Judy Chu

Judy May Chu (Chinese: 趙美心, born July 7, 1953) is an American politician, and also the first Chinese American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She serves as the U.S. Representative for California's 27th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2009. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Chu was previously Chair of the California Board of Equalization, representing the 4th District. She had also served on the Garvey Unified School District Board of Education, the Monterey Park City Council (with five terms as mayor) and the California State Assembly.

Chu ran in the 32nd congressional district special election for the seat that was vacated by Hilda Solis after she was confirmed as Barack Obama's U.S. Secretary of Labor in 2009. She defeated Republican candidate Betty Tom Chu and Libertarian candidate Christopher Agrella in a runoff election on July 14, 2009. Chu was redistricted to the 27th District in 2012, but was still re-elected to a third term, defeating Republican challenger Jack Orswell.

Early life, education, and academic career

Judy Chu is the second of four children of Judson and May Chu, who were married in 1948 in their ancestral home of Xinhui, Jiangmen, Guangdong. After getting married, they moved to Los Angeles, near 62nd Street and Normandie Avenue, where Chu was born and grew up until her early teen years, when the family moved to the Bay Area.

Chu graduated with a B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She then earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.

She taught as a psychology professor at the Los Angeles Community College District for 20 years, including 13 years at East Los Angeles College.

Local politics

Chu in 2007, while still a member of the Board of Equalization

Chu's first elected position was Board Member for the Garvey School District in Rosemead, California in 1985. In 1988 she was elected to the city council of Monterey Park, where she served as mayor for three terms. She ran for the California State Assembly in 1994, but lost the Democrat primary to Diane Martinez; in 1998, she lost the primary to Gloria Romero.

Chu was elected to the State Assembly in a May 15, 2001, special election after Romero was elected to the State Senate. She was elected to a full term in 2002 and was reelected in 2004. The district includes Alhambra, El Monte, Duarte, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino and South El Monte, within Los Angeles County.

Barred by term limits from running for a third full term in 2006, Chu was elected to the State Board of Equalization from the 4th District, representing most of Los Angeles County.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2009

Main article: California's 32nd congressional district special election, 2009

Chu decided to run for the 2009 special election for the California's 32nd congressional district after U.S. Congresswoman Hilda Solis was appointed to become President Barack Obama's U.S. Secretary of Labor. Chu led the field in the May 19 special election. However, due to the crowded nature of the primary (eight Democrats and four Republicans filed) she only got 32% of the vote, well short of the 50% vote needed to win outright. In the run-off election, she defeated Republican Betty Chu (her cousin-in-law and a then-Monterey Park City Councilwoman) 62%–33%.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2010 § District 32

Chu was heavily favored due to the district's heavy Democrat tilt and with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+15, it is one of the safest Democratic districts in the nation. She won re-election to her first full term with 71% of the vote.

2012

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012 § District 27

In August 2011, Chu decided to run in the newly redrawn California's 27th congressional district. The district has the second highest percentage of Asian Americans in the state with 37%, behind the newly redrawn 17th CD which is 50% Asian. Registered Democrats make up 42% of the district. Obama won the district with 63% in the 2008 presidential. Jerry Brown won with 55% in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Representative Chu won re-election by defeating Republican Jack Orswell 64% to 36%.

Tenure

Chu was sworn into office on July 16, 2009.

Immigration

Chu believes that the immigration system is outdated and in need of reform. She has worked to pass the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (H.R. 15). She strongly supports the DREAM Act and has worked for its passage. She has introduced the Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation Act (POWER Act, or H.R. 2169), introduced to stop disreputable employers from exploiting immigrants.

In July 2015, Chu went before Congress to speak out against what she sees as the "shocking" treatment of women and children held in for-profit detention facilities in the U.S. Comparing them to Japanese internment camps, Chu states the prolonged detention re-traumatizes families, breaks apart the parent-child relationship, and has serious cognitive effects on children.

