Dianne Feinstein: Biography

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Elected Office: United States Senate, November 1992 to Present
Member: Appropriations, Judiciary, and Rules Committees
Democratic Nominee and Candidate for Governor of California, 1990
Mayor of San Francisco, December 4, 1978 to January 8, 1988
President, Board of Supervisors, San Francisco, 1970-71, 1974-75, 1978
Member, Board of Supervisors, San Francisco, 1970-78

Appointments: United States Conference of Mayors:
* Executive Committee, 1983-88
* Urban Economic Policy Committee,
1981-88 (Chair, 1985-88)
* Chair, Task Force on AIDS, 1983-88
* Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness, 1983-88

Member, Trilateral Commission, 1988
Director, Bank of California, 1988-89
Co-Chair, San Francisco Education Fund's Permanent Fund, 1988-1989
President, Japan Society of Northern California, 1988-89
Member, Inter-American Dialogue, 1988
Participant, Bilderberg Foreign Policy Conference, Germany, June 1991

Personal Data:

Born: June 22, 1933, San Francisco

Education: San Francisco Public Schools, Kindergarten through 8th Grade

Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, graduated in 1951

Stanford University, graduated in 1955

Fellowship: CORO Foundation, Public Affairs, 1955-1956

Member, California Women's Board of Terms and Parole, 1960-1966

Member, Mayor's Committee on Crime, San Francisco

Chair, San Francisco Committee on Adult Detention

Married: January 20, 1980 to Richard C. Blum, investment
banker and managing partner of Richard C. Blum & Associates. Widow of
Dr. Bertram Feinstein, Director, Neurological Institute, Mt. Zion
Hospital and Medical Center. Mother of Katherine Feinstein Mariano,
formerly an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco, presently an
attorney in private practice in San Francisco. Step-mother to Heidi,
Annette, and Eileen Blum. Grandmother of Eileen Feinstein Mariano, born
September 18, 1992 to Katherine and Rick Mariano.

Special Awards:

1988 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University
of San Francisco
President's Medal, University of California, San Francisco
CORO Investment in leadership Award Honoree
President's Award, St. Ignatius High School, San Francisco
1987 Community Service Award Honoree for Public
Service, American Jewish Congress
"All Pro Management Team Award" for #1 Mayor,
City & State Magazine
Silver Spur Award for Outstanding Public Service,
San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal Association
U.S. Navy's Distinguished Civilian Award
Episcopal Church's Award for Service
1987 Paulist Fathers Award
1986 U.S. Army's Commander's Award for Public Service
Brotherhood/Sisterhood Award, National Conference
of Christians and Jews
1985 Honorary Doctorate of Law, Mills College
1984 French Legion d'Honneur, bestowed by President Mitterand
Los Angeles Anti-Defamation League of B'nai
Brith's Distinguished Public Service Award
1983 Honorary Doctorate of Law, Antioch University
1981 Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration,
University of Manila
Honorary Doctorate of Public Service, University
of Santa Clara
SCOPUS Award, Outstanding Public Service,
American Friends of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem
1979 CORO Public Service Award
1977 Honorary Law Degree, Golden Gate University
1970 Achievement Award, Business and Professional
Women's Club Distinguished Woman Award, San
Francisco Examiner

SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Legislative Accomplishments
November 1992 through September 1994

1. BANNING ASSAULT WEAPONS. Senator Feinstein authored the legislation
ultimately approved as part of the Crime Bill that stops the future
manufacture, transfer and possession of 19 specific military-style
assault weapons, their "copycat" models, and ammunition devices that hold
more than 10 bullets. The legislation also specifically protects more
than 670 hunting and other recreational rifles.

2. FIGHTING CRIME. The $30 billion Crime Bill will help fund an
estimated 10,200 additional police officers for California. In addition
to the ban on assault weapons, Senator Feinstein worked as a member of
the Senate Judiciary Committee to offer additional amendments approved as
part of the crime bill, including increased penalties for hate crimes, an
additional $1.8 billion to reimburse states for the costs of
incarcerating criminal aliens, and increasing the number of federal death
penalty offenses. The Crime Bill identifies 60 federal crimes that are
now eligible for the death penalty, including Senator Feinstein's
suggestion to make carjacking that results in the death of the victim
eligible for the death penalty.

