| Debbie Wasserman Schultz |
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 |
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| Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee |
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Assumed office
May 4, 2011 |
| Preceded by | Donna Brazile (interim) |
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| Succeeded by | Donna Brazile (interim; designate) |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 23rd district |
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Assumed office
January 3, 2013 |
| Preceded by | Alcee Hastings |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 20th district |
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In office
January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2013 |
| Preceded by | Peter Deutsch |
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| Succeeded by | Alcee Hastings |
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Member of the Florida Senate
from the 34th district |
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In office
January 20, 2003 – November 2, 2004 |
| Preceded by | Alberto Gutman |
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| Succeeded by | Nan Rich |
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Member of the Florida Senate
from the 32nd district |
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In office
January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003 |
| Preceded by | Howard Forman |
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| Succeeded by | Skip Campbell |
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Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 97th district |
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In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001 |
| Preceded by | Fred Lippman |
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| Succeeded by | Nan Rich |
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| Personal details |
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| Born | Deborah Wasserman
September 27, 1966 (age 49)
Queens, New York, U.S. |
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| Political party | Democratic |
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| Spouse(s) | Steve Schultz |
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| Children | Shelby
Jake
Rebecca |
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| Residence | Weston, Florida |
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| Alma mater | University of Florida |
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| Religion | Judaism |
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| Signature |  |
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The Clinton campaign announced the same day that Wasserman Schultz would act as honorary chair of an effort to elect Democrats across the United States in the
2016 U.S. Presidential election.
[4]
Personal life and education
In March 2009, she revealed that she had undergone seven surgeries related to
breast cancer in 2008, while maintaining her responsibilities as a member of the House. That year, she promoted efforts for early screening for breast cancer.
[12]
Career
Florida state legislature
In 1988, Wasserman Schultz became an aide to
Peter Deutsch at the beginning of his state legislative career.
[9][13] In 1992, Deutsch made a successful run for United States House of Representatives for Florida's 20th District. Wasserman Schultz recalled getting a call from Deutsch at the time: "It was really amazing. He called me at home one day in the middle of the legislative session and he said, You could run in my race, your house is in my district."
[13] Wasserman Schultz won 53 percent of the vote in a six-way Democratic primary and avoided a runoff.
[13] She went on to win the general election and succeeded Deutsch in Florida's House of Representatives. At age 26, she became the youngest female legislator in the state's history.
[9][14]
She served in the Florida State House of Representatives for eight years, and had to leave office due to state term limits.
[9] She became an adjunct instructor of political science at
Broward Community College, as well as a public policy curriculum specialist at
Nova Southeastern University. With her experience in the Florida House, she ran successfully for the Florida State Senate in 2000. She supported several bills including the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act and one creating a Children's Services Council for
Broward County. She received an award from the Save The Manatee Club for her commitment in the 2002 legislative session to
manatee protection as a member of the Florida State Senate.
[15]
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
Party leadership
She currently chairs the Committee's
Legislative Branch subcommittee, which Pelosi returned to the Committee after it was dissolved by Republican leadership in 2005. Shortly after acquiring her spot on the Appropriations Committee, Wasserman Schultz received the waiver necessary to sit on an additional committee (Appropriations is typically an exclusive committee), and she is currently a member of the
Judiciary Committee. Aside from her committee and leadership roles, she is a member of Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi's
"30 Something" Working Group, which consists of congressional Democrats mostly under age 40. The group concentrates on issues affecting young people, including
Social Security. She joined the
bipartisan Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. According to the
Congress.org 2008 Power Rankings, she was the 24th most powerful member of the House and 22nd most powerful Democratic representative (also most powerful Florida representative).
[18]
Political positions
Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and Payday Lending
In December 2015, Wasserman Schultz was one of 24 co-sponsors of H.R. 4018, authored by GOP Congressman
Dennis A. Ross. It would delay the implementation of
CFPBregulations.
