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Congressman_chris_van_hollen_of_maryland.jpg
Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. (born January 10 1959) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 8th district of the State of Maryland since 2002.
Personal Information
The son of a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Van Hollen was born in Karachi, Pakistan and lived also in Turkey, Sri Lanka, and India. After receiving a graduate degree in public policy and national security studies, worked in the 1980s as a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and as the Legislative Assistant for national security issues to Maryland Senator Charles Mathias.
Van Hollen is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. He also holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School and an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College.
Van Hollen and his wife, Katherine, live in Kensington, Maryland with their three children - Anna, 13, Nicholas, 11, and Alexander, 8. He is also an MSI soccer coach.
Political Career
Prior to his election to Congress, Van Hollen served in the Maryland General Assembly from 1991 to 2002-fours years in the House of Delegates and eight years in the State Senate where he was Vice Chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee and Chair of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee. During his service in the Maryland legislature, he authored education funding legislation, the Patient Protection Act, the Clean Energy Incentives Act, the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act and played an important role in the passage of Maryland's gun safety law. For his broad-ranging legislative achievements, The Washington Post called Van Hollen "One of the most accomplished members of the General Assembly." (Mar. 24, 2002)
In 2002, Van Hollen defeated Mark Kennedy Shriver, a Maryland General Assembly member and Kennedy family cousin in the primary election before going on to defeat popular eight-term incumbent Connie Morella in the general election.
Van Hollen serves on the Committee for Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Government Reform. He is also the Vice Chair of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus.
Rep. Van Hollen currently serves on the following U.S. House committes:
- Vice-chairperson of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus.
- Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
- Member of the House Committee on Government Reform.
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