‘Housing is a basic human right.’ Rep. Barbara Lee discusses climate change, Israel, Trump | Opinion
The following interview was conducted by members of McClatchy California Editorial Boards and Rep. Barbara Lee, a candidate to represent California in the U.S. Senate. It has been edited for length and clarity.
McClatchy California: Please give us your opening statement.
Rep. Barbara Lee: I was born in El Paso, Texas, in an immigrant community. We were living near what was called “Smeltertown.” There was a smelting plant there that emitted lead, so many people — children, especially — developed asthma and all kinds of health impacts.
My mother, when she went to the hospital to have me, she needed a C-section, but they wouldn’t admit her because she was Black. So she almost died in childbirth, and I almost didn’t get here. And here we are still dealing with issues around health care and access for Black women and women of color.
My grandfather was the first Black letter carrier in El Paso. He spoke fluent Spanish. My father was in the army — a lieutenant colonel. We moved to California and lived on the border of San Fernando and Pacoima after I got out of grammar school. I went to Catholic school because the schools were segregated. I was on work study at the credit union to help out my family.
Once I got into high school, I wanted to be a cheerleader. But there was a criteria at San Fernando High School that precluded girls that looked like me to be cheerleaders. So I went to my boss, the head of the credit union, because he was also the head of the NAACP and told him I wanted to be a cheerleader. So we looked at what was taking place, and they said, “This is a discriminatory policy.” So I organized with the NAACP, and had them work with me to change that whole selection process to an election process. I tried out in front of the student body and I won. So I was the first Black cheerleader at San Fernando High School. That was my very first election at age 15, and that opened the door for girls who look like me. After I graduated high school, I went to England for two years and got married at 16. My first son was born in England, and my second son was born in Encino in a West Valley Hospital.
I want to be in the Senate because I think it needs someone with my experience, my background, my lens, my perspective, to really champion some of the issues that hurt people that don’t have voices that are marginalized and that aren’t being seen in the Senate. When you’re one of 100, you have a big megaphone. I can really use that to fight for what’s right for everybody and, hopefully, help with the cost of living in California.
MC: The San Francisco Chronicle recently wrote that you’re one of the more ideological liberal members of the House. Do you agree with that characterization? And do you feel that characterization creates challenges for you finding votes in the Central Valley and other more conservative parts of California?
Lee: I am a progressive Black woman, and I come to the public arena with lived experiences that require me to fight for what is right for everybody. But when I was in the legislature when Pete Wilson was the governor, I had more bills signed into law by a Republican governor than most members — the Violence Against Women Act, the Hate Crimes Reductions Act, the Children’s Health Program. When I went to Congress, people knew me for being a member who’s progressive but works in a bipartisan way.
When President Bush was in office, I was against most of his policies. But I went to talk to him and we ended up working together on a global AIDS initiative, which was my legislation. He signed it into law and thanked me at the bill signing.
I also started the Cannabis Caucus with Republicans working to deschedule marijuana nationally and worked on the Marijuana Justice Act with Republicans. I’ve worked with Chip Roy and Matt Gaetz to repeal those authorizations to use military force. I’ve worked with Republican Rep. Michael Burgess to require that the Pentagon be audited. So I have a history of being able to work to get the job done in terms of delivering for people.
I know when to fight and I know when to negotiate, legislate and appropriate — that’s my record. And that’s why I believe I can win this, because I can bring people together and know how to unify people to move forward. When people say liberal and progressive, that’s fine. Those are labels. But I think what’s important is for people to look at what you do to make life better for everybody, and I have a record of doing that.
MC: Homelessness is an ongoing crisis in California’s major cities. What specifically would you do from Washington that hasn’t already been done to help our cities address this crisis?
Lee: After a very devastating marriage, and as a survivor of domestic violence, I ended up without a place to live. I know these issues very well. I was on the subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee and the subcommittee on housing for 11 years, and I do a lot on housing and homelessness. We need to make sure there’s more housing stock built. We need more tax credits, and the federal government needs to invest more in existing programs, including the Fair Housing Act and Section 8. I have the Deposit Act, which would provide the deposit because oftentimes it’s the deposit that low-income people can’t come up with, and they end up on the streets.
There are new ways of doing housing that really help prevent people from being unsheltered. I support a national rent control policy that’s fair. I support fair market rental. So many people who are unsheltered end up in the jails. We have to have social workers and mental health workers to help make sure that they work with the police to not criminalize people who need a place to live and have mental health issues. We have to invest in alternatives to incarceration.
The federal government has to have ways to support young people’s pathways to home-ownership. I worked with Bernie Sanders to establish the first federal Housing Trust Fund. There are many, many creative ways we can address the housing crisis, but it has to be seen as a comprehensive strategy.
