Jackie Speier
Official portrait, 2015
Member of theSan Mateo County Board of Supervisors from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2025
Preceded by	Dave Pine
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
In office April 8, 2008 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Tom Lantos
Succeeded by	Kevin Mullin
Constituency	12th district (2008–2013) 14th district (2013–2023)
Member of theCalifornia Senate from the8th district
In office December 7, 1998 – November 30, 2006
Preceded by	Quentin L. Kopp
Succeeded by	Leland Yee
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the19th district
In office December 1, 1986 – November 30, 1996
Preceded by	Lou Papan
Succeeded by	Lou Papan
Personal details
Born	Karen Lorraine Speier (1950-05-14)May 14, 1950 (age 75) San Francisco,California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Steve Sierra ​ ​ (m. 1987; died 1994)​ Barry Dennis ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2
Education	University of California, Davis (BA) University of California, Hastings (JD)
Speier's voice Speier opening a hearing of theHouse Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel aboutsexual assault in the U.S. military. Recorded April 2, 2019

Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier^[1] (/spɪər/SPEAR; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 14th congressional district, serving in Congress from 2008 to 2023. A member of theDemocratic Party, Speier represented much of the territory that her political mentor,Leo Ryan, represented.

In 1978, while working as his aide, Speier survived five gunshot wounds when Ryan was assassinated during theJonestown massacre.^[2] Speier served as a member of theCalifornia State Senate, representing parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties. On April 8, 2008, she won thespecial election for the vacatedUnited States House of Representatives seat of the lateCongressmanTom Lantos.^[3] In 2021, she announced that she would not seek reelection in the2022 midterm elections.^[4] She was elected as a member of theSan Mateo County Board of Supervisors in2024.^[5]

Speier was born in 1950 inSan Francisco, and grew up in an apolitical family, the daughter of Nancy (née Kanchelian) and Manfred "Fred" Speier (German:[ˈʃpaɪ̯ɐ]).^[6] Her mother, who was born inFresno ofArmenian descent, lost most of her extended family in theArmenian genocide, while her father was an immigrant fromGermany.^[7] He was the son of aJewish father and a Catholic mother.^[8] Speier took Jacqueline as herconfirmation name afterJackie Kennedy.^[2] She is a graduate ofMercy High School inBurlingame. She earned aBachelor of Arts from theUniversity of California, Davis, and aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1976.^[9]

Speier's first marriage was to Steven Sierra, an emergency-room doctor, in 1987.^[10] In 1988, they had a son, Jackson Kent, while she was a member of the California State Assembly.^[2] Sierra died in a car crash in 1994 at age 53. At the time, Speier was two months pregnant with their second child, a daughter named Stephanie.^[2] Stephanie is now a reporter for ABC's local affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[11]

In 2001, Speier married Barry Dennis, an investment consultant.^[12]

External videos
Q&A interview with Speier on her bookUndaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back, November 18, 2018,C-SPAN

Speier entered politics by serving as a congressional staffer for CongressmanLeo Ryan.^[13] Speier was part of his November 1978 fact-finding mission organized to investigate allegations ofhuman rights abuses byJim Jones and hisPeoples Temple followers, almost all of whom were American citizens who had moved toJonestown,Guyana, with Jones in 1977 and 1978.^[2]

On November 18, 1978, several Peoples Temple members ambushed the investigative team and others boarding the plane to leave Jonestown. Five people were killed, including Ryan. While trying to shield herself from rifle and shotgun fire behind small airplane wheels with other team members, Speier was shot five times and waited 22 hours before help arrived.^[14] The same day, over 900 remaining members of the Peoples Temple died in Jonestown andGeorgetown in a mass murder-suicide.

Speier's political career began with an unsuccessful run to fill the vacancy caused by Ryan's death (the seat she held later).^[2] She lost the Democratic primary to Ryan's formerchief of staff, G. W. "Joe" Holsinger. He lost the special election to theRepublican nominee, San Mateo CountySupervisorBill Royer,^[15] who served the remaining 21 months of the term before losing to Tom Lantos.

Speier won her first election in 1980, when she ran for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and defeated a 20-year incumbent. At the time, she was the youngest person ever elected to the board. She was reelected in 1984, and was later selected as chairwoman.^[14]

In September 2023 Speier announced that she will run for the San Mateo County Board of supervisors in2024, more than 40 years after she was first elected to the same board.^[16]

In 1986, midway through her second term on the Board of Supervisors, Speier ran for theCalifornia State Assembly from a district in northern San Mateo County. She won by a few hundred votes. She was reelected four more times, the last time as the nominee of both the Democratic and Republican parties.^[17]

State law prevented Speier from running for reelection to the Assembly in 1996, but in 1998 she was elected to the California State Senate. In 2002, she was elected to a second term with 78.2% of the vote.^[18] As a state senator, Speier was instrumental in securing $127 million to start the"Baby Bullet" express service forCaltrain, for which the commuter rail agency named a new locomotive (no. 925) after her.^[19] Speier also focused on representingconsumer rights.^{[citation needed]} She was termed out of theCalifornia State Senate in 2006. During her last term, she served as assistant presidentpro tempore of the State Senate.

