A prolific career over decades in the Senate

Over the last quarter of a century, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has cast thousands of votes in Congress on behalf of California. Here’s a brief look at some of her biggest or most controversial moves in Washington.

ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

Feinstein is perhaps best known for her 25-year quest to enact stricter national gun control laws, including writing and passing a 10-year assault weapons ban in 1994 over the objections of the National Rifle Assn.

IRAQ WAR VOTE

Feinstein is one of just five Democrats still in the Senate who voted in 2002 for the resolution authorizing the Iraq war. She told Mother Jones this year that “it is the decision I regret most, and I have to live with it.”

TORTURE REPORT

Feinstein led the drive to

expose the CIA’s use of torture in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She has pushed to declassify the Senate Intelligence Committee’s full report, and she made a summary of the report public in 2014 over President Obama’s objections.

DESERT PROTECTIONS

She sponsored the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, federal legislation that promoted Death Valley and Joshua Tree to national parks and created the Mojave National Preserve.

DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT

Feinstein was one of just 14 senators to vote against the

original Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. She authored legislation to repeal DOMA and joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage.

LAKE TAHOE

In 2000, Feinstein helped pass the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, a nearly $2-billion public-private partnership to restore Lake Tahoe over 10 years. In 2016, Congress extended the partnership for another 10 years to continue working on improving water clarity, eradicating invasive species and protecting the shoreline.