Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren ( ; born December 21, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Lofgren is in her 13th term in Congress, having been first elected in 1994. Lofgren has long served on the

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...

, and has chaired the

House Administration Committee The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

since the beginning of the 116th Congress. Lofgren was the 16th district's first female U.S. representative, before part of the district was redistricted into the

19th congressional district 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full r ...

. The district covers much of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...

, including Gilroy,

Morgan Hill Morgan Hill is a city in Santa Clara County, California, at the southern tip of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Morgan Hill is an affluent residential community, the seat of several high-tech companies, and a dining, entertainmen ...

, and most of San Jose. Representing a district covering much of

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

, Lofgren has been noted for her activity in

tech Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician * Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT * Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S. * Tech (river), in southern France * "Tech" ...

-related policy areas such as

net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

and

digital surveillance Computer and network surveillance is the monitoring of computer activity and data stored locally on a computer or data being transferred over computer networks such as the Internet. This monitoring is often carried out covertly and may be comple ...

Early life, education and career

Lofgren was born in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

, the daughter of Mary Violet, a school cafeteria employee, and Milton R. Lofgren, a beer truck driver. Her grandfather was Swedish. Lofgren attended

Gunn High School Henry M. Gunn Senior High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California, the other being Palo Alto High School. Established in , Gunn High School was named after Henry Martin Gunn, who served as the Palo Alto superintendent fr ...

(1966) in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

, and while in high school, Lofgren was a member of the

Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, is an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to ...

, a student-run political debate, activism, and student governance organization. She earned her B.A. degree in political science from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1970 and her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1975. After graduating from Stanford, Lofgren worked as a

staffer for Congressman

Don Edwards William Donlon Edwards (January 6, 1915 – October 1, 2015) was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a member of the United States House of Representatives from California for 32 years in the late 20th century. Early life Edwar ...

when the committee prepared

articles of impeachment Impeachment in the United States is the process by which a legislature may bring charges against an officeholder for misconduct alleged to have been committed with a penalty of removal. Impeachment may also occur at the state level if the sta ...

against President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

during the impeachment process against Nixon. In 1978, Lofgren married John Marshall Collins. Returning to San Jose, she worked in

's district office while earning her J.D. degree. After two years as partner at a San Jose immigration law firm, she was elected to the board of

San Jose City College San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the West San Jose neighborhood of Fruitdale. History The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in Sep ...

. In 1981, she was elected to the

Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

, representing downtown San Jose and nearby communities, where she served for 13 years.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1994, Lofgren entered a six-way Democratic primary in what was then the 16th district, when Edwards retired after 32 years in Congress. The district, then as now, is a Democratic stronghold, and it was understood that whoever won the Democratic primary would be only the second person to represent this district since its creation in 1963 (it was numbered as the 9th district from 1963 to 1975, as the 10th from 1975 to 1993, the 16th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 19th since 2013). A decided underdog, she managed to defeat the favorite, former San Jose mayor

Tom McEnery Thomas Andrew McEnery (born September 23, 1945) is an American author, businessman, and teacher from San Jose, California, who served as the 61st mayor of that city from 1983 to 1991. McEnery attended Santa Clara University, graduating with a B. ...

, by just over 1,100 votes. She breezed to victory in November, and has since been reelected with no substantive opposition. During the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections, Lofgren's campaign paid approximately $350,000 to two businesses her husband operates: Collins and Day and John Marshall Collins P.C. over a six-year period to support campaign efforts.

Tenure

Lofgren chairs the 46-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. In 2007, she co-sponsored the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, which the ACLU characterized as "legislating against thought". In April 2011, she became the first member of Congress to call for federal investigation into the

Secure Communities Secure Communities is a data-sharing program that relies on coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.ICE. Secure Communities: A Comprehensive Plan to Identify and Remove Criminal Aliens (Strategic Plan). July 21, 2009 ...

deportation program. Beginning in 2009, Lofgren served as chair of the

House Ethics Committee The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House Et ...

