As California's senior Senator, Dianne Feinstein has built a reputation as an independent voice, working hard to find commonsense solutions to problems facing California and the nation.

Since her election to the Senate in 1992, Senator Feinstein has built a significant record of legislative achievement across a wide range of issues.

She led a bipartisan group of senators in passing legislation to drastically increase the fuel efficiency of cars. She's a champion for the preservation of the Mojave Desert, Lake Tahoe and California's forests. She helped create the nationwide AMBER Alert network, passed bills to criminalize border drug tunnels, succeeded in passing a major bill to help California cope with severe drought and continues to advocate for commonsense gun laws.

She authored the first major cybersecurity bill to be signed into law in years. She's an aggressive opponent of sex trafficking and authored legislation to help prevent sex abuse of amateur athletes. She's an advocate for consumers, authoring bills to review ingredients in personal care products, ban chemicals in toys, crack down on rogue pharmacies and strengthen food safety.

One of her most notable achievements was leading the six-year review of the CIA's detention and interrogation program. This effort culminated in the 2014 release of the report's executive summary and passage of legislation banning the use of torture.

In 2017, Senator Feinstein became the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee-the first woman to assume that role-where she helps shape policy on criminal law, national security, immigration, civil rights and the courts. She also oversees judicial nominations and major investigations including Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Senator Feinstein was also the first woman to chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence-a position she held for six years beginning in 2009. During her tenure as chairman, Senator Feinstein oversaw the passage of six consecutive intelligence authorization bills and the release of a key bipartisan report on the Benghazi attacks. She remains on the committee today.

Senator Feinstein is also a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she serves as ranking member on the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. In that role, she has secured billions of dollars for California communities, including critical transportation, water supply and federal building projects.

And she continues to serve on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which she chaired during the 110th Congress. In that capacity, Senator Feinstein was the first woman to chair the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and presided over the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.

In addition to her committee assignments, Senator Feinstein is co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, co-chairman of the Senate Cancer Coalition and co-chairman of the Senate Women's Caucus on Burma. She is also a member of the Anti-Meth Caucus, the Congressional Dairy Caucus and the Congressional Former Mayors Caucus. She has served as a member of the Aspen Strategy Group since 1997.

Senator Feinstein's career has been one of firsts. She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, the first woman elected Senator of California, the first woman member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee and the first woman to serve as ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A native of San Francisco, Senator Feinstein served for nine years as a San Francisco County Supervisor, starting in 1969. She became mayor of San Francisco in 1978 following the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

The following year she was elected to the first of two four-year terms. As mayor, Dianne Feinstein managed the city's finances with a firm hand, balancing nine budgets in a row. In 1987, City and State Magazine named her the nation's "Most Effective Mayor."