Born in Cambridge, MA, Congresswoman Davis was raised in Richmond, CA and studied at UC-Berkeley for her undergraduate degree. After earning her MA in Social Work at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, she lived in Japan with her husband who served as an Air Force doctor during the Vietnam War. After two years in Japan, she returned to California with her husband and two sons and began a fruitful career as a social worker. Always determined to make a maximum impact in her community, she was elected to the local school board in 1983, then the California State Assembly in 1994, and finally to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000.

A self-described military spouse, Congresswoman Davis is particularly focused on national security, foreign policy, education, and health care issues. She is the co-chair, along with Rep. Geoff Davis, of the National Security Reform Caucus and is also the Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel. She opposed the Iraq war from the start, voting against the 2002 war resolution because she “felt a unilateral use of force would isolate America from our allies and reinforce the cause of our enemies.” She also believed that “all non-military options had not been exhausted and that there had not been enough planning for the occupation.” Her judgment proved fortuitous on all of these counts.

Congresswoman Davis’s advocacy on Israeli-Palestinian peace may indeed be the most striking aspect of her foreign policy portfolio. Her personal connection, forged decades ago when she lived as a volunteer on Kibbutz Degania Bet, has helped to make her one of Capitol Hill’s truest champions for Middle East peace. Her website boasts a full page on Israel, saying in part that “Susan will advocate for the assistance and the support needed to return leaders in the Middle East back to negotiations,” and that “this issue is too important for the United States to not be fully engaged.”

Her powerful rhetoric on this issue is supported by bold action. In February 2007, she initiated a resolution calling on President Bush to appoint a special Middle East peace envoy, a measure which received 52 signatures. This year she signed a letter urging him to step up peace efforts in light of the crisis in Sderot and Gaza. The letter acknowledged the suffering of both sides and included support for indirectly negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas as a means of pursuing broader peace with Palestinian moderates. She is also a signatory to the October 2007 Ackerman-Boustany letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in support of the Annapolis peace process.

Regarding the issue of Iran, Congresswoman Davis has shown real foresight and leadership, cosponsoring a combination of tough but smart measures. She cosponsored a resolution requiring the President to obtain authorization from Congress before using military force against Iran, except in the case of an imminent threat, as well as another clarifying that the use of force against Iran was not authorized by the 2002 authorization of force against Iraq.

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