Ted Lieu (劉雲平)
Ted Lieu (劉雲平 Liu Yun-ping)was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1969. Liu immigrated with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio when he was age three. In 1991, he graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and another in Political Science. In 1994, he graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, earning his J.D. After graduation, he served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before joining the Air Force in 1995, serving four years of active duty on the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. During his service he received a number of awards including the Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Lieu joined the Air Force Reserve in 2000 and was promoted to colonel in 2015.
Early in his political career Lieu served on the Torrance City Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission. In 2002, he began serving on the Torrance City Council. In 2005, he won a special election to represent California’s 53rd Assembly District, a seat he was reelected for in 2006 and 2008. As an Assemblymember, Lieu served as the chair of the Assembly Rules Committee and on the Governmental Organization Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Veterans Affairs Committee. He was also chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
In 2010, Lieu ran for California Attorney General, but finished fourth in the Democratic Primary. In 2011, he won a special election to fill a space in the California Senate, representing the 28th Senate district. In 2014, won a seat representing the 33rd Congressional District. As of 2020, Lieu is serving his third congressional term and is one of three Taiwanese Americans to ever serve in Congress. He is on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was elected to be the Co-Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. He is a leader on issues pertaining to the environment, cybersecurity, civil liberties, government ethics, veterans, and the environment, as well issues regarding ethnic and racial profiling, and discrimination against the LGBTQ community. In 2016, Lieu was named on the “Grist 50,” a list of emerging leaders compiled by environmental news magazine, Grist. The Hill also named him one of “10 rising stars in the energy and environment world.” He has been an outspoken supporter of the Taiwanese American community and democracy in Taiwan, and he has been actively involved in the Taiwanese Census Campaign. In 2018, T.A. Archives selected him as an Outstanding Taiwanese American.
References:
Biography: http://taiwaneseamericanhistory.org/blog/154/
Ted Lieu Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Lieu
Ted Lieu Website: https://lieu.house.gov/about/full-biography