Abortion

Chu cosponsored the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act of 2010 which authorizes the President of the United States to support measures providing abortions and other reproduction assistance to women in developing countries. In 2010, Chu voting against measures proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives to strip government funding to Planned Parenthood, and opposed restricting federal funding of abortions. Chu has received ratings of 100 from all Pro-Choice affiliates including Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. She has also received ratings of 100 from the NARAL pro-choice California in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 while receiving very low ratings given by Pro-Life organizations in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Budget

In 2009, Chu voted to increase the debt ceiling to $12.394 trillion. In 2010, Chu voted to increase the debt ceiling to $14.294 trillion. In January 2011, she voted against a bill to reduce spending on non-security items to fiscal year 2008 levels. In 2011, Chu voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which incrementally raised the debt ceiling.

Defense of Civil Liberties

Chu opposed the "See Something, Say Something Act of 2011," which provides "immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response." She said, "if a person contacts law enforcement about something based solely on someone's race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, they would not receive immunity from civil lawsuits."

On July 24, 2013, the United States House of Representatives voted on Amendment 100 to the H.R. 2397 Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014 which if passed would have ended the authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. Chu voted "Aye" to pass amendment 100 and end the blanket collection authority; however, the amendment did not pass with the "Noes" blocking the amendment 217-205.

Internet policy

In 2011, Rep. Chu became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act

On June 18, 2012, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution, introduced by Congresswoman Chu, that formally expresses the regret of the House of Representatives for the Chinese Exclusion Act, which imposed almost total restrictions on Chinese immigration and naturalization and denied Chinese-Americans basic freedoms because of their ethnicity. This was only the fourth time that the U.S. Congress issued an apology to a group of people.

Reprimand

In June 2011 the House Ethics Committee began an investigation after receiving information suggesting that two of Chu's top aides had directed staffers to do campaign tasks during regular work hours. In the course of the investigation it was found that Chu had sent two emails to her staff on how to respond to aspects of the Ethics Committee's inquiry. While the Committee found no evidence to support that Chu was aware of the actions of her staff, they did find that the emails represented actions that interfered with the committee's investigation of the matter, and on December 11, 2014, Rep. Chu was formally reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee for interfering with their investigation of her office.

Committee assignments

Chu and husband Mike Eng, with Nancy Pelosi, at Chu's Swearing In ceremony for the U.S. House of Representatives

• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade

Caucuses

• American Sikh Congressional Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Progressive Caucus (Vice-Chair)
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (Chair)
• Creative Rights Caucus (Co-founder and Co-chair)

Personal life

Chu married Mike Eng in 1978. Eng took Chu's seat on the Monterey Park City Council in 2001, when Chu left the council after getting elected to the Assembly, and in 2006 he took Chu's seat on the Assembly, when Chu left the Assembly. Both Chu and Eng do not mutually reside together, and has been living separately since 2010. Chu speaks only English and cannot speak her heritage tongue of Cantonese Chinese.

Chu's nephew, Lance Corporal Harry Lew, a US Marine, committed suicide while serving in Afghanistan on April 3, 2011, allegedly as a result of hazing from fellow Marines after Lew allegedly repeatedly fell asleep during his watch. Chu described her nephew as a patriotic American and said that those responsible must be brought to justice.

See also

• History of the Chinese Americans in Los Angeles

External links

• Congresswoman Judy Chu official U.S. House site
• Judy Chu for Congress
• Judy Chu at Ballotpedia
• Judy Chu at DMOZ

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Hilda Solis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 32nd district 2009–2013	Succeeded by Grace Napolitano
Preceded by Brad Sherman	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 27th district 2013–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Michael Quigley D-Illinois	United States Representatives by seniority 221st	Succeeded by John Garamendi D-California
Political offices
Preceded by Matthew G. Martinez	Monterey Park City Council 1988–2001	Succeeded by Mike Eng
Preceded by John Chiang	California State Board of Equalization Member 4th District 2007–2009	Succeeded by Jerome Horton
California Assembly
Preceded by Gloria J. Romero	California State Assemblymember 49th District 2001–2006	Succeeded by Mike Eng