Maxine Waters
Encyclopedia
Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative
for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party
.
She is the most senior of the 12 black women currently serving in the United States Congress
, and is a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
. Before Congress she served in the California Assembly, where she was first elected in 1976.
As an Assembly member Waters advocated for divestment
from South Africa
's apartheid regime. In Congress she has long been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War.
Waters was charged by the House's subcommittee on ethics with violations of the House's ethics rules in 2010. An ethics trial she was expected to face in the fall of 2010 was successfully impeded by House Democrats, most notably Rep. Zoe Lofgren
, chair of the House Ethics Committee
.
, to Remus and Velma Lee Carr Moore. She graduated from Vashon High School
in St. Louis, and moved with her family to Los Angeles, California, in 1961. She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program at Watts in 1966.
She later enrolled at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles
), and graduated with a sociology degree in 1970. In 1973, she went to work as chief deputy to City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr.
.
in 1976. While in the assembly she worked for divestment of state pension funds from any businesses active in South Africa
, a country then operating under the policy of apartheid and helped pass legislation within the guidelines of the divestment campaign's Sullivan Principles
. She ascended to the position of Democratic Caucus Chair for the Assembly.
Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins
in 1990, Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 29th congressional district
with over 79% of the popular vote. She has been re-elected consistently with at least 70% of the popular vote in the California's 35th congressional district
after significant parts of the pre-1990 29th California Congressional District were folded into the newly defined 35th California Congressional District when California gained seven additional seats in the House following the 1990 United States Census.
Waters represented a large part of south-central Los Angeles in Congress and gained national attention in 1992 "when she helped deliver relief supplies in Watts and demanded the resumption of vital services" as the area "caught the nation's attention" with the Rodney King
verdict, and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 that followed. Waters described the riots as a rebellion, saying "If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable."
On July 29, 1994 Waters was challenged for making inappropriate remarks during a one-minute speech. She then ignored the Chair's request to suspend speaking until the point of order was settled. Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA) rose and called out "get the Mace," to restore order. The Chair kept pounding the gavel and finally stated, "the Chair is about to direct the Sgt-at-Arms to present the Mace!" Waters then suspended, and the Chair was able to rule on the point of order without having to resort to the Mace.
She was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997-98.
In 2006 Waters was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center. She criticized media coverage of the hospital and in 2006 Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to deny a waiver of the crossownership ban, and hence license renewal for KTLA-TV, a station The Los Angeles Times owned. She said that "The Los Angeles Times has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances." She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station's broadcast rights. According to Broadcasting & Cable
, the challenges raised "the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings.... At a minimum, defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and probably delay license renewal about three months." Waters' petition was ultimately unsuccessful; the station's license next expires in 2014.
As a Democratic representative in Congress, Waters was a superdelegate
to the 2008 Democratic National Convention
. She endorsed Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in late January 2008, granting the New York Senator nationally-recognized support that some suggested would "make big waves." Waters later switched her endorsement to Sen. Barack Obama
when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting.
Waters had a confrontation over an earmark
in the United States House Committee on Appropriations
with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey
in 2009. The funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles that was named after her.
In 2010 Waters came under investigation for ethics violations and was accused by a House panel of at least one ethics violation related to her efforts to help OneUnited Bank
, where her husband had been a director and in which he had stock holdings, receive federal aid. She said she planned to fight the charges in a trial.
With the announcement of Barney Frank's (D-Massachusetts) retirement in 2012, Waters is expected to become the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
, L.A. mayor, a "plantation owner". During the L.A. riots in 1992, Waters described the violence as a "spontaneous reaction to injustice". She held "economic, social, cultural, and political" factors responsible and that the L.A. riots should rightly be called a "rebellion" or "insurrection."
Waters co-sponsored Rep. John Conyers
' bill calling for reparations for slavery to be paid to black Americans.
along with TransAfrica Forum
founder Randall Robinson
and Jamaican member of parliament Sharon Hay-Webster
to meet with Aristide and bring him to Jamaica, where he would remain until May.
