California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren is a lawyer and member of the Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol

“Who paid for it? How was it organized? We need to find that out to keep the country safe,” she said about the incident.

Lofgren was born on December 21, 1947, in San Mateo, California. She is the daughter of Mary Violet, a school cafeteria employee, and Milton R. Lofgren, a beer truck driver. She attended Gunn High School (1966) in Palo Alto. In high school, Lofgren was a member of the Junior State of America, a student-run political debate, activism, and student governance organization.

Currently, she is in her 13th term in Congress, having been first elected in 1994.

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Lofgren has long served on the House Judiciary Committee, and has chaired the House Administration Committee since the beginning of the 116th Congress.

Lofgren was the 16th district’s first female US representative, before part of the district was redistricted into the 19th congressional district.

The district covers much of Santa Clara County, including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and most of San Jose.

She is an immigration attorney and immigration law professor who participated in the impeachment process for three presidents — Trump, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, the latter as a congressional staffer. She also represents a big part of the Silicon Valley.

She is a long-time ally and friend to Nancy Pelosi. The duo has served in the California Congressional delegation together for close to three decades and both represent different parts of the bay area in Northern California.

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She also served as a staffer on Capitol Hill for eight years.

In 1978, Lofgren married John Marshall Collins, an attorney. The couple met at an election party. The two share a daughter, Sheila Collins, who is a corporate counsel at Google.