K. Jacqueline Speier

Jackie Speier is the Democratic Congresswoman for the 12th Congressional District of California. On April 8, 2008 she won a special election to fill deceased Rep. Tom Lantos's vacant seat. She then won the Democratic primary in June 2008 and was elected to a full term in the November 2008 general election.

Positions, records and controversies
During her 2008 campaigns, Speier took positions on the following issues:

Economy
Speier's economic proposals included cutting spending on the war in Iraq by bring the war to a close as soon as possible; government support for the victims of predatory lending, especially mortgage lending, with the costs for such support falling primarily on predatory lenders; a targeted economic stimulus package; and a review of international trade agreements to ensure that they are fair to American workers.

Education
For higher education, Speier supports increasing need-based financial aid and reducing the interest on student loans. She believes that No Child Left Behind has led to too much emphasis on standardized testing and needs to be reformed. Finally, Speier supports limiting class size to 15 students during early childhood education and said she will fight in Congress to make sure states are given the resources to carry out such a policy.

Environment
Speier supports more funding for public transportation, tax credits for alternative energy investment, incentives for green jobs and green buildings, significant reductions in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, and an end to tax credits to oil companies.

Health care
Speier favors health care policies that include individual and employer mandates, with contribution caps for individuals and small employers; a minimum health care package that can be transported from one job to another in order to make sure people do not lose their insurance while between jobs; and better information gathering and evaluation in order to increase efficiency and accountability.

Human rights
Speier supports humanitarian policies such as training troops for peace-keeping missions, trade and military policies that help promote human rights, and working with the United Nations in order to prevent genocide.

Iraq
Speier believes the war in Iraq to have been a mistake and advocates withdrawing troops as soon as possible and focusing on peacekeeping and reconstruction. She advocates using diplomacy to isolate Al Qaida and other terrorist groups in the Middle East. She supports greater oversight over the executive branch and opposes the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war.

Bio
Jackie Speier grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a college student at the University of California, Davis, Speier interned with then-State Assemblyman Leo J. Ryan and after graduation Speier joined Ryan's Washington, D.C. staff after Ryan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Later, Speier earned a J.D. from the UC Hastings College of Law and went back to work for Ryan as a legal advisor.

It was as a member of Ryan's staff that Speier accompanied Ryan to Jonestown, Guyana to investigate the treatment of constituents by the Reverend Jim Jones' People's Temple in 1978. Before they could leave Guyana, five people, including Congressman Ryan, were shot and killed by gunmen in an ambush. Speier was shot five times.

Speier served on the San Mateo Board of Supervisors from 1980-1986, in the California State Assembly from 1986-1998, and in the California State Senate from 1998-2006.

2008 elections
On April 8, 2008 Speier won a special election to fill deceased Rep. Tom Lantos's vacant seat.

Speier won the Democratic nomination for California's 12th Congressional District on June 3, 2008, and then won a full term in the November general election.

Money in Politics
cid=N00029649&cycle=2008

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)
Speier will be assigned committees when she arrives in Congress.

Affiliations

 * Director, Philanthropic Ventures Fund

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on California’s 12th Congressional District
 * "Jackie For Congress," Official Jackie Speier for Congress Website.