2023 Barbara Boxer Lecture with Representative Judy Chu

From her position on the House Ways and Means Committee and as a member of the Subcommittees on Health, Worker and Family Support, and Oversight, Congresswoman Judy Chu has distinguished herself as a champion of working families. The first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, Rep. Chu has served as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus since 2011, and has been a leading advocate for the needs and concerns of the Asian American Pacific Islander community across the nation. Please join former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in conversation with U.S. Rep. Judy Chu as they discuss protecting women's rights, responding to anti-Asian hate and violence, and advancing the needs of working families and small businesses in California and across the nation.

The Barbara Boxer Lecture is an annual event, sponsored jointly by the Institute of Governmental Studies and The Bancroft Library, that focuses on women in leadership.

Judy Chu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2009. She represents the 27th

Congressional District, which includes Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley of southern

California.

Rep. Chu currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has

jurisdiction over legislation pertaining to taxes, revenues, Social Security, and Medicare. In that

Committee, Rep. Chu is a member of the Subcommittees on Health, giving her oversight over

healthcare reform and crucial safety net programs.

She also serves on the House Small Business Committee, which has oversight of the Small

Business Administration, as well as the House Budget Committee.

In 2011, Chu was elected Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which

advocates for the needs and concerns of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community

across the nation. She helps lead the Tri-Caucus, a joint effort with the Congressional Black

Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Chu founded and co-chairs the Congressional Creative Rights Caucus, which advocates for the

copyright protections of those in the creative industries, such as music, film and visual arts. She

also serves in leadership of the House Democratic Caucus as a Member of the Steering and

Policy Committee.

Some of Rep. Chu’s proudest accomplishments in Congress include: introducing and passing a

Congressional resolution of regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; working with

President Obama to declare the San Gabriel Mountains a national monument; requiring the

Department of Defense to address military hazing; helping entrepreneurs by establishing two

new Small Business Development Centers in the San Gabriel Valley; and helping small

businesses refinance old, expensive real estate loans by reviving the Small Business

Administration’s 504 loan refinance program.

Chu was first elected to the Board of Education for Garvey School District in 1985. From there,

she was elected to the Monterey Park City Council, where she served as Mayor three times. She

then was elected to the State Assembly and then California’s elected tax board, known as the

State Board of Equalization. In 2009, she became the first Chinese American woman elected to

Congress in history.

Chu lives with her husband, Michael Eng, in the city of Monterey Park, where they have been

residents for over 30 years.