Progressive Spotlight: Barbara Lee.

Rep. Barbara Lee was three years into her career as a Congresswoman from California when she bravely bucked the Washington consensus and voted against the 2001 war authorization that would give then-President George W. Bush seemingly limitless power to retaliate against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack.

It was a history-making decision, as Lee would go down as the lone “no” vote for the resolution, the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), one of the most overly broad and misinterpreted laws in modern history.

Lee was well aware of the implications of her choice. The country was wounded. Americans guarded themselves in fear of more attacks. Thousands had collectively perished in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

In an interview with this reporter several years ago, Lee said her gut told her to oppose the resolution. On Sept. 14, at a memorial service held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., she listened intently to the words of Rev. Nathan D. Baxter. With the most powerful people in the country in attendance, Baxter offered this advice:

“Let’s us now seek that assurance in prayer for the healing of our grief-stricken hearts, for the souls and the sacred memory of those who have been lost. Let us also pray for divine wisdom as our leaders consider the necessary actions for national security. Wisdom of the grace of God that as we act, we not become the evil we deplore.”

“…that as we act, we not become the evil we deplore.”

Eleven words that would provide Lee with the peace that she’d need to live with her choice.

That same day, Congress approved the measure, 420-1.

History will remember Lee as justified in her concerns. As she told me in our interview, she viewed the AUMF as enabling endless war, “everywhere in the world.”

“I mulled over it,” she said. “It was like, ‘Okay, is it easier to say: Go along with the flow and be part of the unified response? Or to really try to uphold my Constitutional duty, and say, ‘Let’s step back for a minute and make a rational decision?’ Let’s determine how to react without leading to more terror, more violence, more war. Three days after 9/11, that was not the time to do this.”

In 2021, Lee introduced legislation to sunset the 2001 AUMF, along with a separate bill that would repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF.

In arguing for the repeal of the 2001 AUMF, Lee’s bill stated that the law has been “used to justify a broad and open-ended authorization for the use of military force and such an interpretation is inconsistent with the authority of Congress to declare war and make all laws for executing powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States.” While it never made it far in the House, Lee was able to win over 90 co-sponsors.

The vote cemented Lee’s place as a respected figure on the left. As important of a chapter as it was in her career, Lee has spent years fighting for just causes. Her instinct to stand up for the marginalized was informed by her upbringing. She was raised in El Paxo, TX during segregation and after moving to California had to fight to have her cheerleading squad integrated.

At college in California, Lee began volunteering with the Black Panther Party. “It was mainly community service, and political awareness,” she told The Los Angeles Times in an interview. This was also when she first met her mentor, Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. Lee would go on to volunteer for Chisholm’s historic 1972 presidential campaign.

“She made me register to vote,” Lee told The Root in an interview, referring to Chisholm. “I wasn’t even registered to vote. I was a community worker with the Black Panther Party, bagging groceries, taking care of my two little boys as a single mom on public assistance. Didn’t have money for childcare, Bringing those kids to class with me, my two boys. So you know I’ve been through it.”

Lee’s never been one to back down, a testament to her AUMF vote in 2001. Through the years, she’s supported major progressive causes like expanded healthcare access, climate change, voting rights, policing, mass incarceration, and more. She’s also served as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus, making her one of the leading figures in Democratic politics.

Despite losing in the California Senate primary earlier this year, Lee remains committed to fighting for everyday Americans, especially her constituents in the Bay Area.

“She is an organic leader who was a seed that came from the soil of the Oakland community, which has long cared deeply about doing right in society,” retired Pastor Alfred J. Smith told the LA Times.

There are an endless number of lawmakers in Washington you can accuse of not caring, acting out of self-interest and being solely focused on donor demands. Lee is not one of them. Her entire career has been about doing right—even if the right choice is controversial in the moment.

Image Source

• C-SPAN, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Changes were made.
• U.S. House of Representatives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Changes were made.