[20][21] "Wasserman Schultz is among a dozen Florida representatives who have cosponsored bipartisan legislation that would delay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday lending rules by two years and void a “deferred presentment transaction” in states with laws similar to Florida’s. She has drawn criticism for trying to delay those regulations.
[22]
Terri Schiavo case
During the
Terri Schiavo case, she was one of the strongest opponents of congressional intervention. She publicly accused President
George W. Bush of hypocrisy for signing a 1999 bill as Governor of
Texas that allows
health care workers to remove
life support for terminally ill patients if the patient or family is unable to pay the medical bills. During the debate Wasserman Schultz pointed out that a Texas law signed into law by then Gov. George W. Bush allowed caregivers to withhold treatment "at the point that futility has been reached and there is no longer any hope of survival or of additional health care measures being used to sustain life. ... [this] seems to conflict with his position today."
Cox News Service reported that "The Texas law was intended to control in cases in which medical teams and patients' representatives disagree on treatment. In the Schiavo case, the medical team and Schiavo's husband agreed that there was no hope of improvement in her condition, determined by lower courts to be a 'persistent vegetative state'."
[24]Wasserman Schultz also cited the case of
a six-month-old Texas baby whose life support had been removed.
Middle East conflict
While her predecessor and mentor
Peter Deutsch was "among the most hawkish congressional Democrats on Middle East issues", Wasserman Schultz, who took over his seat for Florida's 20th district, "a heavily Jewish swath of Broward County", has taken a more centrist approach.
[9] During 2005 she spoke in approval of President
George W. Bush's proposals to give financial aid to the
Palestinian Authority in both the proposed supplemental and in the 2006 budgets. She said "We want to continue to focus on making sure that ... the policy coming from Washington continues to encourage and support and nurture the peace process. In [Bush's] first four years, there was a lack of leadership coming from the administration. I know many people in the Jewish community were happy with the president's position on Israel, but the way I thought, there was an absence of leadership. ... So I'm glad to see there's a little more engagement and involvement from the administration."
[9]
She defended her party against suggestions that the Democrats are anti-Israel, saying "I would stack up the Democratic caucus's position on the support for Israel against the Republican caucus's any day of the week and be much more confident—and the Jewish community should be much more confident—in the Democrats' stewardship of Israel than the Republicans, especially if you compare the underlying reasons for both groups' support for Israel. The very far right group of Republicans' interest in Israel is not because they are so supportive of there being a Jewish state and making sure that Jews have a place that we can call home. It has references to
Armageddon and biblical references that are more their interest. So I would encourage members of the Jewish community to put their faith in Democrats, because our support for Israel is generally for the right reasons."
[9]
Presidential signing statements
Wasserman Schultz supports the use of appropriations for future control of presidential signing statements as developed as part of questions during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the constitutional limits of executive power July 26, 2008.
[25]
Debbie Wasserman Schultz receives award from Plantation Democratic Club President
Marvin Quittner, May 5, 2013.
Jewish American Heritage Month
Wasserman Schultz is the first Jewish female congressperson from the state of Florida.
[26][27]
She and Senator
Arlen Specter were the driving forces behind the resolution that declared every May
Jewish American Heritage Month. The annual observance was created to recognize "the accomplishments of American Jews and the important role that members of the Jewish community have played in the development of American culture".
[28] The observance is modeled after Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Women's History Month. Wasserman Schultz envisioned "classroom instruction, public ceremonies and broadcast announcements", stating "There's a generation of children growing up with a fading memory of what happened during
World War II or even an understanding of anyone who is Jewish or their
culture and traditions. Through education comes tolerance."
[29] The bill introducing the observance passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate and signed by President George W. Bush. Wasserman Schultz said of the proclamation "This is an historic occasion. Generations to come will have the chance to live without anti-Semitism through greater understanding and awareness of the significant role that American Jews have played in U.S. history. Jewish American Heritage Month is a reality because of the people gathered today in this room."
