Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Sanchez, Loretta and Jost, Steven
- Abstract:
- This collection spans from 1994 to 2016 and contains the congressional and personal papers of the Honorable Loretta Sanchez (United States Representative, in office from 1997-2017). These papers mainly pertain to her election campaigns and her work in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Extent:
- 17 Linear Feet 17 containers (17 record storage cartons), and 1 oversized folder
- Language:
- The majority of this collection's materials are in English, with some materials in Latin American Spanish and Vietnamese.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Loretta Sanchez papers (2021.001.s.r), Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Chapman University, CA. For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Loretta Sanchez papers span from 1994 to 2016. The papers mainly contain government records and some government publications regarding her election contest as well as her congressional caucus and committee work. The smallest series mainly includes other congressional files, news media serials, and A/V Media. The last series contains restricted confidential files removed from the other series.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Honorable Loretta Lydia Sanchez '82 (1960- ) is a Chapman University (then Chapman College) alumna who is currently on the University's Board of Trustees. Sanchez graduated from Chapman with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and also received a Master in Business Administration from American University in 1984.
She was a Democrat official in the United States House of Representatives (U.S. House or House) for the 46th (1997-2003, 2013-2017) and 47th Districts (2003-2013) in Orange County, California. Her constituency included Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, and Anaheim residents. She served in the House from the 105th Congress starting January 3, 1997 to the 114th Congress ending January 3, 2017. She lost her election bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate to Kamala Harris in 2016.
Congressional committees consist of members selected by the majority and minority political party caucuses. These are typically a combination of Democrat and Republican assignments matching the party ratio in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate. Committee and subcommittee chairs are selected from among majority members. The minority party also has a top ranking member.
Committees oversee a particular subject and hold public hearings to "mark-up" (review or amend) bills related to that jurisdiction, such as Homeland Security. Bills that start in the House are identified with House of Representatives ("H.R.") and a unique identification number. Bills that start in the Senate are identified with an "S" and a unique identification number.
Sanchez's committee assignments included the Committee on Armed Services (CAS) and the House Committee on Homeland Security (CHS), which are represented in Series 2 and 4, respectively. During her last term, she was the second highest ranking Democrat member of both committees.
She served on the Committee on Education and the Workforce from the 105th Congress (1997–1999) to the 108th (2001-2003). She was also part of the Joint Economic Committee from the 109th Congress (2005–2007) to the 114th (2015–2017).
Sanchez was a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, co-chair of the Immigration Task Force, co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam (or Congressional Dialogue on Vietnam), co-founder/co-chair of the Women in the Military Caucus, and a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. During her congressional tenure, Sanchez was the lead sponsor of 139 legislation and cosponsor of 2,756 legislation. Of those, Sanchez was the lead sponsor or a cosponsor for 186 pieces of legislation that passed both houses and became law.
Sanchez was born in Lynwood, California as the second of seven children. She attended Katella High School in Anaheim where she grew up. Prior to serving in Congress, she had experience in the transportation, banking, and consultant industries. Sanchez and her sister Linda became the first pair of sisters to ever work in Congress in 2003. Sanchez was previously married to Stephen Brixey III from 1989 to 2004. She married her second husband Jack Einwechter in 2011.
Timeline:- January 7, 1960 – Loretta Lydia Sanchez is born in Lynwood, California.
- 1978 – Graduates from Katella High School in Anaheim, California and earns a college scholarship.
- 1982 – Receives her Bachelor of Science in Economics from Chapman College (now Chapman University).
- 1984 – Earns her Master of Business Administration in Finance from American University in Washington, D.C.
- 1994 – Runs for a seat on the Anaheim City Council, her first political campaign.
- 1996 – Runs for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 46th District against incumbent Bob Dornan (R), winning by 984 votes. Dornan contests the election.
- 1998 – The House Committee on Oversight dismisses the issue and Sanchez becomes the first woman and first Latina from Orange County elected to Congress.
- 1998-2016 – Defeats all challengers to her seat and continues to represent her district.
- 1999-2001 – President Bill Clinton names Sanchez as general co-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to oversee voter outreach and fundraising efforts.
- 2001 – Joins the Board of Trustees at Chapman University.
- 2003 – Sister Linda Sánchez also becomes a U.S. Representative for California. Linda and Loretta become the first pair of sisters to serve simultaneously in Congress.
- 2008 – Co-writes with Linda the book Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress.
- 2016 – Faces off against fellow Democrat Kamala Harris. Harris wins Barbara Boxer's Senate seat.
- 2017 – Donates congressional archive to alma mater Chapman University in Orange, California.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the Honorable Loretta Sanchez '82 in June 2017.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Victoria Perez in August 2023. Biographical note written by Perez and timeline written by Annie Tang and Perez. Updated in October 2023. Last updated by Perez in June 2024.
The following refers to processing decisions that were conducted during the work of this collection.
Files were left predominantly in their original order, except for Series 1 and the South Vietnamese commando files in Series 2.
Some records were originally stored in accordion or cabinet files by subject (Series 1, 2, 3, and 4). These folders' materials have been kept together and identified with their original file names and an inclusive folder date range to maintain original order. Several files appeared to be organized by an unclear number filing system that has been preserved in the archival folder title. An example is "02.03.01 Orange County."
Other materials were originally stored in binders. If the materials of a given binder or file required several archival folders, then those have been labeled with (# of #).
Several original labeled folders and binder labels have been kept with their corresponding materials in the new folders. Several original label stickers are starting to fall off of their office folders. A few of these original labels have been kept even though they refer to materials that do not match those in the folders or an incorrect date. In this case, archival folder names match the content instead of the folder name.
Some accession [2021-014-s] materials were kept in their original office binder sleeves as received. Folders and cartons labeled with [2021-014-s] contain these materials.
Each series includes news clippings in either "Daily Press" packets or multiple articles bound together from the same issue. These groupings occasionally include stories regarding other series' subjects or general Orange County and national news. They have been kept bound as is to maintain original order.
Congressional materials originally arranged among but not associated with Series 1-4 contents have been removed and placed in Series 5 in chronological order.
Sanchez's congressional papers include several U.S. Federal government documents that have sensitive or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) labels, such as "Unclassified//For Official Use Only." Per the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), these materials are no longer sensitive and no longer need to be returned or restricted.
Some materials have been removed from their series and placed in Series 6, Restricted files due to privacy concerns. This group contains constituent casework and other files that contain personally identifiable information. Redaction was conducted to protect people's personally identifiable information and their privacy.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection is arranged into six series by subject matter and date:
- Series 1, Dornan v. Sanchez election contest and election Campaigns, 1994-1998
- Series 2, Committee on Armed Services, 1995-2008
- Series 3, Congressional Caucus on Vietnam and Congressional Human Rights Caucus, 1996-2010
- Series 4, Committee on Homeland Security, 1997-2008
- Series 5, Other congressional files, news media serials, and A/V media, 1997-2016
- Series 6, Restricted files, 1997-2008
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is open for research, excepting for files in Series 6: Restricted files, which have been restricted due to privacy and confidentiality concerns. Please see Series 6's Conditions Governing Access note for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Loretta Sanchez papers (2021.001.s.r), Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Chapman University, CA. For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
- Location of this collection:
-
One University DriveOrange, CA 92866, US
- Contact:
- (714) 532-7719