(CIA) in the Los Angeles crack epidemic
of the 1980s, Waters called for an investigation. Waters questioned whether "U.S.-government paid or organized operatives smuggled, transported and sold it to American citizens." The United States Department of Justice
(DOJ) announced it had failed to find any evidence to support the original story. The Los Angeles Times also concluded after its own extensive investigation that the allegations were not supported by evidence. The author of the original story was eventually transferred to a different beat and removed from investigative reporting. Following these post-publication investigations, Waters read into the Congressional Record a memorandum of understanding in which former President Ronald Reagan
's CIA director rejected any duty by the CIA to report illegal narcotics trafficking to the Department of Justice. Undeterred, Waters told the Los Angeles Times in 1997: "It doesn't matter whether the CIA delivered the kilo of cocaine themselves or turned their back on it to let somebody else do it. They're guilty just the same."
. She has remained a consistent critic of the subsequent war and has supported an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, although since the election of President Obama, along with most of the rest of anti-war (anti-Bush) crowd, she has generally refrained from talking negatively about US involvement in Iraq. Waters asserted in 2007 that President George W. Bush was trying to "set [Congress] up" by continually requesting funds for an "occupation" that is "draining" the country of capital, soldier's lives, and other resources. In particular, she argued that the very economic resources being "wasted" in Iraq were those that might provide universal health care or fully fund President Bush's own "No Child Left Behind" education bill. Additionally, Waters, representing a congressional district whose median income falls far below the national average, argued that patriotism alone had not been the sole driving force for those U.S. service personnel serving in Iraq. Rather, "many of them needed jobs, they needed resources, they needed money, so they're there." In a subsequent floor speech, Waters told her colleagues that Congress, lacking the votes to override the "inevitable Bush veto
on any Iraq-related legislation", needed to "better [challenge] the administration's false rhetoric
about the Iraq war" and "educate our constituents [about] the connection between the problems in Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran
with the problems we have created in Iraq." A few months prior to these speeches Waters became a cosponsor
of the House resolution to impeach Vice President
Dick Cheney
for making allegedly "false statements" about the war.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
(CREW) named Waters to its list of corrupt members of Congress in its 2005, 2006 and 2009 reports. Citizens Against Government Waste
named her the June 2009 Porker of the Month due to her intention to obtain an earmark
for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center.
of OneUnited Bank
and the bank's executives were major contributors to her campaigns. In September 2008, Waters arranged meetings between U.S. Treasury Department officials and OneUnited Bank, so that the bank could plead for federal cash. It had been heavily invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and its capital was "all but wiped out" after the U.S. government took them over. The bank received $12 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money. The matter is currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee
.
. Her second husband, Sid Williams
, played professional football in the NFL
and is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas
under the Clinton Administration.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
She is the most senior of the 12 black women currently serving in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, and is a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
. Before Congress she served in the California Assembly, where she was first elected in 1976.
As an Assembly member Waters advocated for divestment
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's apartheid regime. In Congress she has long been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War.
Waters was charged by the House's subcommittee on ethics with violations of the House's ethics rules in 2010. An ethics trial she was expected to face in the fall of 2010 was successfully impeded by House Democrats, most notably Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Zoe Lofgren
Zoe Lofgren is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in San Jose.-Early life, education, and early career:...
, chair of the House Ethics Committee
United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct....
.
Early life, education and career
The fifth out of thirteen children, Waters was born 1938 in Kinloch, MissouriKinloch, Missouri
Kinloch is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 298 at the 2010 census.Kinloch is the oldest African-American community to be incorporated in the state of Missouri and was home to a vibrant and flourishing black community for much of the 19th and 20th century. It...
, to Remus and Velma Lee Carr Moore. She graduated from Vashon High School
Vashon High School
-Vashon High School:Vashon High School is a public high school located in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1927, the school is named in honor of two educators of African-American descent: John B. Vashon, and his son, George B. Vashon....
in St. Louis, and moved with her family to Los Angeles, California, in 1961. She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program at Watts in 1966.
She later enrolled at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
), and graduated with a sociology degree in 1970. In 1973, she went to work as chief deputy to City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr.
David S. Cunningham, Jr.
David Surmier Cunningham, Jr., or Dave Cunningham, is a business executive who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1973 to succeed Council Member Tom Bradley, who had been elected mayor that year...
.
