The Senators of California: Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein

A senator from California is Kamala Harris and she is fifty four years old and was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University but she also got a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of California. Her dad taught at Stanford University as an economics professor who is Jamaican. Kamala Harris’s mom was actually a breast cancer scientists who claims she is Tamil Indian. Harris is part of the democratic party and has achieved a great deal of accomplishes for example she was the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco from January 8, 2004 till January 3, 2011. Another job she achieved is the 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 until 2017. Kamila Harris recently has been the senator for California, beginning in January 2017 and is still completing her term.

Another Senator from California that I researched is named Dianne Feinstein. Diane Feinsten who will be eighty-six years old. She was born on June 22, 1933, in the city of San Francisco. Feinstein’s mom was a model and while dad had a career as a surgeon. She’s actually been divorced three times but has conceived a daughter from one of her marriages. She attended Stanford University and got her Bachelor degree in history successfully. She claims to be a part of the Democratic Party with many jobs as a politician. She started as part of the San Francisco Board of Supervisor starting on January 8, 1970 till December 4, 1978 but soon after she became the mayor of the city, she was born in ending her term on January 8, 1988. Dianne Feinstein continued on from here and chair of the Senate rules committee starting in January 3, 2007 and ending on January 3, 2009. She then became chair for Senate Intelligence Committee and for the Narcotic caucus starting immediately after her previous job and ending on January 3, 2015. An interesting fact about her is that she will be the longest serving female senator once she finished her current term.

I researched my congressional representative for my district which I found out was Lou Correa. Lou Correa was born on January 24, 1958 meaning he is sixty-four years old and was born in the city of Anaheim. Mr. Correa is successfully married and has four children with his wife. He attended Cal State Fullerton in which he got his Bachelor’s Degree from and he then attended UCLA from which he got a Juris Doctor Degree and Master of Business Administration. He is a part of the democratic party and was elected as a Representative on January 3, 2017. A political job he had before his current job was a member of the California Senate which started on December 4, 2006 and ended on November 30, 2014.

Dianne Feinstein has been a part of several committees and they are the Committee on Appropriations, Judiciary, Intelligence, and finally a Committee on Rules and Administration. The first committee is on Appropriation which sends federal money to different types of organizations, departments, and agencies depending who they pick. The Judiciary committee keeps the Department of Justice and all its agencies, it deals with nominations with executive positions for the Department of Justice and all its agencies, considers judge nominations, and also considers pending legislation. The Select Committee on Intelligence oversees all the agencies that provide information to the Legislative and Executive Branches. Finally, the Committee on Rules and Administration deals with the rules of the Senate, administration of congressional buildings, the members of the Senate requirements and qualifications which also includes the responsibility for contested elections. None of these committees deal with issues that have direct relevance to my community. I am not surprised by the information I discovered because it seems like standard things a Senator would do.

The committees that Kamala Harris is involved with are the Committee on the Budget, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. The last two committees have already been mentioned before in the previous paragraph so there will only be explanations for the first two committees in this paragraph. The Committee on the Budget sets the budget framework for congressional actions. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs oversees the general government activities but focuses on overseeing the Department of Homeland Security. It also studies the economy and how laws to reorganize the Executive and Legislative Branches work. None of these committees deal with issues directly relevant to my community. I am surprised that Kamala Harris is on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and what that committee does.

Lou Correa is apart of two committees, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security. The House Committee on Homeland Security provides oversight to the development of the Department of Homeland Security. The House Judiciary Committee deals with impeachment of government officials and ensures justice within federal courts, agencies, and other government entities. None of these committees deal with issues directly relevant to my community. I am a little surprised by what I learned. I did not know that the Senate and House had similar committees but perform different functions. I am also surprised that Lou Correa is not in that many committees.

From 1992 to 2016, there has been a trend of low voter turnout. This is due to a multitude of reasons. Restrictive voting laws, gerrymandering, and the heated nature of politics are some of the reasons for low voter turnout. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “In 2016, 14 states had new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election,” and also on the same page, it mentions that since 2010, 25 states have added new voter restriction laws. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the majority of voters are above the age of 29 and are White but not Hispanic. As an American citizen, ways to increase voting would be to encourage your friends to vote. You can also join an organization that encourages voting. The only way to increase voting is to increase awareness on how and where you can vote and show the effects it has on our country.