Maxine Waters
Maxine Moore Waters (née Carr; born August 15, 1938) is the U.S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district, and previously the 35th and 29th districts, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the most senior of the 12 black women currently serving in the United States Congress, and is a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected in 1976. As an Assembly member, Waters advocated for divestment from South Africa's apartheid regime. In Congress, she was an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. Waters was charged, and exonerated, by the House's subcommittee on ethics with violations of the House's ethics rules in 2010.