Biography

Congresswoman Sánchez is the first Latina in history to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee where she concentrates on pocketbook issues that affect working families. She has broken many barriers by becoming the first Latina to serve on the Judiciary Committee and the first woman to serve as the Chair of its Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.

Legislative Record

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez serves on the influential Ways and Means Committee, which plays a key role in federal legislation on taxes and health care, and where Sánchez is a member of the Trade and Social Security Subcommittees. A former labor lawyer, she has been a central leader in recent Congressional efforts to reshape this country’s trade model.

Sánchez also serves on the Judiciary Committee where her work to bring oversight and transparency back to Congress has received national recognition. In her previous service as Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (CAL), Sánchez helped lead the Congressional investigation into the Bush Administration’s firing of nine United States Attorneys in 2006.

Sánchez’ role as a leader in the investigation of the politicization of the Department of Justice was highlighted in 2008 when she recommended that Karl Rove be held in contempt of Congress after failing to abide by a congressional subpoena and appear in front of the CAL subcommittee. Sánchez has also brought greater scrutiny to the misuse of arbitration and has worked to address the mortgage crisis through existing bankruptcy law that would help keep families in their homes.

A co-founder of the Labor and Working Families Caucus, Sánchez has worked tirelessly to ensure that workers are safe on the job, from industrial accidents as well as from employer intimidation and retaliation. Keeping children safe online has also been a priority for Sánchez, who has introduced legislation to criminalize cyber-bullying and to reduce bullying, harassment, and gang activity in our schools. While in Congress, Sánchez has helped to expand Head Start and modernize the Higher Education Act.

Sánchez is a strong advocate for California’s families. She is committed to reducing crime, making schools safe, providing quality education and affordable health care, improving our economy by creating new opportunities, and cleaning up the air and water in Southern California. Her life-long commitment to progressive issues is reflected in her record to protect a woman's right to choose, to protect and expand civil rights and voting rights, to promote clean energy and green jobs, and to reform the country's broken immigration laws.

Personal Story

The sixth of seven children, Sánchez was born in the City of Orange to immigrant parents from Mexico. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature with an emphasis in Bilingual Education. After working her way through school as a bilingual aide and ESL instructor, she earned her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

After law school, she worked in a private practice before going to work for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441 and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Prior to coming to Congress, Sánchez served as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Congresswoman Sánchez is still an active and card-carrying member of IBEW Local 441.

Sánchez’ service in the U.S. House of Representatives is historic as she proudly works with her sister Loretta, Congresswoman from the 47th District of California. They are the first sisters and the first women of any relation to ever serve in Congress. Congresswoman Sánchez continued to make history in 2009 when she became the eighth member of Congress to give birth while serving in office. She and her husband, James Sullivan, are the proud parents of Joaquín Sánchez Sullivan, who joins his new Sullivan brothers: Brendan, Jack, and Seamus.