A Representative from California; born in Richmond, Contra Costa County, Calif., May 17, 1945; A.A., Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, Calif., 1965; A.B., San Francisco State University, 1968; J.D., University of California Law School, Davis, Calif., 1972; lawyer, private practice; legislative assistant to senate majority leader, California state legislature, 1969-1974; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth and to the nineteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975-present); chair, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (Ninety-eighth through One Hundred First Congresses); chair, Committee on Natural Resources (One Hundred Second and One Hundred Third Congresses); chair, Committee on Education and Labor (One Hundred Tenth and One Hundred Eleventh Congresses).