9	4.1%	65^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	14	9.3%	93^rd
2010 Nov-Dec	99	9	9.1%	82^nd
2011 Jan-Mar	212	5	2.4%	71^st
2011 Apr-Jun	281	10	3.6%	82^nd
2011 Jul-Sep	247	6	2.4%	65^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	1	0.5%	14^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	35	23.2%	99^th
2012 Apr-Jun	299	5	1.7%	51^st
2012 Jul-Sep	152	13	8.6%	91^st
2012 Nov-Dec	51	1	2.0%	35^th
2013 Jan-Jan 112th Congress	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	3	3.4%	64^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	8	3.7%	74^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	5	2.5%	71^st
2013 Oct-Dec	137	10	7.3%	86^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	8	5.4%	81^st
2014 Apr-Jun	219	5	2.3%	60^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	13	8.8%	94^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	3	6.1%	85^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	63	43.8%	99^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	3	1.2%	51^st
2015 Jul-Sep	139	19	13.7%	95^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	1	0.6%	31^st
2016 Jan-Mar	137	8	5.8%	66^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	22	10.8%	92^nd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	2	0.9%	41^st
2016 Nov-Dec	48	16	33.3%	100^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	6	2.9%	72^nd
2017 Apr-Jun	136	4	2.9%	70^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	1	0.6%	26^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	2	1.6%	37^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	9	4.9%	74^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	1	1.2%	36^th
2019 Jan-Mar	136	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Apr-Jun	294	7	2.4%	68^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	1	0.8%	55^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	1	1.0%	36^th
2020 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Jul-Sep	80	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Oct-Dec	40	4	10.0%	80^th
2021 Jan-Mar	97	1	1.0%	41^st
2021 Apr-Jun	107	1	0.9%	42^nd
2021 Jul-Sep	108	1	0.9%	37^th
2021 Oct-Dec	137	3	2.2%	75^th
2022 Jan-Mar	102	1	1.0%	58^th
2022 Apr-Jun	197	0	0.0%	0^th
2022 Jul-Sep	178	1	0.6%	41^st
2022 Nov-Dec	72	0	0.0%	0^th
2023 Jan-Mar	182	20	11.0%	95^th
2023 Apr-Jun	107	15	14.0%	96^th
2023 Jul-Sep	224	5	2.2%	79^th
2023 Oct-Dec	211	5	2.4%	64^th
2024 Jan-Mar	104	12	11.5%	92^nd
2024 Apr-Jun	231	3	1.3%	44^th
2024 Jul-Jul	65	1	1.5%	37^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Barbara Lee

Misconduct

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Earmarks

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Committee Membership

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recently Introduced Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Lee voted Nay

Lee voted Nay

Lee voted No

Lee voted Nay

Lee voted No

Lee voted No

Lee voted No

Lee voted Nay

Missed Votes

Primary Sources