Topic: Howard Berman

Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is the U.S. Representative for California's 28th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He earlier served in the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1982, and as the U.S. Representative for California's 26th congressional district from 1983 to 2003.

He is the son of the former Eleanor Schapiro and Joseph Berman, and grew up in modest circumstances. He graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) (1959), and earned his B.A. (1962, International Relations) and LL.B. (1965) at University of California, Los Angeles. Blanche Bettington, his brilliant high school civics teacher, inspired him to enter politics and government. He was a VISTA volunteer (1966–1967) in Baltimore and San Francisco, and was an associate at a Los Angeles law firm (1967–72) specializing in labor relations.

Berman was active in the Young Democrats at UCLA. He began his friendship with Henry Waxman there in 1960, when both were still undergraduates. Waxman was head of the YD liberal caucus, and through it ran the YDs. Both of them supported Adlai E. Stevenson's pursuit of the presidential nomination up to the eve of the 1960 convention. Berman was President of the California Young Democrats 1967-1969. He and Waxman co-founded the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which grew to become one of the largest young professional clubs in Southern California.