Sam Farr

Samuel Sharon Farr (born July 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 17th (1993–2013) and 20th congressional districts (2013–17).

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

His father was a California state senator from 1955 to 1967.

Farr was educated at Willamette University, Santa Clara University and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity from Willamette University.

Farr joined the Peace Corps in 1964 and served for two years as a volunteer in Colombia.

He spent his time in a poor barrio near Medellin, teaching community development skills.

While he was serving in Colombia, Farr's mother died from cancer.

Following her death, his father visited with Farr's sisters.

While riding horses, one of his sisters (Nancy), was thrown and hit her head.

She died on the operating table in a Colombian hospital.

Since his Peace Corps service ended, Farr has visited Colombia often.

He went there for his honeymoon and has returned several other times for both personal and official business.

In 1975, he ran for and won a seat on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.

Both contests were the closest in the district since Panetta claimed the seat for the Democrats in 1977, and to date are the only times since then that a Republican has crossed the 40 percent mark.

The district quickly reverted to form, and Farr was reelected ten more times with no substantive opposition, never dropping below 64 percent of the vote.

Farr is active in several congressional caucuses, including the House Oceans Caucus, the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, the Congressional Bike Caucus, the Congressional Organic Caucus, the International Conservation Caucus, and the Unexploded Ordnance Caucus.

He serves as co-chair of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus with Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida).

In 1980 he was elected to the California State Assembly, where he became a champion for the organics industry and wrote one of the country's strictest oil spill liability laws.

He was elected to Congress in a 1993 special election when longtime Democratic Rep. Leon Panetta resigned to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

He served in the Assembly until his election to Congress in 1993.

Farr was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 through a special election when former Congressman Leon Panetta resigned to become President Clinton's budget director, defeating Republican Bill McCampbell with 52 percent of the vote.

Farr was elected to his first full term in 1994, defeating McCampbell again with 52 percent of the vote.

During a trip in 2007, Farr spoke in front of the Colombian Congress and was awarded the Orden del Congreso de Colombia.

Farr's public service career began in the California Assembly, where he worked as a staffer on budget issues for a decade.

On July 12, 2007, Farr joined 11 cosponsors of H.Res.

Farr has taken an active role in supporting the travel industry, boosting membership in the caucus to more than 100 and hosting caucus events, including a June 2008 gathering of travel executives and congressional leaders, the Economic Roundtable: Travel's Significance to the U.S. Economy.

Farr is also active as co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, which he co-chairs with four other members of Congress.

Each year the caucus helps sponsor Capitol Hill Oceans Week, known as CHOW, which draws hundreds of ocean experts from across the country.

He is also co-chair of the Congressional Organic Caucus and the Unexploded Ordnance Caucus.

Farr serves on the House Democracy Assistance Commission, a group established by the House of Representatives mandated to work with emerging democracies throughout the world.

The group engages in "peer-to-peer cooperation to build technical expertise in partner legislatures that will enhance accountability, transparency, legislative independence, access to information, and government oversight."

Farr is also the former chairman of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, the largest state delegation in Congress.

On February 26, 2008, at the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Farr said "the public image of (the ICE agents)" has become "not (a) compassionate law enforcement agency but essentially a Gestapo-type agency that is knocking down doors" when conducting raids on illegal immigrants.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers responded to Farr's comments by saying, "We are not the Gestapo. The men and women of this agency have a very difficult job...and I think they do that with distinction and great honor.".

Farr replied that he knew and appreciated this, but reiterated that there is "there is a very ill will public opinion in the counties (he) represent(s), about ICE".

On November 12, 2015, he announced his retirement from Congress after the 2016 elections.

Farr was born in San Francisco, the son of Janet Emerson (née Haskins) and Frederick Sharon "Fred" Farr.

One of his maternal great-grandfathers was acting mayor of Los Angeles William Hartshorn Bonsall, and one of his paternal great-great-grandfathers was the brother of Nevada Senator William Sharon.

He grew up in Carmel, where he still lives.