Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)

Wasserman Schultz has generally been a reliably liberal voter, though her views on the Middle East are more centrist. She voted 98.9 percent of the time with her House Democratic colleagues in the 111th Congress.

Women and Children

The mother of three young children and a breast-cancer survivor, Wasserman Schultz has long worked to advance legislation that helps women and children. In 2006, she pushed through two proposals strengthening punishment for violent sex offenders, and one mandating warning labels on foods that may contain mercury.

She has sponsored federal legislation to increase pool-safety measures and restrict imported toys that may contain lead.

In March 2009, Wasserman Schultz publicly revealed her recent battle with breast cancer.. Over the previous year, she underwent seven major surgeries, all of which took place during congressional recesses. She initially only told a small circle of friends and family (not including her three young children) about the cancer, but later went public in order to spread awareness.

Wasserman Schultz introduced a bill to launch a national breast-cancer awareness campaign aimed at younger women, but some cancer researchers have called the bill misguided.

The Middle East

As the representative of one of the most heavily Jewish congressional districts in the country, Wasserman Schultz has expressed a more centrist position on Israel and the Middle East than her predecessor.

She supports humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and renewed efforts by the United States to lead peace talks. Early in her House career, Wasserman Schultz told the Jewish weekly, The Forward, "I would stack up the Democratic Caucus' position on the support for Israel against the Republican Caucus's any day of the week and be much more confident - and the Jewish community should be much more confident - in the Democrats' stewardship of Israel than the Republicans'."

During the 2008 campaign season, Wasserman Schultz defended Barack Obama's statements on Israel and the Middle East. She said Obama's much-covered trip to the Middle East was an important step in ensuring "that the majority of Jewish voters understand that Barack Obama's foreign policy as president, particularly as it relates to Israel, will be one that they will wholeheartedly embrace."

The Economy

Along with her Democratic colleagues, Wasserman Schultz voted in favor of the February 2009 $787 billion federal stimulus package and the fall 2008 $700 billion financial bailout bill.

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