Speier, Jackie, 1950-

Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier (born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the U.S. Representative for California's 14th congressional district since 2008. Her district was numbered as the 12th District from 2008 to 2013.

Born in San Francisco, California and raised in Burlingame, she graduated from Mercy High School in Burlingame before earning a B.A. degree from the University of California, Davis, and a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Speier entered politics by serving as a congressional staffer for Congressman Leo Ryan. Speier was part of his November 1978 fact-finding mission organized to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple followers. While trying to shield herself from rifle and shotgun fire behind small airplane wheels with other team members after Peoples Temple followers ambushed the investigative team, killing Congressman Ryan and four others, Speier was shot five times and waited 22 hours before help arrived. Speier lost the Democratic primary for the special election to succeed Ryan. Speier won her first election in 1980, when she ran for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and defeated a 20-year incumbent. At the time, she was the youngest person ever elected to the board. She was reelected in 1984, and was later selected as chairwoman. Midway through her second term on the Board of Supervisors, Speier ran for the California State Assembly from a district in northern San Mateo County.

State law prevented Speier from running for reelection to the Assembly in 1996, but in 1998 she was elected to the California State Senate. As a state senator, Speier was instrumental in securing $127 million funding to start the "Baby Bullet" express service for Caltrain, for which the commuter rail agency named a new locomotive after her. Speier also focused on representing consumer rights. Senator Speier was termed out of the California State Senate in 2006. During her last term, she served as assistant president pro tempore of the California State Senate. She lost the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of California in June 2006. In January 2008, she announced her bid to succeed Tom Lantos, who represented much of the territory represented by Leo Ryan. After Lantos's death, Speier won the special election to succeed him.

Crusading for the safety, health, and rights of all Americans is one of Congresswoman Speier’s driving core principles; from getting tough on big banks to ending taxpayer bailouts, and from eliminating wasteful and fraudulent government spending at all levels to serving as a check on the federal government in the fight against corruption. As Chair of the HASC Subcommittee on Military Personnel and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Congresswoman Speier is committed to keeping the United States secure from terrorists and hostile nations and honoring and supporting our veterans, military servicemembers, and their families. On these committees, and in her previous assignments, she has led numerous congressional investigations and hearings to protect the public by exposing a lack of oversight and enforcement of our laws and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.