Who We Are

Karen Bass was elected to Congress as the Representative from California’s 37th Congressional District in November 2010. From her experience balancing California’s budget in the State Assembly, she was asked to serve on the House Budget Committee. She serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and is a member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. She was selected by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to serve on the prestigious Steering and Policy Committee, which sets the policy direction of the Democratic Caucus. She also serves as the national co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Women LEAD organization, which recruits and raises money to support Democratic women running for Congress. Bass is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Prior to serving as the Representative from District 37, Bass made history when the California Assembly elected her to be its 67th Speaker, catapulting her to become the first African American woman in U.S. history to serve in this state legislative role. In addition to helping to navigate the state through a very difficult time, she championed efforts to improve foster care and quality healthcare for Californians. Also, under Bass’ leadership the Assembly fast-tracked federal economic stimulus legislation that aided Californians who have been affected by the national economic crisis as well as jumpstarted billions of dollars of infrastructure projects. Before serving as an elected official, Rep. Bass became interested in community activism. It was at that time that Rep. Bass made a lifetime commitment to effecting social change in her community and abroad. She worked for nearly a decade as a Physician Assistant and served as a clinical instructor at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program. In 1990, Rep. Bass started and ran the Community Coalition, a community-based social justice organization in South Los Angeles that empowers residents to become involved in making a difference. Through her leadership, Rep. Bass worked to address the drug and violence epidemic and to engage community residents in addressing the root causes of injustice. Bass had one daughter, Emilia Bass-Lechuga and son-in-law Michael Wright. She continues to be inspired by Emilia and Michael’s passion for life. Rep. Bass also has four step-children.

Bob Schieffer is broadcast journalism’s most experienced Washington reporter. He is the network’s chief Washington correspondent and also serves as anchor and moderator of “Face The Nation”, CBS News’ Sunday public affairs broadcast. Schieffer served as interim anchor of “The CBS Evening News” from March 10, 2005, until Aug. 31, 2006. He is a regular contributor to “The CBS Evening News.” Schieffer has covered Washington for CBS News for more than 30 years and is one of the few broadcast or print journalists to have covered all four major beats in the nation’s capital – the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and Capitol Hill. He has been Chief Washington correspondent since 1982 and congressional correspondent since 1989 and has covered every presidential campaign and been a floor reporter at all of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions since 1972. He began anchoring “Face The Nation” in May 1991. Schieffer is a member of the Broadcasting/Cable Hall of Fame and is the recipient of the 2003 Paul White Award, presented by the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The award recognizes an individual’s lifetime contribution to electronic journalism. Past CBS recipients include Edward R. Murrow (’64); Morley Safer (’66); Walter Cronkite (’70, ’81); Don Hewitt (’87); Mike Wallace (’91); Charles Kuralt (’94); Dan Rather (’97); Ed Bradley (2000); Charles Osgood (2005) and Steve Kroft (2010). He has won many other broadcast journalism awards, including seven Emmy Awards, one of which was for Lifetime Achievement, and two Sigma Delta Chi Awards. In 2002, he was chosen as Broadcaster of the Year by the National Press Foundation. Schieffer was also the 2004 recipient of the International Radio and Television Society Foundation Award and the American News Women’s Club Helen Thomas Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 2005, his alma mater, Texas Christian University, created the Schieffer School of Journalism in his honor. In 2008, Schieffer won the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment award from the Radio Television News Directors Association and was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. Schieffer has been a principal anchor for CBS News since 1973, when he was named anchor of the “CBS Sunday Night News.” In August 1996, he stepped down as anchor of the Saturday edition of the “CBS Evening News”, a post he held for 20 years. He and his colleague, Dan Rather, stand as the only two 20-year anchors of a regularly scheduled network news broadcast. Schieffer joined CBS News in 1969 and, after a brief stint as a general assignment reporter, was named Pentagon correspondent, a post he held for four years. Before joining CBS News, he was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and, in 1965, became the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam. Schieffer later became news anchor at WBAP-TV Dallas/Fort Worth, a post that eventually led to his joining CBS News. He is the author of “Bob Schieffer’s America,” “Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast,” as well as the 2003 New York Times bestseller, “This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You On TV” and “The Acting President,” published in 1989. Schieffer was born in Austin, Texas. He and his wife reside in Washington, D.C.