Chris Van Hollen

U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th

The November 23^rd deadline for the bipartisan, 12-member Congressional super committee is fast approaching.  The inability to strike a deal to cut at least $1.2 trillion is slowly becoming a real possibility.  The failure to reach a deal is creeping into the nervous subconscious of the Wall Street; fueled by warnings from major banks that failure to reach a deal could lead to another downgrade of U.S. debt.  All signs point to an ongoing internal deadlock; members cannot agree on basic questions about policy issues to address and what budget scenarios to use.  Chris Van Hollen, a member of the super committee and our Member of the Week, has recognized the potential threat of the impasse, saying recently that threat of “another credit downgrade underscores the need for the committee to reach a bipartisan agreement.”

The oldest of three, Chris Van Hollen was born in Karachi, Pakistan where his father was serving in the Foreign Service.  His father, Christopher Van Hollen, was, in addition to being a Foreign Service Officer, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1969 – 1972) and U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka (1972 – 1976).  His mother, Eliza Van Hollen, worked in the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department, where she served as chief of the intelligence bureau for South Asia.  Van Hollen’s experiences growing up in Turkey, Sri Lanka, and India shaped his understanding of government and sparked an interest in how the U.S. could interact with the rest of the world.

He returned to the United States for his junior year of high school, attending the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts.  In 1982, Van Hollen graduated from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.  He continued his studies at Harvard University, where he earned a Master of Public Policy degree, concentrating in national security studies, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1985.

After earning his Master’s degree, Van Hollen worked as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Charles Mathias for a two-year period.  In 1987, he became a staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he helped write a report detailing Iraq’s use of chemical weapons and traveled to the Iraq-Turkey border to interview Kurds about Saddam Hussein.  Before being elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1990, Van Hollen earned a juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center and was admitted to the Maryland Bar.

Chris Van Hollen’s tenure in the Maryland Legislature was relatively successful.  He served in the House of Delegates until 1995 and then in the State Senate until 2003.  In the Senate, he served on the Budget and Taxation Committee and the Health and Human Services Subcommittee.  His 12 years in the Maryland General Assembly were defined by effective efforts to raise the tobacco tax, prohibit oil drilling in the Chesapeake Bay, mandate trigger locks for guns, and increase funding for education and healthcare.

Entering the 2002 elections, incumbent Connie Morella had won eight straight elections in the 8^th district.  After redistricting added a the heavily Democratic Prince George’s County to the 8^th District, Morella, a Republican with a liberal voting record, became a popular target for Democrats.  Despite Morella’s support for abortion rights, gay rights, gun control, and increased environmental protections, Van Hollen painted her as an enabler of conservative power in Congress.  During the race, Van Hollen overcame endorsements for Morella by The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun, to recruit a large number of grassroots volunteers.  Ultimately, after a tight and expensive race (one of the most expensive in 2002), Van Hollen defeated Morella with 51.7 percent of the vote.  Since being elected in 2002, Van Hollen has won every re-election with at least 70 percent of the vote.

Shortly after arriving in Congress, Van Hollen made a name for himself by openly challenging Republican legislature and pushing through his own initiatives.  Using a spending bill supported by Republicans, Van Hollen added a last minute amendment that made it more difficult for the government to transfer jobs to private contractors.

Van Hollen entertained the idea of running for Senate in 2006 against then-Senator Paul Sarbanes but was convinced by party leadership to sit it out.  Nancy Pelosi repaid his obedience by appointing him to the House Ways and Means Committee and to the Chairmanship of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  He has stayed in this role ever since, though he temporarily flirted with the idea of challenging Rep. John B. Larson for Democratic Caucus chair in 2008.

Traditionally liberal on most major issues, Van Hollen has voted with the Democratic Party nearly 99 percent of the time.  He is a strong advocate of federal employees, raising pay for civilian federal employees and military personnel.  Moreover, he is well known for his support of education.  In every session, Van Hollen has introduced bills that have pushed for more funding on all levels and improving existing federally mandated programs like No Child Left Behind.

The impact of another credit downgrade would stop the current market rebound in its tracks.  The responsibility facing the supercommittee, of which Van Hollen is a major voice, extends far beyond partisan politics.  In the coming weeks, the actions of people like Chris Van Hollen, and his colleagues on the other side of the aisle, will determine which way this country heads at the economic fork road.

–Amendment202

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