Anna G. Eshoo was first sworn in as a Member of the United States House of Representatives in 1993, after serving on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for 10 years. For almost two decades in Congress she has defended consumers, promoted American competitiveness and innovation, fought for access to health care for families and children, protected the environment, and encouraged development of clean energy technology.
Rep. Eshoo has served on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee since 1995 and is a senior member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and the Subcommittee on Health. The Energy and Commerce Committee is responsible for legislation affecting Medicare, Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health, telecommunications, energy, the Internet, health-based environmental laws, children's health, biotechnology, high technology, bioterrorism, interstate commerce, consumer protection, and food and drug safety.
Rep. Eshoo was appointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in January 2003. She chairs the Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management which focuses on policies and management challenges affecting all 16 agencies that comprise the nation's intelligence community. She has authored legislation to protect our national security and our civil liberties, improve Congressional oversight of the intelligence community, prevent conflicts of interest, and better meet the domestic and international security challenges of the 21st Century.
Rep. Eshoo also co-chairs the Congressional High-Tech Caucus, the E-911 Caucus and the House Medical Technology Caucus, and serves as Vice Chair of the 21st Century Health Care Caucus. See a full list of Rep. Eshoo’s Caucuses.
As a member of two key House Committees, Rep. Eshoo has influenced major initiatives such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the healthcare reform bill.
During her time in Congress, Rep. Eshoo has authored many landmark pieces of legislation which have been signed into law and shape our world today. Her accomplishments include:
- Creating the use of electronic signatures, making legally binding digital documents possible and allowing online commerce to flourish;
- Securing funding for broadband deployment, health information technology, and research and education for mathematics, life sciences, and engineering;
- Giving discounts to schools and libraries to increase public Internet access;
- Providing emergency call centers with funding to obtain the necessary technology to locate mobile phone users when they call 911;
- Improving the energy efficiency of federal computer data centers;
- Promoting better labeling and testing of pharmaceuticals for children;
- Exempting FEMA mitigation grants from income taxes and saving homeowners from being required to pay the government for vital damage prevention;
- Providing a pathway to create "generic" versions of biologic drugs which will lower the price of life-saving therapies and foster new medical innovations;
- Ensuring that low-income women who are diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer receive treatment, and insurance companies pay for reconstructive surgery for these patients.
Rep. Eshoo's work consistently earns the highest approval from a wide range of organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters, Humane Society, American Association of University Women, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, Biotechnology Industry Organization,American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Science Coalition.
