Chris Van Hollen

Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 8th district of the State of Maryland, since 2003. The district includes Rockville, Silver Spring and Bethesda. (map)

After the Democrats regained control of the House in the 2006 elections, Van Hollen became the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fifth-ranking position among House Democrats. He continues to serve in that capacity during the 111th Congress. In this post, Van Hollen is responsible for leading efforts to get more Democrats elected to the House of Representatives.

Bailout Bill
On September 29, 2008, Van Hollen voted yes for H.R. 3997 (the bailout bill). On October 3, 2008, Van Hollen again voted yes for H.R. 1424 (the bailout bill that was revised by the Senate).

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Transparency legislation
On May 24, 2007, the House considered the Lobbying Transparency Act of 2007(H.R.2317), sponsored by Rep. Van Hollen, which would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require registered lobbyists to file quarterly reports on contributions bundled for certain recipients. The bill defines recipients as federal candidates, someone holding public office, political party committees or a leadership political action committee associated with a seated office holder and political committees of the political parties. According to the bill, the contributions must be or must have been credited to or attributed to the registered lobbyist through records, designations, recognitions or other means allowing for tracking by the recipient. The recipient is to be notified by certified mail in advance of the filing and within 25 days of the end of the quarter of the content of the filing. The filing is due within 45 days of the quarter end.

The bill passed, 382-37.

Immigration
The following chart is a summary of Chris Van Hollen’s voting record in the U.S. House of Representatives with regards to immigration.

Support for gun control
Van Hollen cosponsored H.R. 1022 (Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2007) on March 7, 2007.

Views and actions on the Middle East
In July 2006, Van Hollen urged the Bush administration to support a ceasefire that would end the Israeli-Lebanon war. He immediately came under attack from rightwing elements in the pro-Israel community. Van Hollen then took a hastily planned trip to Israel sponsored by AIPAC and, according to the Washington Jewish Week, essentially retracted his earlier position. One of his first acts upon his return was to cosponsor a bill drafted by AIPAC which would prohibit soldiers from countries that do not recognize Israel from serving on the international force on the Israeli-Lebanon border. 
 * See also the Ha'aretz article on AIPAC calling Van Hollen to recant.

Ethics reform
Prior to the 109th Congress convening for the 2006 midterm elections the Republican majority passed a rule change that made public the names of earmark sponsors on appropriations bills. The majority of Democrats opposed the rule change stating that it did not go far enough. Reps. Van Hollen and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) offered an amendment to the earmark reform proposal that went much further than solely making the identity of the earmark author public. This amendment may serve as a guide to the earmark reform that the 110th Congress would pursue. The Emanuel-Van Hollen amendment would:


 * Disallow earmarks that could personally benefit a member's spouse, child, or immediate family member.
 * Prohibits Members from awarding earmarks that will benefit a registered lobbyist or former registered lobbyist who serves as chairman of the leadership political action committee of the Member requesting the earmark.
 * Bans the awarding of earmarks to any entity that employs the spouse or immediate family member of the earmark’s sponsor, employs or is represented by a former employee of the earmark’s sponsor, or is represented by a lobbying firm that employs any spouse or close relative of the earmark’s sponsor.
 * Provides that no tax measure may contain any provision amending Title VI of the U.S. Code to benefit one individual, corporation or entity.
 * Prohibits the inclusion of earmarks and other provisions in conference reports without the language having first been in either the House or Senate legislation’s original language.

Background
Van Hollen is the son of a U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer and was born a United States Citizen in Karachi, Pakistan on January 10, 1959, while his father was on a special mission from the US State Department. He also lived 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 on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and as the Legislative Assistant for national security issues to the liberal Republican Maryland Senator Charles "Mac" 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 of Government and an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College.

Prior to his election to Congress, Van Hollen served in the Maryland General Assembly from 1991 to 2003; four years in the Maryland House of Delegates and eight years in the Maryland 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 supported tax increases, 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." (March 24, 2002)

Congressional Career
Van Hollen was elected in 2002. He serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Committee on Government Reform, and the Committee on the Judiciary. He is also the Vice Chair of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus.

In September 2006, Van Hollen and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) created an amendment to a proposed House rules change regarding earmarking to include a prohibition on earmarks to any organization employing a spouse, family member, or former employee of the sponsor. A spokesman for House Rules Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) responded by stating that amendments are not usually permitted to rule changes. Nevertheless, a procedural vote could be forced. 

2006 elections
In 2006, the Republicans nominated Jeffrey M. Stein to face Van Hollen in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Van Hollen retained his seat. 

Named chair of the DCCC
Following the 2006 congressional elections, Van Hollen was named the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2008 election cycle. On January 12, 2007, he sent a memo to "interested parties" saying that thirty-five Republican controlled seats in Congress were "in play" in 2008. 

Money in politics
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Committees

 * House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
 * Subcommittee on National Security and International Relations
 * House Committee on Ways and Means
 * Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support
 * Subcommittee on Trade

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Education and the Workforce
 * Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness
 * Subcommittee on Select Education
 * House Committee on Government Reform
 * Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency Organization
 * Subcommittee on National Security Emerging Threats and International Relations
 * House Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
 * Subcommittee on the Constitution

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Co-Chair, Congressional Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force
 * Vice Chair, Democratic Task Force on Tax Policy and the Budget
 * Vice Chair, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

 * American Bar Association
 * Councilor, The Atlantic Council
 * Maryland State Bar Association
 * Board of Governors for the Partnership for Public Service.

Contact
DC Office: 1419 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2008 Phone: 202-225-5341 Fax: 202-225-0375 Web Email Website

District Office- Rockville: 51 Monroe Street, Suite 507 Rockville, MD 20850 Phone: 301-424-3501 Fax: 301-424-5992

Resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database


 * Sanford Gottlieb

Articles

 * Jonathan Weisman and Anushka Asthana, "GOP Lawmakers Edge Away From Optimism on Iraq," Washington Post, July 20, 2006.
 * Peter Kahn, "Democrats seek to expand GOP earmark overhaul," GovExec.com, September 12, 2006.
 * "Pelosi Taps Hollen for DCCC," Taegan Goddard's Political Wire (report from Roll Call), December 19, 2006: "to 'chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2008 campaign cycle'"

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Newsrack 2.0