Sam Farr

Samuel Sharon Farr (born July 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 17th (1993–2013) and 20th congressional districts (2013–17). He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to Congress in a 1993 special election when longtime Democratic Rep. Leon Panetta resigned to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He retired from Congress following the 2016 elections.

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.

He was educated at Willamette University, Santa Clara University and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Farr is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity at Willamette University.

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 Medellín, 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.

Farr's public service career began in the California State Assembly, where he worked as a staffer on budget issues for a decade. In 1975, he ran for and won a seat on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.

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.^{[citation needed]}