[28]
The measure was criticized by Gary Cass, executive director of the now-defunct Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, a conservative Christian organization based in
Fort Lauderdale, who objected to "teaching Jewish history without talk of religious practices and values", saying "We cannot seem to have an honest discussion about the Christian roots of America." He wondered "How much tolerance would [Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz] have for a Christian Heritage month?" She replied that the situation is different, that "Judaism is unique, because it is both a culture and a religion," and that she was not in favor of "teaching any religion in public schools."
[29] The congresswoman's father, Larry Wasserman, said that while his daughter had not been particularly active in the Jewish community before entering politics, she has "forged ties with Jewish groups as a lawmaker. She helped to form the
National Jewish Democratic Council and served on the regional board of the American Jewish Congress."
[13]
2008 financial crisis
Hate crimes
During an April 2009
House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, fellow Floridian
Tom Rooney, a former active duty
U.S. Army JAG Corpsofficer, introduced an amendment that would make attacks against military veterans a hate crime. Wasserman Schultz remarked on the amendment:
I'm from a state, as Mr. Rooney is, that includes and represents the districts that include real victims. I represent a very large – one of the largest – gay populations in the United States of America. One of the largest Jewish populations in the United States of America. My region – our region – has a very large African-American population. It really is belittling of the respect that we should have for these groups to suggest that members of the armed services have somehow systematically been the victims of hate crimes.
[32]
Death of Daniel Wultz
Former House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor, left, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, second from left, listen as Sheryl and Tuly Wultz talk about the impact of prayer in the life of their son,
Daniel Wultz on May 1, 2014 in the Office of the House Majority Leader, Washington, D.C.
Wasserman Schultz has been a vocal advocate for the family of
Daniel Wultz, constituents of her congressional district engaged in legal action against the Bank of China for its alleged role in financing the terrorist attack that killed the 16-year-old teenager from
Weston, Florida, in 2006.
[citation needed]
In August 2013, Wasserman Schultz told the
Miami Herald: "In South Florida, we all know too well of the tragic circumstances surrounding the cowardly terrorist attack that took Daniel Wultz's innocent life. I have been working, hand in hand with the Wultz family and the state of Israel to ensure any and all of those involved in this terrorist activity, including the Bank of China, pay for their crimes so that justice can be served."
[33]
On May 1, 2014, together with then-House Majority Leader, Representative
Eric Cantor (R-VA), Wasserman Schultz hosted the Wultz family at the U.S. Capitol in a National Prayer Day event.
[34]
Identity theft
Marijuana
Wasserman Schultz vigorously opposed a 2014
medical marijuana amendment in Florida that narrowly failed to reach the 60% of votes in favour needed to amend the
Constitution of Florida. She angered medical marijuana activists and major Democratic donors over this and her comparisons of medical marijuana dispensaries to "pill mills", which over-prescribe and over-dispense painkillers to patients with dubious symptoms.
[37] After Wasserman Schultz expressed interest in running for the
United States Senate in the
2016 elections, medical marijuana activists vowed to thwart her ambitions. Attorney and donor John Morgan said that her position on medical marijuana "disqualifies her from the [Democratic Senate] nomination... Her position denies terminally ill and chronically ill people compassion."
[37]
In response, in February 2015, Wasserman Schultz's staff emailed Morgan, offering to change her position on medical marijuana if Morgan would stop criticizing her. Morgan declined her offer and released the emails to
Politico, calling her a "bully".
[38] Wasserman Schultz at first declined to comment,
[38] then denied that her office had even sent the emails.
[39] Morgan responded: "What Debbie leaves out in her pushback was the crystal clear message that her potential support of the new amendment [that has been proposed for the ballot in 2016] was predicated upon me withdrawing my comments to
Politico. I don't know how to view that as anything but an offer of a
quid pro quo."