California State Assembly
Waters entered the California State AssemblyCalifornia State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
in 1976. While in the assembly she worked for divestment of state pension funds from any businesses active in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, a country then operating under the policy of apartheid and helped pass legislation within the guidelines of the divestment campaign's Sullivan Principles
Sullivan Principles
The Sullivan principles are the names of two corporate codes of conduct, developed by the African-American preacher Rev. Leon Sullivan, promoting corporate social responsibility:...
. She ascended to the position of Democratic Caucus Chair for the Assembly.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Financial ServicesUnited States House Committee on Financial ServicesThe United States House Committee on Financial Services is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries...
- Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity
- Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsUnited States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsThe U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services.-Jurisdiction:The Subcommittee conducts oversight of the agencies, departments, and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction...
- Committee on the JudiciaryUnited States House Committee on the JudiciaryThe U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
- Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the InternetUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the InternetThe House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet is a subcommittee within the House Judiciary Committee. It was established in 2011.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement
- Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
Caucus memberships
- Chief Deputy Whip
- Founding member and Chair of the Out of Iraq CaucusOut of Iraq CaucusThe Out of Iraq Caucus is a Congressional caucus in the United States House of Representatives, created in June 2005.It consists of House members who advocate the departure of United States troops from Iraq, effectively ending U.S. participation in the Iraq War. There are currently 73 members of...
- Member of Congressional Progressive CaucusCongressional Progressive CaucusThe Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest caucus within the Democratic caucus in the United States Congress with 83 declared members, and works to advance progressive issues and positions....
- Member of Congressional Black CaucusCongressional Black CaucusThe Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
(CBC); past chair of CBC (105th United States Congress105th United States CongressThe One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...
)
Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins
Augustus F. Hawkins
Augustus Freeman "Gus" Hawkins was a prominent African American Democratic Party politician and a figure in the history of Civil Rights and organized labor. He served as the first African American from California in the United States Congress, where he sponsored the Humphrey-Hawkins Full...
in 1990, Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 29th congressional district
California's 29th congressional district
California's 29th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district takes in Alhambra, San Gabriel, Burbank, Glendale, South Pasadena, Temple City, Monterey Park, and Pasadena in Greater Los Angeles.The district is...
with over 79% of the popular vote. She has been re-elected consistently with at least 70% of the popular vote in the California's 35th congressional district
California's 35th congressional district
California's 35th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district is composed of parts of the Westchester District of the City of Los Angeles and the neighborhoods of Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena and Florence-Graham, as...
after significant parts of the pre-1990 29th California Congressional District were folded into the newly defined 35th California Congressional District when California gained seven additional seats in the House following the 1990 United States Census.
Waters represented a large part of south-central Los Angeles in Congress and gained national attention in 1992 "when she helped deliver relief supplies in Watts and demanded the resumption of vital services" as the area "caught the nation's attention" with the Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
verdict, and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 that followed. Waters described the riots as a rebellion, saying "If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable."
On July 29, 1994 Waters was challenged for making inappropriate remarks during a one-minute speech. She then ignored the Chair's request to suspend speaking until the point of order was settled. Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA) rose and called out "get the Mace," to restore order. The Chair kept pounding the gavel and finally stated, "the Chair is about to direct the Sgt-at-Arms to present the Mace!" Waters then suspended, and the Chair was able to rule on the point of order without having to resort to the Mace.
She was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997-98.
In 2006 Waters was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center. She criticized media coverage of the hospital and in 2006 Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to deny a waiver of the crossownership ban, and hence license renewal for KTLA-TV, a station The Los Angeles Times owned. She said that "The Los Angeles Times has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances." She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station's broadcast rights. According to Broadcasting & Cable
Broadcasting & Cable
Broadcasting & Cable magazine is a television industry trade magazine published by NewBay Media. Previous names included Broadcasting/Telecasting, Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising, and Broadcasting...
, the challenges raised "the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings.... At a minimum, defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and probably delay license renewal about three months." Waters' petition was ultimately unsuccessful; the station's license next expires in 2014.
As a Democratic representative in Congress, Waters was a superdelegate
Superdelegate
"Superdelegate" is an informal term commonly used for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Democratic Party....
to the 2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...
. She endorsed Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in late January 2008, granting the New York Senator nationally-recognized support that some suggested would "make big waves." Waters later switched her endorsement to Sen. Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting.