In 2006, Speier ran in the Democratic primary forlieutenant governor of California against insurance commissionerJohn Garamendi and state senatorLiz Figueroa. In the June 6 election, Garamendi defeated Speier with 42.5% of the vote. Speier received 39.7% and Figueroa the remaining 17.8%.^[20]

On January 13, 2008, Speier announced she was running in the Democratic primary for the 12th District, Ryan's old district. The seat was being vacated by 14-term incumbentTom Lantos, who announced on January 2, 2008, that he was not seeking reelection. Speier had spent much of 2007 building support to challenge Lantos in the Democratic primary.^[21]

On January 17, 2008, Lantos endorsed Speier as his successor. She also picked up endorsements from CongresswomanAnna Eshoo, CongressmanMike Thompson and San Francisco MayorGavin Newsom.

Lantos died on February 11, 2008. Speier won a special primary election on April 8, 2008, to fill the remainder of his term, which ended in January 2009. She won an outright majority, avoiding a runoff that would have been held on June 3, coinciding with the regular primary election.^[22] She was elected to a full term in November with 75% of the vote and has been reelected three more times with no substantive opposition.

On July 11, 2008, Speier introduced her first bill, the Gasoline Savings and Speed Limit Reduction Act, which would set a national speed limit of 60 mph in urban areas and 65 mph on less-populated stretches of highway.^[23]

In a January 2016 speech on the House floor, Speier announced that she would introduce legislation requiring schools to disclose disciplinary proceedings of faculty.^[24]

On August 16, 2017, Speier advocated the use of theTwenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remove President Trump from office because of erratic behavior and mental instability "that place the country in great danger",^[25] following his response to theUnite the Right rally inCharlottesville, Virginia, and dealings withNorth Korean dictatorKim Jong-un.^[26]

In September 2016, Speier proposed a bill to stop sexual abuse and harassment of women inSTEM fields known as the Federal Funding Accountability for Sexual Harassers Act.^[27]

On October 27, 2017, Speier, as part of the#MeToo movement, posted a video sharing her experience withsexual harassment on Capitol Hill.^[28] She said that when she was in her 20s, G.W. "Joe" Holsinger, a chief of staff for RepresentativeLeo Ryan, "kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth." Speier called Congress a breeding ground forhostile work environments and called for more sexual harassment training.^[29]

Speier and RepresentativeBennie Thompson have been seeking to prohibit sleeping in United States Congress offices.^[30]

Following theelection ofJoe Biden asPresident of the United States, Speier was mentioned as a possible contender for a position in his administration, owing to her experience on national security issues. She indicated she would be willing to serve in a role in the Biden administration, but was not chosen for a position.^[31]

As of October 2021, Speier had voted in line withJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.^[32]

On November 16, 2021, Speier announced she would not run for reelection to Congress in 2022.^[33]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Chair
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness

• Congressional Arts Caucus^[34]
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (Associate Member)^[35]
• Congressional Taiwan Caucus^[36]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus^[37]

Speier has worked to remove cases of sexual assault and serious felonies from the chain of command in the military justice system.^[13] She introduced theI Am Vanessa Guillén Act, named for Army SpcVanessa Guillén, on September 16, 2020, and reintroduced it on May 13, 2021. The bill would remove cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment from the chain of command, make sexual harassment a standalone offense in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and provide a process for compensating servicemembers who survive sexual violence when the military has been negligent. She has been quoted by CNN: "This piece of legislation is going to transform a tragedy into change."^[38]

Speier introduced theVanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevent Act on Jun 23, 2021, which would move the decision to prosecute serious crimes in the military from the chain of command. She has been quoted by NPR: "We're here today for the service members who have spoken out or who have suffered in silence because the message and culture in the military has been clear: Shut up, suck it up and don't rock the boat."^[39]

Speier is a critic of theF35Joint Strike Fighter Program. She has been quoted by CNN: "To continue pouring money into building planes that have ejector seat issues, cyber vulnerabilities, flawed aerodynamics, maintenance problems, an inability to fly at full speed while using weapons, and overheating issues is borderline malfeasance."^[40]

Speier co-sponsored the Protecting NATO Skies Act of 2019 to prevent the delivery of F-35s to Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to purchase and deploy Russian S-400 air defense systems.^[41]

Speier supports legal abortion. When she took the National Political Awareness Test in 2002, she answered, "Abortions should always be legally available."^[42] The organizationNARAL Pro-Choice America rated Speier as 100% on interest group ratings because she supported the choice of abortion in her voting for legislation.^[43] Also in 2008 the Planned Parenthood Organization gave Speier a 100% on her actions regarding abortion.^[42] In a February 17, 2011, speech on the House floor, Speier said that she herself had undergone an emergencyD&E procedure when complications developed in a wanted pregnancy.^[44][45][46]