You may think this is liberal, but I think housing is a basic human right. I think everyone in America should have access to affordable, decent, safe housing.
MC: It’s been reported that you and the other two leading candidates for this Senate seat vote the same about 94% of the time. What distinguishes you from the other two?
Lee: I’m a leader, I don’t wait for others to follow. You can see that in my record taking up issues that no one else would even talk about. The Hyde Amendment is an example of that. Democrats wouldn’t even say “Hyde.” They’d say “the policy that denies access to abortion care for low-income women” — which are primarily women of color. I was told, “don’t even raise that. You can’t do it.” So I said “okay,” and, in the meantime, I helped young Black and brown people around the country organize, and we finally built a momentum where the powers that be saw that the public was with us. That led to the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. That was a really tough battle I had to fight.
No one would touch marijuana issues from a criminal justice perspective. So I stepped out there and introduced a bill that started the debate — the Marijuana Justice Act. Finally, others came around — both Republicans and Democrats — and said, “Yes, this is an issue that the war on drugs has caused, so we need to do something.”
I believe in a strong national security. My dad was a retired lieutenant colonel. But I don’t support the status quo foreign policy. If we want to have a policy that leads to global peace and security, we’ve got to invest more in development and diplomacy. My opponents have a different perspective on foreign policy. So the differences in how we view national security and foreign policy are very clear. It’s the lens we view these issues through.
And finally, I bring lived experiences being an African American woman. There have only been three since the first Senate went into session in 1789 — serving a total of 10 years. Imagine the perspective that this country has not had and how Black women understand that we have to fight for everybody who has not had a seat at the table. I want to grow the middle class by lifting people out of poverty and making sure that my lens and my perspective is in the Senate — a perspective which has been missing since 1789, with the exception of 10 years.
MC: Climate change is requiring California to adapt its water management and develop new supplies. What is your position on Gov. Newsom’s Delta Conveyance Project? And how do you plan, as senator, to address California’s water challenges?
Lee: I agree with what the governor is doing, but I think we have to look at the water challenge here in California from a variety of perspectives. We’ve got to have a federal policy that allows for environmental justice in our water policy. There are so many vulnerable communities, especially in the Central Valley, who don’t have access to clean water. My perspective on our water policy is about making sure that it’s clean and it’s equitable. That we have the supply for our ranchers and our farmers. You don’t hear much about the equity provisions for marginalized communities in terms of water supply, floods and the lead in the water supply.
I work on so many water issues. I work on vertical farming, conservation efforts and making sure farmers have the technology to transfer from standard agriculture into vertical farming. In terms of the conveyance project, from what I know about it, I’m supportive. I think it’s going in the right direction.
MC: California has been a leader in transitioning to clean energy, yet even here we have trouble meeting our goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What actions need to be taken at a federal level to wean us off fossil fuels?
Lee: I took the no fossil fuel money pledge early on because we’ve got to make this transition. I think California’s policies are some of the strongest climate policies that we have. I support the Green New Deal. That’s very important because as we transition off of fossil fuels, we have to make sure that people don’t lose their jobs. That means we have to have investments in training people to work in the new green economy. The federal government has to invest in that if we’re ever going to get fossil free.
We have to make sure that the Donald McEachin Environmental Justice Act is included in our climate policy. Environmental justice is key in that because so many communities in California are filled with toxic pollutants.
I went to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Investments in the Global Green Climate Fund are extremely important. I got legislation passed into law to involve women at the table and vulnerable populations as we develop this kind of policy. We have to make sure everybody is included as we make this transition to make sure that it’s a just transition and that people don’t lose their jobs as a result of playing it safe. That’s one of Gen Z For Change’s big issues, and they’re supporting me. We talk a lot about the planet not being here in the future for them, and they’re very concerned about it.
MC: Does America’s debt concern you? And, if yes, how would you propose to reduce it?
Lee: American debt does concern me, but we have to look at a couple of reasons for how we got here. One is huge tax cuts for corporations and the very wealthy. We have to have millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. I don’t know if we’ll ever be debt free, but to pay down the debt we can’t keep giving away tax benefits and letting tax scam artists get away with not paying taxes. So tax reform is very important. And it’s important especially for people and corporations who are very, very wealthy.
I’m working on a bill with Sen. Bernie Sanders right now — the Oligarch Act — and we’ve got another one on CEO compensation. Some companies get tax write-offs even if they’re paying their employees 5,800 times less than what the CEOs are making. We have to have some equity in our tax system so that we can begin to pay down the debt.
The bottom line is that Democrats are not responsible for this debt. It’s due to these past tax reform measures and tax deductions that very wealthy corporations and individuals got under prior Republican administrations. And I think that’s very clear. So it wasn’t Democrats who did this, but we have a responsibility to try to pay it down.