3. MAKING SCHOOLS GUN-FREE. Senator Feinstein, along with Senator Byron
Dorgan of North Dakota, proposed legislation to require all school
districts that receive federal funds to expel any student who carries a
gun to school for a minimum of one year. The "gun-free schools"
amendment was adopted by the United States Senate on July 28, 1994 as
part of the $12 billion Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1994,
the largest federal education bill. School districts have some
flexibility to grant exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

4. ASSISTING BUSINESSES HURT BY DEFENSE DOWNSIZING. This legislation,
approved as part of the Department of Defense authorization bill,
provides $50 million from the Small Business Administration Loan
Guarantee program to target loans to thousands of small- and medium-sized
businesses hurt by defense downsizing. The $50 million will leverage up
to $2 billion in private sector loans and support 50,000 jobs in California.

5. MOVING THE CALIFORNIA ECONOMY. The Budget Reconciliation bill
approved in August 1993 is the largest deficit reduction package in
history and will cut $225 billion in government spending by 1999, and cut
the growth of the deficit by more than $691 billion by 1998. In
California, 2.1 million of the state's working poor had their taxes cut,
over 10 million Californians saw no change in their income tax rates, and
90 percent of all small businesses qualify for helpful tax breaks. In a
state with 32 million people, only the wealthiest one percent of the
population, 163,000 families who earn more than $180,000 per year, will
pay more in income taxes.

At Senator Feinstein's request, the 1993 Budget Reconciliation Act
included three proposals to help the California economy grow:

_ A three-year extension of the Research and Development Tax Credit
that should create an estimated 10,000 new jobs in California;
_ A targeted Capital Gains Tax Reduction that encourages the
investment and expansion of high-tech businesses and will provide patient
capital for the start-up and expansion of small businesses; and
_ A $3.5 billion Federal Enterprise Zone Program to create
empowerment zones and enterprise zones that will help attract
job-generating businesses to communities where investment dollars are
needed most.

6. STOPPING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. The Senate Appropriations Committee,
of which Senator Feinstein is a member, has provided funding for an
additional 1,300 border patrol agents in just two years -- a 39 percent
increase in the number of agents who will work to stop illegal
crossings. New fencing, lighting and equipment is already in place as a
result of the Appropriations Committee's work. In addition, the Senator
introduced the Illegal Immigration Control and Enforcement Act of 1994
to: enforce our borders; stop all cash Federal aid to those here
illegally; require a "sponsor" of a legal immigrant to be financially
responsible for the individual and prevent welfare from being used;
establish an "interior repatriation" program to return illegal immigrants
caught at the border to the interior of their country; and create a
counterfeit-proof method of identifying those legally eligible to work in
this country.

7. THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PROTECTION ACT. After seven years of inaction,
Senator Feinstein took over sponsorship of the California Desert
Protection Act that had been originally authored by retired Senator Alan
Cranston of California. Senator Feinstein changed the legislation and
then offered more than 60 amendments as the Senate considered the bill.
Sixty-nine Senators, including 16 Republicans, voted in favor of the
desert bill on April 13, 1994. The House of Representatives then
approved similar legislation on July 27. The Act would create three
new national parks in the southeastern portion of the State and protect
6.37 million acres of the 25 million acre California desert. The
National Park Service projects that the three new national parks will
provide more than $215 million in sales, $27.5 million in tax revenues
from tourist expenditures and create more than 4,000 jobs.

8. AGRICULTURE. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
last year Senator Feinstein helped provide an overall increase in funding
for California agriculture, including a 6.7 percent increase above the
previous year's fiscal budget. As a result, in 1994 California got an
increase of $83 million over the previous year for programs that directly
benefit California, including a number of first-time earmarks.
This year, Senator Feinstein worked to secure funding for many
programs that benefit California, including:

