Biography

 

Recognized by her colleagues and the national media as a leading voice for working families, judiciary, and trade matters, Linda Sánchez has represented California’s 38th   Congressional district since 2013. From 2003 - 2013, Congresswoman Sánchez represented California's 39th Congressional District, which included many of the communities she currently represents. The 38th district includes the communities of Artesia, Cerritos, East La Mirada, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, La Mirada, La Palma, Los Nietos, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, and Whittier.

Congresswoman Sánchez has broken many barriers in Congress, including becoming the first Latina to serve on the House Judiciary Committee.  She was also the first Latina in history to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee. 

Legislative Record

Currently, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez is the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee, where she helps Members of Congress and their staffs maintain the standards of conduct outlined in the rules of the House of Representatives. Her role on this Committee helps guarantee that the American people can have faith and confidence in their elected leaders. 

Congresswoman Sánchez also serves on the powerful and prestigious House Committee on Ways and Means. The House Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee in Congress and also plays a critical role in federal legislation on trade, Social Security, and Medicare. 

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.

Previously, Sánchez served on the House Judiciary Committee where her work to bring oversight and transparency back to Congress 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. 

To learn more about Congresswoman Sánchez' leadership roles and her committee work, click here.

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.