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. His father was a California state senator from 1955 to 1967.
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 Farr was serving in Colombia, his mother died from cancer. Following her death, his father visited with Farr's sisters. While riding horses, his sister 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. During a trip in 2007, Farr spoke before the Colombian Congress and was awarded the Orden del Congreso de Colombia.
In 1980 he was elected to a seat in the Assembly, where he became a champion for the organics industry and wrote one of the country's strictest oil-spill liability laws. He served in the Assembly until his election to Congress in 1993.
U.S. House of Representatives
Earlier photo of Congressman FarrRepresentative Farr shaking hands with Speaker of the House Tom Foley during his swearing in ceremony
Farr was elected to the House of Representatives in a 1993 special election. He succeeded Leon Panetta, who resigned to become President Bill Clinton's budget director. Farr defeated Republican Bill McCampbell with 52 percent of the vote, and then was elected to his first full term in 1994, defeating McCampbell again with 52 percent of the vote. 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 re-elected ten more times with no substantive opposition, never dropping below 64 percent of the vote.
Legislation
Farr introduced the "Oceans Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act" (H.R. 21Archived October 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine) in January 2007. The bill would consolidate national management of oceans, creating a system of regional governance; make the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the chief oceans agency; create an ocean advisor in the president's Cabinet; create regional and national ocean advisory committees; and create an Oceans and Great Lakes Conservation Trust Fund. It received a subcommittee markup in April 2008 and passed by a vote of 11–3.
Farr's "Reconstruction and Stabilization Civilian Management Act of 2008" (H.R. 1084Archived December 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine) was approved by the House but stalled in the Senate. The bill would create capacity within the State Department to quickly deploy civilian expertise and coordinate the government response to crises abroad. President [George W. Bush] supported the program and approved initial creation of the group. Farr participated in a rollout of the group with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in July 2008.
Farr was 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 served as co-chair of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus with Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida). Farr actively supported 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 also was active as co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, which he co-chaired with four other members. Each year the caucus helps sponsor Capitol Hill Oceans Week, known as CHOW, which draws hundreds of ocean experts from across the country. Farr also co-chaired the Congressional Organic Caucus and the Unexploded Ordnance Caucus.
Other leadership positions
Farr served on the House Democracy Assistance Commission, a group established by the House and 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."
He also is the former chairman of the California Democratic congressional delegation, the largest state delegation in Congress.
He opposed the USA PATRIOT Act and is pro-choice. He received a 91% progressive rating by Progressive Punch, ranking him the 42nd most progressive member of congress.
Farr took a leadership role for the House Democrats in opposing the Central American Free Trade Agreement because he did not think it had good environmental and worker protections.
He voted against the invasion of Iraq and was actively against the Iraq War.
Farr voted for the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
He received a perfect 100% rating for the 110th, 111th, and 112th United States Congresses from the Human Rights Campaign.
Farr is a proponent of ocean protection and conservation. In addition to H.R. 21, Farr introduced the Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act (H.R. 3639) and the Clean Cruise Ship Act (H.R. 6434Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine).
He opposes opening new areas to offshore drilling, instead supporting the drilling of 68,000,000 acres (280,000 km) of federally owned land already under lease, including 33,000,000 acres (130,000 km) on the Outer Continental Shelf. Farr also supports ending subsidies to oil companies.
Farr has worked closely with Central Coast cities and the Army on the re-use of the former Fort Ord. He was integral in securing $29 million for the creation of California State University, Monterey Bay. He also played a role in making sure land on the former installation included significant amounts of affordable housing.
He supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes a guest worker program for farm workers, allowing undocumented students to remain in the country (known as the DREAM Act), and deporting undocumented felons in U.S. jails.
Foreign Affairs
Farr consistently opposed the war in Iraq. He voted against the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002" that started the war. Farr cosponsored several bills including H.Res. 1329Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, which supported a timetable for troop withdrawal, and H.R. 5626Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine and H.R 4959Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, which called for congressional approval for any long-term agreements with Iraq.
He was vocal in efforts to prevent military action against Iran, cosponsoring H. Con. Res 33, which would require congressional approval before any incursion into Iran, and H.R. 3119Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, a bill to prohibit the use of funds for military operations in Iran.
Farr parlayed his experience in Colombia to become a congressional leader on Colombian affairs. He was an active supporter of rebalancing funds dedicated to Plan Colombia, the U.S. anti-drug effort, to include more support for economic redevelopment efforts. He hosted a wide range of Colombian political leaders in his Washington office including then-President Álvaro Uribe and former President Andrés Pastrana.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comment
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. Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 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 July 12, 2007, Farr joined 11 cosponsors of H.Res. 333, which laid out three articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. The bill maintained that the vice president purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States (1) by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and (2) about an alleged relationship between Iraq and Al-Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, and (3) that Cheney had openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States.
"Many residents in the Central Coast support the removal of Cheney from office, and I am proud to represent their values in Congress," Farr said in a brief statement.
Awards
On July 30, 2007, Farr received the Senator David Pryor Special Achievement Award for his ongoing advocacy for communities with military bases presented by the Association of Defense Communities. The award is given to an individual who advocates for communities with active or closed military bases. "Communities with active or closed military bases face many special concerns, from land use to economic development to ordnance disposal," said Farr. "I have been lucky enough to assist in the transition efforts at Fort Ord, and that experience has helped me push those issues locally and nationwide." As vice-chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Farr successfully increased clean-up funds from $221 million to $271 million for military bases closed prior to 2005.
Personal life
Farr is married to the former Shary Baldwin and has one daughter, Jessica. He is an Episcopalian.
Electoral history
California State Assembly District 28 election, 1980