MC: You have called for a ceasefire in Gaza. And, following 9/11, you were the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing use of force. Can you share what led you to take those positions?
Lee: Right after the horrific attacks of 9/11, I was sitting on the Capitol that day and had to evacuate early in the morning. It hit me very personally in terms of what took place, and I struggled with this because I don’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses. I knew that we had to respond. But when the Bush Administration and Congress started talking about an authorization to use force, it was overly broad. It took Congress’ authority away forever. I knew that wasn’t the right authorization, and I tried to help (re)write it, but they said, “No, no, no, we have to have it where any president has authority to use force forever.” So I voted against it, and it was a very difficult vote. I was told I would lose my election and got death threats.
Even now, it bubbles up. But that was the right vote because we see now, 20 years later, there was no military solution. My dad, a retired lieutenant colonel, called me and told me that was the right vote. He said, “You don’t send our young men and women in harm’s way without an exit strategy.” By the time that Iraq Authorization vote came up, there were 133 Democrats who voted against it. But written into it was the 9/11 authorization, so I really had to work with members to explain why it was based on lies — there were no weapons of mass destruction.
Fast forward, we know there were no weapons of mass destruction. We sent our young men and women in harm’s way. Thousands of people were lost or became refugees. There are health impacts that will last forever, and trillions of dollars lost.
In the Middle East, as it relates to Israel and Gaza, I have condemned the Hamas attacks — it’s a terrorist organization. I’ve been there at least 10 to 12 times. Israel has a right to exist and a right to their security. And some say calling for a ceasefire has been counter to that position, which it’s not — I want to make that very clear. But I also want to be clear that how a country prosecutes a war determines outcomes. Is this going to make Israel any more secure? It’s counterproductive.
I believe we need to have a permanent ceasefire to get more hostages released. I still believe in a two-state solution. We have to have a diplomatic solution, and the only way we’re going to do that is calling for a ceasefire. The strategy has to change. For me, morally, Palestinians deserve security in a state. The prosecution of this war will not lead to that, so that’s why we need to have a ceasefire.
MC: In exchange for approving more aid to Ukraine, Congressional Republicans want Democrats to agree to dramatically limit the options migrants have to claim asylum from the United States and to ramp up detention and deportation of migrants. Should President Biden negotiate border security in exchange for Ukraine aid?
Lee: That should not be connected in the same bill. This just shows you what Republicans are trying to do. Second, we have asylum laws already. And I disagree with the Biden Administration on its policy requiring asylum seekers to seek asylum in another country before they come to America. That’s not the proper way to process asylum seekers. We need comprehensive immigration reform long term, but we’ll never get there if we don’t comply with the immigration laws we have in effect now.
I was born and raised in a border town. When Donald Trump came up with separating children from their families, I went to detention camps all around the country. I went to the Homestead Child Detention Center in Florida and I went to two in Texas. The dehumanization of immigrants was horrific for me to see. It reminded me of what happened with African Americans. When Africans were brought on trips to America, the first policy of the United States was to separate the children from the families. That has led to generational trauma. So I worry what’s going to take place with these young people in these families. But I believe border security should not be part of this bill. We have to address immigration policy. We have to give DACA participants a pathway to citizenship. I support Senator Alex Padilla’s registry bill which would make it so that if you’ve been here seven years and you’ve done everything you’ve needed to do, then you automatically get a green card. Why not?
MC: Are you generally in favor of giving more aid to Ukraine?
Lee: I’ve been to Ukraine several times. I know that neighborhood because of my work as the former chair of the State and Foreign Operations Committee. I believe we need to support the Ukrainian people and provide more assistance to Ukraine. Putin is on the move. Ukraine has got to win. Otherwise, it’s a threat to our democracy here at home. We have to have accountability measures, but I believe that we can’t separate Putin’s activity and Ukraine from what takes place in our own country in terms of destabilizing elections. It’s very dangerous, and it’s very scary, and we have to wake up Americans to understand that. The intelligence shows that Russia was involved in the 2016 election. I believe it’s in our own national security — if nothing else — to support Ukraine, the people of Ukraine and the government, and, hopefully, a pathway to get this war solved.
MC: In speaking to The Guardian about reparations, you said. “This is the moment to push it forward. There’s no better moment given what we see taking place in terms of trying to deny and destroy our history in this country, and before we were brought here, enslaved. You have to keep educating the public.” What is the best way to reach the public, and do you believe there will be a nationwide reparations program?
Lee: I have legislation to develop a True Racial Healing and Transformation Commission as a way to finally acknowledge the lasting effects of slavery and discrimation.Forty countries around the world set up commissions for truth telling after genocides and crimes against humanity and slavery. We have to have this commission so the public will understand why it’s important for transformation through reparations.