. In doing so, she presided over a rare sanction of censure, against longtime member

Charles B. Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the ...

. In 2009, Lofgren was appointed and served as an impeachment manager in the

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...

of Judge Samuel B. Kent. In 2010, Lofgren was appointed and served as an impeachment manager (prosecutor) in the impeachment trial of Judge

Thomas Porteous Gabriel Thomas Porteous Jr. (December 15, 1946 – November 14, 2021) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He served for sixteen years before being impeached and removed ...

. In the

Stop Online Piracy Act The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a controversial proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on O ...

hearings, she defended the current state of the internet in opposition of the bill. She has also opposed the

data retention Data retention defines the policies of persistent data and records management for meeting legal and business data archival requirements. Although sometimes interchangeable, it is not to be confused with the Data Protection Act 1998. The differen ...

requirements in the H.R. 1981 (the

Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 () was a United States bill designed with the stated intention of increasing enforcement of laws related to the prosecution of child pornography and child sexual exploitation offenses. ...

). In February 2013, Lofgren became one of the sponsors of the

Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) is a bill in the United States that would mandate earlier public release of taxpayer-funded research. The bill has been introduced in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and S ...

to expedite open access to taxpayer-funded research. In May 2016, Lofgren was publicly reprimanded during a House Judiciary Committee hearing after calling witness

Gail Heriot Gail L. Heriot is an American attorney and legal scholar serving as a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law. Since 2007, she has been a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Education Heriot earned a Bac ...

of the

United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility for ...

an "ignorant bigot" because Heriot's written testimony before the hearing had suggested that calling oneself a female does not cause one to be a female. Following the oral warning from acting committee chairman

Steve King Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American far-right politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district u ...

, Lofgren responded, "I cannot allow that kind of bigotry to go into the record unchallenged". In January 2020, Lofgren was selected as one of seven impeachment managers who presented the impeachment case against President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

during his first trial before the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. This marked her third time serving as an impeachment manager. As of October 2021, Lofgren had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time. Zoe Lofgren by Gage Skidmore

Committee assignments

Committee on House Administration The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

(Chair) ** Subcommittee on Oversight (Ranking Member, 112th Congress)(Defunct subcommittee) *

Committee on the Judiciary Committee on the Judiciary may mean: * United States House Committee on the Judiciary * United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standi ...

** Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet ** Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship (Chair, 117th Congress) *

Committee on Science, Space and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...

** Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics * Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress * Select Committee on the January 6 Attack

Caucuses

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and ...

(Associate member) *

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...

Afterschool Caucuses The Afterschool Caucuses are bipartisan caucuses in the United States Congress established to build support for afterschool programs and increase resources for afterschool care. Senators Lisa Murkowski ( R- AK) and Tina Smith ( D- MN) chair the Sen ...

Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus The Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, a United States Congress caucus, works to improve the 9-1-1 phone system and emergency response systems.Congressional Freethought Caucus The Congressional Freethought Caucus is a membership organization in the United States House of Representatives established to promote policy solutions based on reason and science, and to defend the secular character of government. Representatives ...

* Medicare for All Caucus

Political positions

Abortion

Lofgren is

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

and has a 100% rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

, an organization that advocates for abortion rights and tracks congressional records on the topic. In 2013, she was chosen as the lead House Democrat to argue against the

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (also colloquially known as Micah's Law) is a congressional bill that would, in most cases, make it unlawful to perform an abortion if the estimated post-fertilization age of a fetus is 20 weeks or mor ...

, which would have banned abortions after the mother was 20 weeks pregnant. Lofgren said, "Passage of the bill is wrong. It's the wrong policy for the freedom of American women." She opposed the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'', calling it "a bleak day" and vowing to keep abortion safe and accessible in California.

