Chris Shays
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Christopher H. Shays (born October 18 1945), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, representing the 4th District of Connecticut (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ct04_109.gif)). Shays is well-known as an outspoken moderate in his party; this has led to numerous feuds with the more conservative party leadership, and has cost Shays support from his colleagues in the House.
Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Shays was educated at New York University, served in the Peace Corps, and was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives before entering the U.S. House. Now in his tenth term, he was first elected to the Congress in 1987 in a special election held to fill the vacant seat of the late Stewart McKinney. He requests that his constituents and members of the media refer to him as Chris.
In the 109th Congress, Shays is Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform and formerly held the position of Vice-Chairman of the Budget Committee. He holds the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. Shays is also a member of the Financial Services and Homeland Security Committees.
Shays is known to to be a maverick and independent thinker. He has formed coalitions with moderates from both parties. Along with Representative Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat, he co-sponsored the Shays-Meehan bill, which was eventually signed into law as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. In the debate surrounding the Terri Schiavo case he said, "The party of Lincoln has become the party of theocracy."[1] (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/politics/23repubs.html?) The Congressman has long been a champion of environmental issues, and was endorsed in the past election by the League of Conservation Voters (http://www.lcv.org/).
While a social moderate, Shays has spoken out against fiscal deficits wasteful government spending and has been a leader in the House on issues of national defense. He was the first U.S. Congressman to visit Iraq (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-16-shays-iraq_x.htm) after the outbreak of war in 2003.
In April of 2005, he broke with most of his party over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's alleged ethics violations. This made Shays one of the first Republicans to criticize DeLay publicly. Shays stated that he should resign, saying, "Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election."
Sources
- MSNBC.com article quoting Shay's criticism of DeLay (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7453969)
External link
- Official website (http://www.house.gov/shays)
- Peace Corps biography of Chris Shays (http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2020870.html)
- Website of the subcommittee Shays chairs (http://reform.house.gov/NSETIR/)
- 2004 campaign finance data (http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00000652&cycle=2004)