Waters had a confrontation over an earmark
Earmark (politics)
In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...
in the United States House Committee on Appropriations
United States House Committee on Appropriations
The Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...
with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey
Dave Obey
David Ross "Dave" Obey is the former U.S. Representative for , serving 21 consecutive terms from 1969 until 2011. The district includes much of the northwestern portion of the state, including Wausau and Superior...
in 2009. The funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles that was named after her.
In 2010 Waters came under investigation for ethics violations and was accused by a House panel of at least one ethics violation related to her efforts to help OneUnited Bank
OneUnited Bank
OneUnited Bank is an African-American-owned Internet bank and controlled Massachusetts-chartered trust company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The bank is also a community development financial institution as designated by the United States Department of Treasury...
, where her husband had been a director and in which he had stock holdings, receive federal aid. She said she planned to fight the charges in a trial.
With the announcement of Barney Frank's (D-Massachusetts) retirement in 2012, Waters is expected to become the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Racial politics
Waters' political rhetoric is often see as demagogic. In 2001, she called Richard RiordanRichard Riordan
Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...
, L.A. mayor, a "plantation owner". During the L.A. riots in 1992, Waters described the violence as a "spontaneous reaction to injustice". She held "economic, social, cultural, and political" factors responsible and that the L.A. riots should rightly be called a "rebellion" or "insurrection."
Waters co-sponsored Rep. John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
' bill calling for reparations for slavery to be paid to black Americans.
Government spending
In September 2011, Waters called for the implementation of a federal "jobs program of a trillion dollars or more." "We’ve got to put Americans to work", she said. "That's the only way to revitalize this economy. When people work they earn money, they spend that money, and that's what gets the economy up and going."Haiti
Waters opposed the 2004 coup d'état in Haiti and criticized U.S. involvement. Following the coup, Waters led a delegation to the Central African RepublicCentral African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
along with TransAfrica Forum
TransAfrica Forum
TransAfrica Forum is an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the United States concerning African countries and the African diaspora.-See also:* Diaspora politics in the United States...
founder Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson is an African-American lawyer, author and activist, noted as the founder of TransAfrica. He is known particularly for his impassioned opposition to South African apartheid, and for his advocacy on behalf of Haitian immigrants and Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.-Early...
and Jamaican member of parliament Sharon Hay-Webster
Sharon Hay-Webster
Sharon Hay-Webster is a Jamaican politician, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jamaica since 1997, formerly with the People's National Party...
to meet with Aristide and bring him to Jamaica, where he would remain until May.
CIA and cocaine
Following a 1996 San Jose Mercury article alleging the complicity of the Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) in the Los Angeles crack epidemic
Crack Epidemic
The United States crack epidemic refers to the surge of crack houses and crack cocaine use in major cities in the United States between 1984 and 1990...
of the 1980s, Waters called for an investigation. Waters questioned whether "U.S.-government paid or organized operatives smuggled, transported and sold it to American citizens." The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(DOJ) announced it had failed to find any evidence to support the original story. The Los Angeles Times also concluded after its own extensive investigation that the allegations were not supported by evidence. The author of the original story was eventually transferred to a different beat and removed from investigative reporting. Following these post-publication investigations, Waters read into the Congressional Record a memorandum of understanding in which former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's CIA director rejected any duty by the CIA to report illegal narcotics trafficking to the Department of Justice. Undeterred, Waters told the Los Angeles Times in 1997: "It doesn't matter whether the CIA delivered the kilo of cocaine themselves or turned their back on it to let somebody else do it. They're guilty just the same."