[39]
Political campaigns
2004
In 2004, Wasserman Schultz's mentor
Peter Deutsch resigned his Congressional seat to make an unsuccessful run for the Senate seat of fellow Democrat
Bob Graham. Wasserman Schultz was unopposed in the Democratic primary election held to fill Deutsch's seat. Her Republican opponent was
Margaret Hostetter, a
realtor who had never held public office. The 20th is so heavily Democratic that Hostetter faced nearly impossible odds in November. However, she gained notoriety for her attacks on Wasserman Schultz. For example, Hostetter's campaign site criticized Wasserman Schultz for protesting an
American flag photograph with a
Christian cross on it that was on display in the workstation of a secretary in a government building. Hostetter wrote, "Elect Margaret Hostetter to Congress November 2 and send the clear message that Americans respect and support... the foundational role
Christianity has had in the formation of our great nation. Our rights come from
God, not the state."
[citation needed]
Wasserman Schultz won, taking 70.2% to Hostetter's 29.8%. However, Hostetter had only spent about $30,000 to get 30% of the vote (compared to Wasserman Schultz's $1.2 million). When Wasserman Schultz was sworn in on January 4, 2005, she chose to use the Hebrew Bible, or
Tanakh. Because Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert only had a Christian Bible, a copy of the Tanakh was borrowed by Hastert's staff from Congressman
Gary Ackerman for this purpose.
[40] (This fact was brought up two years later during the
Qur'an oath controversy of the 110th United States Congress.)
[41]
2006
Wasserman Schultz was unopposed for reelection in 2006.
2008
In 2008 Wasserman Schultz won her reelection bid by defeating Independent Margaret Hostetter and Socialist write-in candidate Marc Luzietti.
On
CBS's
Face the Nation, she declared
Sarah Palin to be unready for the
Vice Presidency. "She knows nothing...Quite honestly, the interview I saw and that Americans saw on Thursday and Friday was similar to when I didn't read a book in high school and had to read the
CliffsNotes and phone in my report", Wasserman Schultz said of Palin's interview with
ABC's
Charlie Gibson last week. "She's Cliff-noted her performance so far."
[42] Wasserman Schultz was also named a co-chair of the Democratic Party's Red to Blue congressional campaign group.
[43] Controversy arose in March 2008 when she announced that she would be unable to campaign against South Florida Republican representatives
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Mario Diaz-Balart and the now-retired
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, because of her good friendship with them.
[44] Wasserman Schultz and Ros-Lehtinen (R–FL) are both on the
LGBT Equality Caucus of which Wasserman Schultz was a Vice Chair. Ros-Lehtinen has been the sole Republican on the 112-member caucus since 2013.
2010
Wasserman Schultz was challenged by Republican nominee Karen Harrington and Independents Stanley Blumenthal and Bob Kunst. Florida Whig Party candidate Clayton Schock ran as a write-in. Wasserman Schultz won over Harrington, 60.1% to 38.1%.
2012
After the 2010 census, Wasserman Schultz' district was renumbered as the 23rd District and pushed further into Miami-Dade County, taking in most of Miami Beach and a portion of Miami itself. She again faced Republican businesswoman Karen Harrington
[45] Wasserman Schultz won with 63.2% percent of the vote, to 35.6% for Harrington. When she was sworn in for her fourth term, she became the first white Democrat to represent a significant portion of Miami since 1993.
2014
In the general election, Wasserman Schultz defeated Republican Joe Kaufman, the Republican candidate, 62.7% to 37.3%.
2016
Economist and law professor
Tim Canova is challenging Wasserman Schultz in the August 30, 2016 Florida Democratic Party's primary election.
[46] The Florida Democratic party initially refused access to its voter database to the Canova campaign.
[47] Following complaints by the Florida Progressive Democratic Caucus and the Canova campaign, the Florida Democratic party leadership in March 2016 reversed its position exclusively with respect to granting Canova's request.
[48] Wasserman Schultz has repeatedly refused to respond to direct questions about whether or not she would be willing to debate Canova.
[49]
Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee
Chair Wasserman Schultz speaking to the College Democrats of America
On April 5, 2011, Vice President
Joe Biden announced that Wasserman Schultz was President
Barack Obama's choice to succeed
Tim Kaine as the 52nd Chair of the
Democratic National Committee. Until she assumed office, current DNC Vice-Chair
Donna Brazile served as the interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Wasserman Schultz was confirmed at the meeting of the DNC held on May 4, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
[52]
Wasserman Schultz got off to a controversial start as DNC Chair.
