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Lynn C. Woolsey (born November 3 1937), American politician, has been a Liberal Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing the 6th District of California. The district takes in all of Marin County and most of Sonoma County.

Personal life and early career

She was born in Seattle, Washington, was educated at the University of Washington and the University of San Francisco, and was a human resources manager and personnel service owner, a teacher at the College of Marin and the Dominican University of San Rafael, and a member of the Petaluma, California City Council before entering the House.

Woolsey is very controversial as the result of an incident of her defending a rapist. In July of 2003, a man named Stewart Pearson soaked a rag in toilet bowl cleanser and Ajax and used it to smother 17-year-old Tina Phan while she was sleeping in her Terra Linda, California home. Phan tried to fend off Pearson, but he wielded a knife and overpowered her. Pearson raped and brutalized Phan. Pearson told Phan he had committed the same crime before and planned to do it again. Phan pressed charges against Pearson and he admitted guilt in the fall of 2003.

Woolsey attempted to intervene in the case by using her official stationery to send a letter to the local presiding judge in support of the convicted rapist. Woolsey wrote: "Stewart Pearson is a young man from a supportive family. I believe he has a promising life ahead of him, and I urge you to consider these factors when deciding on a suitable sentence." Woolsey noted further that Pearson had volunteered for her campaign. The judge in the case ignored Woolsey and sentenced Pearson to eight years in prison, the maximum allowed under a plea bargain. The House Ethics Committee later probed whether Woolsey intervened inappropriately.

Race for Congress

In the 1992 primary to succeed Congresswoman Barbara Boxer who successfully ran for the Senate, Woolsey, as the only Sonoma County candidate, defeated J. Bennett Johnston III (the son of the former U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Bennett Johnston Jr.), future Assemblyman Joseph Nation (who is challenging her in the upcoming 2006 primary), Denis Rice, Howell Hurst, David Strand, Anna Nevenic, William Harrison Morrison, and Eric Koenigsho. In the general elections, she faced Republican Assemblyman Bill Filante, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was unable to campaign much. This ended what little chance Filante had of topping Woolsey in the heavily Democratic 6th District. She hasn't faced serious opposition since then.

Congresswoman Woolsey is the only member of the House of Representatives to have ever been on welfare.

Positions on Iraq

Woolsey is an outspoken opponent of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She has take an active role in calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq. She led 15 Members of Congress in writing a letter to President Bush on January 12, 2005, calling for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq. She also was the first Member of Congress to call for a troop withdrawal, when she introduced H.Con.Res. 35 on January 26, 2005.

External link

• official website
• Woolsey Campaign Site
• Woolsey For Peace
• Out of Iraq: By Reps. Lynn Woolsey & Barbara Lee
• The Progressive Promise By Rep. Lynn Woolsey
• California Rep. Lynn Woolsey Receives Peace Award from Christian Quaker Lobby
• Metroactive: Lynn Woolsey and the American way
• American Prospect: Communication Breakdown by Rep. Lynn Woolsey
• Statment Opposing Military Action in Iraq Rep. Lynn Woolsey

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