Maxine Waters

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Maxine Waters

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 35th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1991–
Preceded by	Augustus Hawkins
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	August 15, 1938 (age 68) St. Louis, Missouri
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sidney Williams
Religion	Non-denominational Protestant

Maxine Waters (born Maxine Moore Carr on August 15, 1938) has served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing the 35th District of California (map). She resides in South Los Angeles, in the Vermont Square district approximately six miles south of downtown.

Her husband is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.

1 Biography
2 Quotes
3 References
4 External links

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Waters graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis and attended Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles). Prior to her entry into politics, she was a teacher and a volunteer coordinator in the Head Start program. Waters entered the California State Assembly in 1976. Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins in 1990, Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 29th Congressional District. (The district was renumbered the 35th District in 1992 after California gained seven additional seats in the House after the 1990 U.S. census.)

In addition to her service on the House Banking and Judiciary committees, Waters has served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (of which she remains a member). She is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

"The objection is in writing, and I don't care that it isn't signed by a member of the Senate." (December 2000, on her objection to the Presidential Election in 2000), to which Al Gore responded "The chair would advise that the rules do care."

"George W Bush, go to hell! And while you’re at it, we want you to take Ashcroft with you. And don’t forget Rumsfeld. And please carry along Condi Rice. . . I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion." (at the televised March for Women's Lives march, Washington D.C., April 24, 2005) [1]

"I don't see white police officers slamming the heads of little white boys into police cars."^[1]

"The Haitian people have suffered greatly at the hands of the United States, France and Canada, powerful nations who preach democracy and yet orchestrated the removal of the democratically-elected president of Haiti and drove him from his own country."^[2]

President George W. Bush "does not deserve to use the word 'democracy' for he neither respects nor supports it, but simply promotes the rhetoric of democracy to his own advantage."^[2]

Journalist Gary Webb's "work was not only in depth, revealing and confrontational but it single handedly created discussion and debate about the proliferation of crack cocaine and the role of the CIA."^[3]

^ "FBI probing videotaped beating", CNN, 2002-07-09. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
^ ^a ^b
^ Congresswoman Maxine Waters Stunned by Death of Gary Webb Who Courageously Investigated and Revealed Connections Between CIA’s Policies and Spread of Crack-Cocaine News Making News

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Ms Maxine Waters campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - Maxine Waters issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Maxine Waters campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative Maxine Waters (CA) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Maxine Waters profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Maxine Waters voting record
Beyond DeLay - Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) criticism from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Top Blacks - Maxine Waters: Distingushed Congresswoman 2001 profile
Haiti regime neither able nor willing to hold fair election by Rep. Maxine Waters, October 19, 2005
Los Angeles Times Interview: Maxine Waters by Robert Scheer, LA Times, May 16, 1993
Maxine Waters interviewed by John Ziegler. (2 MB)

Preceded by Augustus F. Hawkins	United States Representative for the 29th District of California 1991–1992	Succeeded by Henry Waxman
Preceded by Jerry Lewis	United States Representative for the 35th District of California 1992–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus
Diggs • Stokes • Rangel • Burke • Mitchell • Collins • Fauntroy • Dixon • Leland • Dymally • Dellums • Towns • Mfume • Payne • Waters • Clyburn • Johnson • Cummings • Watt • Kilpatrick