Biography

                   
 
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Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey is in her 10th term as the representative from California’s 6th District, just north of San Francisco.  Her district includes all of Marin and most of Sonoma County.
 
As president of Americans for Democratic Action, Congresswoman Woolsey is a vocal and visible leader on progressive issues, particularly those dealing with education, children and families.  A passionate and outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, she helped move public opinion against President Bush’s failed Iraq policy.  She introduced the first resolution calling for our troops to be brought home and has been called “the unofficial matriarch of the [anti-war] movement in Congress,” by the San Jose Mercury News.
 
Congresswoman Woolsey is also active on labor and education issues.  She is a senior member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.  She also serves on Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
 
Congresswoman Woolsey was the author of a recent law authorizing workers six months of job protected leave in order to care for injured family members serving in the armed forces, as well as legislation to protect workers from exposure to dangerous chemicals.
One of Congresswoman Woolsey’s top priorities is a legislative package called “The Balancing Act,” which aims to help parents balance their work and family responsibilities.  Her proposal calls for:  paid family leave; public universal pre-school; major investments in child care; universal school breakfast; benefits for part-time workers; and telecommuting incentives.
 
Congresswoman Woolsey is also a senior member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and serves on the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, where she works to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and promote the use of clean, efficient energy sources.  In the current Congress, she has reintroduced her legislation to add the Sonoma coastline to the National Marine Sanctuary Program, thus protecting it from oil and gas drilling.
 
Having lived and raised her family in California’s North Bay for over 40 years, Congresswoman Woolsey understands the concerns of Sonoma and Marin County residents.  She frequently says they are the most important voice she listens to; and she not only listens, she responds.  Her Washington office alone receives and answers over three thousand letters, phone calls, and emails from constituents each week.
 
Congresswoman Woolsey’s dedication to family issues and her belief in a strong social safety net are rooted in her personal history.  As a young single mother struggling to raise three children by herself, she needed public assistance just to make ends meet, even though she was employed.  The experience of needing a helping hand from her government has shaped her commitment to family-friendly policies.
 
Woolsey was born on November 3, 1937 in Seattle, Washington.  Now living in Petaluma, California, she is the mother of four grown children and a grandmother of five.

(Updated 01/11)