Speier opposed the Trump administration's reinstatement and expansion of theMexico City Policy, which blocks foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. health aid from providing referrals for abortion services with their own funding. Research shows that by limiting access to care, this policy has previously led to a 14% decrease in contraceptive use, 12% increase in pregnancies, and 40% increase in abortion rates. She is a cosponsor of H.R. 1055, theGlobal HER Act,^[47] to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule.^[41]

Speier opposed the 2022overturning ofRoe v. Wade, calling the decision "government mandated pregnancy."^[48]

Speier believes in strictergun control. According to her answers on the NPAT (National Political Awareness Test) she would like to require safety locks on all guns and background checks on prospective buyers as well as ban certain guns (other than for hunting) and strengthen state restrictions on buying and owning guns.^[42]Gun Owners of America gave her an "F" grade and theBrady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Jack Berman Advocacy Center gave her a 100% rating.^[42][43] TheNRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) and Gun Owners of California also gave Speier consistently low grades on gun rights.^[42][49]

Speier is concerned for the protection of the environment. She cites the decline of salmon onthe West Coast as evidence ofglobal warming.^[50] Speier believes global warming poses a growing danger and negatively affects the environment. When she spoke to the House on the subject, she expressed a desire "to craft a bipartisan and commonsense energy plan that makes polluters pay, provides for middle-class energy tax credits, and creates a new industry and lots of good, clean, green jobs".^[51] Speier worked to improve energy legislation with the Clean Air Rebate Act of 2009, the Home Star Act and the American Clean Energy and Security Act.^[52][53]

In January 2019, Speier introduced H.R. 1028, theRIGHT Act, to prevent foreign money from influencing U.S. elections. She also introduced thePUTIN Act in 2017, legislation to prevent any federal funding for a cybersecurity unit with Russia, as proposed by then President Donald Trump.^[41]

On June 27, 2019, Speier introduced a resolution condemning the murder of journalistJamal Khashoggi and demanding a reevaluation of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia from the secretary of state in response to reports of numerous violations of the human rights of Saudi activists.^[41]

She supports Israel in relation to theGaza war.^[54]

Speier formed the bipartisanCongressional Unexploded Ordnance/Demining CaucusArchived July 19, 2021, at theWayback Machine in 2018 to address unexploded ordnance and mines from the U.S. and other countries throughout the world that impact post-conflict economic and social development.^[41]

Speier led the successful effort to secure funding in the FY 2020 House-passed appropriations bill for humanitarian demining assistance and ensured that unclassified Department of Defense demining research would be shared with humanitarian demining organizations.^[41]

In September 2017, as co-chair of the Ahmadiyya Caucus, Speier condemned the human rightsabuses perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and supported assistance programs that help partner nations build accountable, transparent governance structures.^[41]

Speier opposed the Trump administration's unilateral cuts to theUN Population Fund (UNFPA), which works in more than 150 countries to end preventable maternal deaths, provide voluntary family planning, combat gender-based violence such as child marriage, and train health care workers. She led aletterArchived July 19, 2021, at theWayback Machine with 145 of her colleagues urging the administration to reverse its decision to withhold U.S. funding.^[41]

Speier also supports efforts to educate girls worldwide, eradicate gender-based violence, promote women's participation in peace and security efforts, and ensure their access to jobs and an economic marketplace free from discrimination.^[41]

As co-chair of the bipartisanCongressional Armenian Caucus and an Armenian American, Speier works to build close U.S.-Armenia cooperation with Armenian American groups, the State Department, USAID, and the Armenian government. That includes her amendment that passed the House to provide more than $40 million to Armenian Democracy Assistance^[55] and establish direct flights between California and Yerevan.^[41]

Speier supportssame-sex marriage. She was a member of theCongressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.^[56]

Speier isRoman Catholic.^[57]

• This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down, by Deborah Collins Stephens,Michealene Cristini Risley, Jackie Speier, andJan Yanehiro, 2007,ISBN 978-1573243056
• Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back, by Jackie Speier, 2018,ISBN 978-1503903609

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at theLibrary of Congress
• Profile atVote Smart
• Appearances onC-SPAN

Articles

• Jackie Speier and Deborah Stephens^{[permanent dead link]} Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders seminar mp3.
• Vicki Haddock (November 16, 2003)."Jackie Speier – moving on, moving up: Survivor of Jonestown".San Francisco Chronicle.
• "Reforming California's Prisons: An Interview With Jackie Speier".Mother Jones. July 7, 2005.
• Commencement SpeakerArchived May 19, 2024, at theWayback Machine,San Francisco State University, 2006
• Senator Jackie Speier one of honored guests at banquet,Armenian National Committee of America Western Region, October 2006.
• Zachary Coile (July 11, 2008)."Speier seeks national speed limit to save gas".San Francisco Chronicle.
• Join California Jackie Speier

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