U.S. House of Representatives
2014 election Lieu was the Democratic candidate for the
33rd congressional district, formerly represented by
Henry Waxman, who retired in 2014 after 40 years in Congress. The 2010 redistricting placed a portion of Torrance, including Lieu's home, in the 33rd. Lieu placed second in the June primary, but defeated Republican
Elan Carr in the general election. He and Waxman are the only persons to represent this district since its creation in 1974 (it was the 24th from 1975 to 1993, the 29th from 1993 to 2003, the 30th from 2003 to 2013, and has been the 33rd since 2013).
Legislation Lieu successfully passed three laws in the 114th Congress, securing $35 million in funding to the West Los Angeles VA for seismic retrofits; reauthorizing the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans; and restoring the Quarterly Financial Report. Lieu also introduced the Climate Solutions Act in the 114th Congress, which aimed to model national energy goals and climate emissions reduction targets after the state of California. In the 115th Congress, Lieu introduced H.R. 669 – Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, which would prohibit the president from using the Armed Forces to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a congressional declaration of war expressly authorizing such strike. On March 8, 2017, Lieu introduced H.R. 1437 – No Money Bail Act of 2017. The bill proposes eliminating the money bail system for holding suspects in pretrial proceedings.
Tenure Lieu is one of two
Taiwanese American members of the
114th United States Congress, along with New York's
Grace Meng. He was voted Democratic Freshman Class president of the House by his colleagues, succeeding
Joaquín Castro. Lieu serves on two influential committees in Congress: the
House Judiciary Committee and the
House Foreign Affairs Committee. Lieu voted against the
Iran deal. Lieu received praise from the online privacy community when he introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent states from forcing companies to weaken encryption for law enforcement purposes. On September 16, 2015, Lieu and
Justin Amash introduced a bill to reduce funding for the
Drug Enforcement Administration's Cannabis Eradication Program, under which real estate and chattels can be seized if they have been used for marijuana trafficking and abuse. On July 22, it was announced that Lieu would speak at the
2016 Democratic National Convention, along with three other California House Democrats. On November 6, 2017, while the House of Representatives chambers was holding a
moment of silence was held for the
26 victims of a church shooting in Texas, Lieu filmed and posted a video message calling for gun law reform. Lieu said, "I've been to too many moments of silences. In just my short career in Congress, three of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history have occurred. I will not be silent. What we need is we need action. We need to pass gun safety legislation now." Lieu is a member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus. 2018 On April 25, 2018, 57 members of the House of Representatives, including Lieu, They criticized Poland's
new Holocaust law, which would criminalize accusing Poland of complicity in the Holocaust, and Ukraine's
2015 memory laws glorifying
Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its leaders, such as
Roman Shukhevych. In 2019, Lieu signed a letter led by Representative
Ro Khanna and Senator
Rand Paul to President Trump asserting that it is "long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization" and that they hoped this would "serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future—in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan." In December 2019, an attorney for congressman
Devin Nunes sent a letter to Lieu threatening to sue over Lieu's comments about Nunes's relationship with Ukrainian-born American businessman
Lev Parnas. In response, Lieu wrote, "I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes. Or, you can take your letter and shove it." In October 2020, Lieu co-signed a letter to Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo that condemned
Azerbaijan's offensive operations against the
Armenian-populated enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced
Turkey's role in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire. On January 12, 2021, Lieu was named an
impeachment manager (prosecutor) for the
second impeachment trial of President Trump. Lieu voted in favor of three military aid package supplementals for
Ukraine,
Israel, and
Taiwan respectively in April 2024, along with most Democrats.
Committee assignments For the
118th Congress: •
Committee on Foreign Affairs •
Committee on the Judiciary •
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet In the past Rep. Lieu has also served on the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Caucus memberships •
Black Maternal Health Caucus •
Congressional Arts Caucus •
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (Whip) •
Congressional Equality Caucus •
Congressional Ukraine Caucus •
Veterinary Medicine Caucus •
U.S.-Japan Caucus •
Friends of Wales Caucus •
Medicare for All Caucus •
Congressional Progressive Caucus • Congressional Direct Selling Caucus •
Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment •
Congressional Taiwan Caucus •
Rare Disease Caucus Campaign donations to Stanford University From 2016 to 2018, Lieu made four donations totaling $51,046 from his campaign account to his alma mater, Stanford University. In 2020 Stanford admitted Lieu's eldest son, Brennan.
National Review and
The Washington Examiner raised questions about the propriety of the donations. An opinion writer for
The Examiner noted that other members of Congress have donated to universities and asserted, "Lieu's $50,000 to Stanford is the second-largest contribution on record from an active congressional candidate to a college or university." Former
FEC chairman
Bradley Smith told the
Review that donations to universities from campaign funds were not improper and "It's actually relatively common for congressmen, especially senators who might have big campaign funds built up, to give a bunch of money to their alma mater." In 2012–13, parental donations needed to be at least $500,000 (nearly ten times the amount of Lieu's donations) before a student would appear on the list the Office of Development provided to the Stanford admission office. == Political positions ==