_$85.5 million for the Market Promotion Program, which helps develop,
maintain, and expand agricultural export markets, combat unfair trade
practices, improve our balance of trade, and improve farm income.
_ $10 million for the Mediterranean fruit fly exclusion program to
combat one of the most destructive pests of fruits and vegetables;
_ $1.89 million for Pest Containment and Quarantine Facilities at
the University of California, Riverside and Davis, to provide state of
the art, environmentally secure facilities to test pest management
alternatives;
_ $2,630,000 for a new Agricultural Research Center at Parlier to
replace the existing federal horticultural research laboratory in Fresno
where facilities are inadequate and research is hampered by urban
encroachment;
_ $8,454,000 to research alternatives to Methyl Bromide, a widely
used soil fumigant and post-harvest fumigant which is being phased out by
EPA and report language to ensure that ARS continues to work with
agriculture user groups in setting priorities for research efforts;
_ $873,000 to participate in the PM10 study in the San Joaquin
Valley to determine air quality problems;
_ $6.3 million to combat the sweet potato whitefly, which is a
major pest for cotton, alfalfa, and other crops.
_ $2,156,000 for the Mexican fruit fly exclusion program to
establish a pest-free zone along the U.S./Mexico border and keep this
pest out of California; and
_ $25,140,000 for Agricultural Quarantine Inspection to enable USDA
to increase its efforts to protect U.S. agriculture from unwanted
infestations through inspection of cargo and passenger bags.

9. DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CENTERS FOR CALIFORNIA. After
coordinated appeals by the California Congressional delegation, the
Administration selected four sites for new Defense Finance Accounting
Service centers: Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, the Naval
Supply Center in Oakland, Fort Ord in Monterey, and in San Diego at a
sight to be chosen. Each center will employ at least 700 people -- a
total of 3,000 jobs statewide -- and is expected to bring a payroll of
over $22.5 million to each community.

10. EARTHQUAKE RELIEF. Following the devastating Los Angeles earthquake
on January 17, 1994, Senator Feinstein worked to ensure that the federal
government's response was immediate and effective. The Senate quickly
passed the $8.6 billion Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill and
Senator Feinstein worked continuously with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to assess the relief work and facilitate and assure
federal support. As recently as August 4, 1994, Senator Feinstein
secured Senate approval to transfer $225 million in unused funds to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to speed up the
reconstruction and cleanup of more than a dozen "ghost towns" created in
Los Angeles when many apartment buildings were abandoned.

11. DISASTER TAX RELIEF. The first piece of stand-alone legislation by
Senator Feinstein adopted into law was the Disaster Tax Relief bill which
extends the time families can rebuild their homes following a disaster,
such as the Oakland firestorm. The legislation was precipitated by the
2,000 victims of the 1991 Oakland firestorm who needed additional time to
rebuild their homes following this disaster. The legislation extends the
time to rebuild or buy a principle residence from two to four years and
provides disaster victims flexibility to use insurance proceeds to both
rebuild and replenish their homes. The legislation was passed as part of
the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 on August 6, 1993.

12. PROSECUTING REPEAT SEX OFFENDERS. Senator Feinstein introduced
legislation to put repeat violent sex offenders behind bars once and for
all. The legislation would allow prosecutors to seek life in prison
without parole for the most dangerous of repeat sex offenders.
Currently, almost 50 percent of those convicted of sex offenses serve no
jail time. In addition, California has the highest number of convicted
sex offenders in the nation.

13. SUPPORTING U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY AND CALIFORNIA'S DEFENSE
INDUSTRY. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator
Feinstein fought to protect funding for the B-2 Bomber program which
supports 22,000 California jobs; the C-17 aircraft, which supports 18,500
California jobs; the F/A multi-role fighter, one of the Navy's highest
priorities, which supports more than 11,000 California jobs and numerous
other programs; and university-based research programs, from which four
California universities will receive an estimated $200 million in funds,
including the University of California system, the University of Southern
California, Stanford University, and the California Institute of Technology

14. SLOWING DOWN THE BASE CLOSURE PROCESS. With California estimated to
lose approximately 650,000 jobs by 1998 due to defense downsizing,
Senator Feinstein has called on President Clinton to exempt California
from the upcoming 1995 round of base closures. The Senator has also
announced her intention to introduce legislation in the Senate to improve
the base reuse process by streamlining the bureaucracy and putting reuse
decisions in the hands of local officials and the communities.

15. BRINGING FEDERAL DOLLARS TO CALIFORNIA. Senator Feinstein is the
first Californian to sit on the Senate Appropriations Committee in 24
years. In fiscal year 1994, despite a reduction in federal spending,
there was an overall increase of $1.6 billion -- or 27 percent -- for a
total of $7.6 billion in non-defense funding for major programs and
projects benefitting California. Last year, California received 18
percent -- approximately $43.3 billion -- of total defense spending, and
31 percent --approximately $4.5 billion -- of NASA's budget.

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