[53][54] During an appearance on
Face the Nation, Wasserman Schultz said, "The Republicans have a plan to end Medicare as we know it. What they would do is they would take the people who are younger than 55 years old today and tell them, 'You know what? You're on your own. Go and find private health insurance in the health-care insurance market. We're going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. We're going to give you X amount of dollars and you figure it out
'".
[55]
Four non-partisan fact-checkers called her claim false.
[53] She then came under criticism for her comments on
Washington Watch with Roland Martin, in which she said, "You have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally—and very transparently—block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates". The next day, she stated that "Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use".
[56]
Wasserman Schultz has also been criticized for what has been termed her "frequent absences" from Congress. In 2011, she missed 62 votes of Congress, placing her 45th of 535 in missing Congressional votes. The bulk of those who missed votes did so due to family circumstances, illness, or the presidential campaign.
[57] She has been criticized for her frequent appearances on MSNBC.
Dylan Ratigan accused her of coming on his show and just "doing talking points". He later was forced to apologize for being "rude".
[58]
In 2012, Wasserman Schultz attempted to get the DNC to pay for her clothing at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, and in 2013, to pay for her attire at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
[59]
Many of Obama's advisers questioned the move to select Wasserman Schultz as his DNC chairwoman, who they felt came across as too partisan on television. An internal focus study of the popularity of top Obama campaign surrogates ranked Wasserman Schultz at the bottom.
[60]
In February 2015,
Politico, citing unnamed sources, reported that Wasserman Schultz had lined up supporters in 2013 to portray any decision by Barack Obama to replace her as DNC chair as "anti-woman and anti-Semitic".
[61]
As chairwoman of the DNC, Wasserman Schultz appointed
Amy Dacey to the position of CEO of the DNC in October 2013.
[62]
Allegations of bias against Bernie Sanders
Clinton's opponents,
Martin O'Malley and
Bernie Sanders, separately criticized the decision by Wasserman Schultz to schedule only six debates in the 2016 Presidential Primary, far fewer than in previous election cycles. Those two Democratic presidential candidates also criticized the timing, per se, of those debates, saying that the debates had been intentionally scheduled to attract fewer viewers. Those included the December 19 debate which was held at the same time as an NFL football game, in order to protect
Hillary Clinton's lead as the front runner.
[63][64] Critics of the placing of the debates at times with lower potential for viewers have even included supporters of Clinton who are concerned that this gives the Republicans considerably more free airtime at key points in the race.
[65] The Sanders campaign claimed on December 18, 2015, that the Democratic National Committee — then chaired by Schultz — was "actively attempting to undermine" his campaign, when the DNC briefly denied the Sanders campaign future access to the party's 50-state voter file.
[66]
Furthermore, she has been criticized for her handling of a data breach of the
NGP Van system, a Democratic voter database, for shutting down access by Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. "The national committee and the Sanders campaign said they had come to an agreement to restore his campaign’s access to the voter file, which resulted in access to the VAN system being restored the next day.
[67]
On June 28, 2016, both Schultz and the DNC were sued by a Miami-based law firm, over allegations of misleading donors into thinking she was impartial in the endorsement contest for President.
[74]
Resignation
After Wikileaks published Democratic National Committee emails that proved that DNC staffers had inappropriately backed Hillary Clinton in the primary campaigns, Representative Wasserman Schultz tendered her resignation as the head of the DNC, to become effective as of the close of the nomination convention in Philadelphia. According to reports in the
Washington Post, Wasserman Schultz strongly resisted suggestions she resign, requiring a phone call from President
Barack Obama to finally force her resignation.
[75]
Former DNC head
Donna Brazille was to assume the chairperson's post through of the term in January 2017.
[76] Within hours of her resignation, Schultz accepted an honorary chair position in the Clinton campaign.
[77]