Tech policy

Lofgren, whose district covers much of

, has been noted for her activity in

tech industry Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician *Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT *Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S. * Tech (river), in southern France * "Tech" (''S ...

regulation and

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

policy. In 2012, she was one of two Democrats in Congress to oppose the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

's (FTC) then-ongoing antitrust probe of

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

. Lofgren criticized the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

's decision to fine Google $2.7 billion in 2017 over alleged

anti-competitive behavior Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market. Antitrust laws differ among state and federal laws to ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, usuall ...

, arguing that the fine was "unfair to the U.S. companies participating in European markets". In 2013, in the wake of the prosecution and subsequent suicide of Internet activist

Aaron Swartz Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. A prolific programmer, Swartz helped develop the web feed format RSS, the tech ...

(who used a script to download scholarly research articles in excess of what

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

terms of service allowed), Lofgren introduced a bill, '' Aaron's Law'' (, ) to exclude terms of service violations from the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and from the wire fraud statute. By May 2014, Aaron's Law had stalled in committee. Brian Knappenberger, author of a documentary on Swartz, alleges this occurred due to

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

's financial interest in maintaining the status quo. In 2021, Lofgren opposed a series of bipartisan proposals aiming to "break up"

Big Tech Big Tech, also known as the Tech Giants, refers to the most dominant companies in the information technology industry, mostly located in the United States. The term also refers to the four or five largest American tech companies, called the Big ...

companies through antitrust enforcement. Alongside a group of other members of the

California congressional delegation Since California became a U.S. state in 1850, it has sent congressional delegations to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. Each state elects two senators to serve for six years, and members of the House to two-yea ...

, she criticized the "antitrust package" due to concerns about its impact on the U.S. tech industry. Following allegations that Lofgren's opposition to antitrust measures were potentially influenced by her daughter's employment as a corporate counsel for

, Lofgren was defended by colleagues

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (; born September 13, 1976) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incumbe ...

and

Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from . She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 14th district from 1993 to 2013, is based in Silico ...

, who called these criticisms "ad hominem attacks". In 2022, Lofgren was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the

Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 (MFFMA) is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Amy Klobuchar ( D- MN) and Chuck Grassley ( R- IA) as S. 228 on February 4, 2021. ...

, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Energy policy

Lofgren has routinely voted for bills that would expand renewable energy investments. She believes that a

clean energy Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music Al ...

infrastructure is required to curb the effects of climate change. In 2018, Lofgren co-sponsored the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act. In February 2019, she co-sponsored the

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

resolution (H.Res. 109).

Health care

Lofgren is a member of the Medicare for All Caucus and co-sponsored the

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

introduced by Representative

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...

in 2017. She rescinded her sponsorship of a similar bill introduced by Representative

Pramila Jayapal Pramila Jayapal ( ; born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she represents ...

in 2019, arguing that the bill's two-year timeline was not feasible. Lofgren continues to support a public option for health insurance, and 2021 co-sponsored Jayapal's bill to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60.

Net neutrality

Lofgren is a supporter of

policies to prevent

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s (ISPs) from engaging in

data discrimination Net bias (or network bias) is the counter-principle to net neutrality, which indicates differentiation or discrimination of price and the quality of content or applications on the Internet by ISPs. Similar terms include data discrimination, digita ...

. In 2018, she signed a discharge petition to force a vote on net neutrality protections in Congress.

Electoral history

California's 16th congressional district

California's 19th congressional district

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incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

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Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

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American Independent The American Independent Party (AIP) is a Far-right politics, far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic List of Governors of Alabama, Governor George ...

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Personal life

In 1978, Lofgren married John Marshall Collins, an attorney. The couple met at an election party. Lofgren's daughter, Sheila Collins, is a corporate counsel at

References

External links

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
official U.S. House website
Zoe Lofgren for Congress
* * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lofgren, Zoe 1947 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American people of Swedish descent American Lutherans American women lawyers California lawyers County supervisors in California Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California People from Palo Alto, California People from San Mateo, California Politicians from San Jose, California Santa Clara University School of Law alumni Stanford University alumni United States congressional aides Women in California politics Gunn High School alumni