Waters was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997 to 1998 . In 2005 Waters testified at the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearings on " Enforcement of Federal Anti-Fraud Laws in For-Profit Education " , highlighting the American College of Medical Technology as a " problem school " in her district . In 2006 she was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center . She criticized media coverage of the hospital and in 2006 Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) to deny a waiver of the cross ownership ban , and hence license renewal for KTLA-TV , a station the '' Los Angeles Times '' owned . She said , " The '' Los Angeles Times '' has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances . " She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station 's broadcast rights . According to Broadcasting & Cable , the challenges raised " the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings ... At a minimum , defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers ' fees and probably delay license renewal about three months " . Waters ' petition was ultimately unsuccessful . As a Democratic representative in Congress , Waters was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention . She endorsed Democratic U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton for the party 's nomination in late January 2008 , granting the New York Senator nationally recognized support that some suggested would " make big waves . " Waters later switched her endorsement to U.S. Senator Barack Obama when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting . In 2009 Waters had a confrontation with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey ( WI ) over an earmark in the United States House Committee on Appropriations . The funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles that was named after her . In 2011 , Waters voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 , related to a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to detain American citizens and others indefinitely without trial
2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
Maxine Waters