During the height of COVID, I had some very progressive, white, liberal friends and constituents who couldn’t understand why Black people were dying disproportionately from COVID. I have some very progressive, white friends who couldn’t understand why Mr. George Floyd was killed in public view on video. People don’t understand the connection between being enslaved, which was a policy of the United States, and the disparities today in terms of criminal justice reform, health, the wealth gap, unemployment, black maternal mortality — there’s a direct connection.
When you look at what’s taking place all over the country, it’s due to subtle, discriminatory policies that people don’t even understand are discriminatory and the trauma of 250 years of being enslaved. My great-grandmother was born in Galveston during slavery. My grandfather was born in Galveston two years after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1867. It’s in the not-so-distant past that Black people have been enslaved, and the ramifications are with us. The only way we can get past it is by repairing the damage so that there’s some justice. And that’s through this True Racial Healing and Truth Telling Commission, which has about 160 co-sponsors — the late Rep. John Lewis being one of the very first co-sponsors.
MC: Many moderate and vulnerable Democrats believe that the illegal crossings of migrants at the southern border is a genuine crisis. Would you say that we have a crisis at the border? And, if you are elected to the senate, what would you propose to deal with the spike in border crossings?
Lee: Yes, we do have a crisis at the border. I think the White House is correct in looking at the source of the crisis, and that is in the Northern Triangle countries where people are fleeing violence because they have no place to go and they’re afraid and they want to come to America for a better life. We have to invest more in these countries.
We need to hire more people at the border who understand what immigration policy is all about. I’m not talking about border control agents, I’m talking about more social workers and health workers. The federal government has a responsibility to use some of our tax dollars to make sure that once people are in the states that we have resources to accommodate these immigrants.
There’s a big disconnect between jobs that are available that we need to hire people for and our immigration policies. How can we get companies to help with immigration reform so we can bring people here legally or at least get them processed legally so they can be able to get a job in the industries where we need people?
It’s a crisis, yes. But we’re going at it the entirely wrong way. You can’t just come down hard and send people back. We need to make sure we have immigration policies that are humane but allow for laws to be complied with.
MC: What frightens you most about the possibility of a second Trump presidency?
Lee: Madeleine Albright wrote a book and she used the “F” word: Fascism. I see what’s taking place with Donald Trump and the Republicans trying to shut down the government. On the Appropriations Committee, they tried to defund diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for people of color and people who’ve been shut out. They’re trying to repeal transgender health care. They’re trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. They’re trying to look at the people they see as the other and diminish their humanity.
I was sitting on the floor on Jan. 6 and barely escaped when the mob was coming in. It was an attempted coup. And I think they want to complete that. I think they want to shut down the federal government and our democracy as we know it. We withstood the test of our democracy on January 6, and I’m not so sure now, given what they’ve done during the interim, that we can withstand it. He needs to be held accountable.
I’m taking this lawsuit with the NAACP all the way. He’s such a threat to our democracy. We see how our freedoms are being taken away. All of our freedoms are part of our fight for democracy — voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental rights. When you look at what’s happening with our labor unions, this is an attempt to shut down democracy as we know it. So it’s very dangerous, and it’s very important that we re elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
MC: How do you reassure voters who support your policies yet view your age as a concern?
Lee: My age is no secret. Black women start later in life because we’re doing a lot. But I hope voters understand that my experience informs my ability to represent them and make life better for them. You don’t just learn that overnight. The Senate is a tough place. You have to be able to navigate that. When you look at the fact that many of the young democratic clubs are supporting me, they all know my age, but they say. “We know your history, we know your record. We know you’re not running to be a Senator for yourself. You’re doing it for us.” It’s the consistency in my career over the years. That’s led them to believe in me and know that I’m doing this for them. You have to deal with it straight on and talk to people and hope that people will vote for me based on their knowledge and the perspective that I bring that others don’t have.
MC: People who see your age might have concerns. How would you respond?
Lee: I’m raising money to be able to earn media and do media, but raising money as a Black woman in California is hard. We’re raising just enough money to do our targeted media to get my validators and endorsers. We have people all over the state who have endorsed me who are carrying the message. The message is key.
I don’t have establishment donors, but we have donors all around the country. We’re putting together the money we need to run a good campaign. Bernie Sanders is older than I am and he beat Biden in California. The nonprofit Our Revolution has endorsed me. We have the Working Families Party. Even the mayor of Irvine, where Katie Porter is, has endorsed me, so we have people helping to get the word out. And once people get to know me, all the polls show that, based on my experience, they support me.
MC: Can you recommend a book?
Lee: “Love in the Time of Cholera,” by Gabriel García Márquez. I read that in college and I still like that book.
MC: Any particular reason?
Lee: It’s a love story. Some people don’t even talk about love these days. But love is really important.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Housing is a basic human right.’ Rep. Barbara Lee discusses climate change, Israel, Trump | Opinion."