Iraq War
Waters voted against the Iraq War Resolution, the 2002 resolution that funded and granted Congressional approval to possible military action against the regime of Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. She has remained a consistent critic of the subsequent war and has supported an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, although since the election of President Obama, along with most of the rest of anti-war (anti-Bush) crowd, she has generally refrained from talking negatively about US involvement in Iraq. Waters asserted in 2007 that President George W. Bush was trying to "set [Congress] up" by continually requesting funds for an "occupation" that is "draining" the country of capital, soldier's lives, and other resources. In particular, she argued that the very economic resources being "wasted" in Iraq were those that might provide universal health care or fully fund President Bush's own "No Child Left Behind" education bill. Additionally, Waters, representing a congressional district whose median income falls far below the national average, argued that patriotism alone had not been the sole driving force for those U.S. service personnel serving in Iraq. Rather, "many of them needed jobs, they needed resources, they needed money, so they're there." In a subsequent floor speech, Waters told her colleagues that Congress, lacking the votes to override the "inevitable Bush veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
on any Iraq-related legislation", needed to "better [challenge] the administration's false rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
about the Iraq war" and "educate our constituents [about] the connection between the problems in Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
with the problems we have created in Iraq." A few months prior to these speeches Waters became a cosponsor
Sponsor (legislative)
A sponsor, in the United States Congress, is a senator or representative who introduces a bill or amendment and is its chief advocate. Committees are occasionally identified as sponsors of legislation as well. A sponsor is also sometimes called a "primary sponsor."It should not be assumed that a...
of the House resolution to impeach Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
for making allegedly "false statements" about the war.
International lending
In August 2008, Waters introduced HR 6796, or the "Stop Very Unscrupulous Loan Transfers from Underprivileged countries from Rich Exploitive Funds Act", also known as the Stop VULTURE Funds Act. This would limit the ability of investors in sovereign debt to use U.S. courts to enforce those instruments against a defaulting country. The bill died in committee.Criticism of the Tea Party Movement
Waters has been very critical of the Tea Party Movement. On August 20, 2011 while at a town hall discussing some of the displeasure that supporters of President Obama have had with the Congressional Black Caucus not supporting the president Waters stated, "This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned, the ‘tea party’ can go straight to Hell . . . and I intend to help them get there."Allegations of corruption
According to Chuck Neubauer and Ted Rohrlich writing in the LA Times in 2004, Maxine Waters' relatives had made more than $1 million during the preceding eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that Waters had helped. They claimed she and her husband helped a company get government bond business, and her daughter Karen Waters and son Edward Waters have profited from her connections. Waters replied that "They do their business and I do mine."Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a nonprofit 501 organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to...
(CREW) named Waters to its list of corrupt members of Congress in its 2005, 2006 and 2009 reports. Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste is a 501 non-profit organization in the United States. It functions as a think-tank, 'government watchdog', and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes...
named her the June 2009 Porker of the Month due to her intention to obtain an earmark
Earmark (politics)
In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...
for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center.
Involvement with OneUnited Bank
Waters' husband is a stockholder and former directorBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of OneUnited Bank
OneUnited Bank
OneUnited Bank is an African-American-owned Internet bank and controlled Massachusetts-chartered trust company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The bank is also a community development financial institution as designated by the United States Department of Treasury...
and the bank's executives were major contributors to her campaigns. In September 2008, Waters arranged meetings between U.S. Treasury Department officials and OneUnited Bank, so that the bank could plead for federal cash. It had been heavily invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and its capital was "all but wiped out" after the U.S. government took them over. The bank received $12 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money. The matter is currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee
United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct....
.
Personal life
Waters resides in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles, which is approximately six miles west of downtownDowntown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. Her second husband, Sid Williams
Sid Williams
Sidney Williams is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Southern University.Williams grew up in Houston, Texas and graduated from Phillis...
, played professional football in the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas
United States Ambassador to the Bahamas
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Bahamas, usually simply called U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, is an official position and title appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate by majority vote...
under the Clinton Administration.
Other achievements
- Maxine Waters Preparation Center in Watts, California – named after her while she was a member of the California Assembly
- Co-founder of Black Women's Forum
- Founder of Project Build
- Received the Bruce F. Vento Award from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty for her work on behalf of homeless persons.
External links
- U.S. Representative Maxine Waters official U.S. House site
- Congresswoman Maxine Waters official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
- Beyond DeLay — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) criticism from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in WashingtonCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in WashingtonCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a nonprofit 501 organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to...
- 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 ScheerRobert ScheerRobert Scheer is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Nation...
, LA Times, May 16, 1993 - Maxine Waters interviewed by John Ziegler. (2 MB)
- Maxine Waters speaks with Street Gangs Media by Alex Alonso, www.streetgangs.com, January 18, 2003