Biography
Read Hadassah Lieberman's Biography
Now in his second term in the United States Senate, Connecticut's
Joe Lieberman has earned a national reputation as a thoughtful, effective
legislator. He is a Democrat who speaks his conscience and works for the
people of Connecticut.
Lieberman connects with the concerns of a broad cross-section of the
American people, which has won him respect and admiration in the Senate.
He works for parents and their kids. He is pro-business. He's strong on
defense. He works for the consumer and for a better environment for
present and future generations.
In 1988, Lieberman won the biggest upset victory in the country by just
10,000 votes. Six years later, he made history by winning the biggest
landslide victory ever in a Connecticut race for a U.S. Senate seat, with
a margin of more than 350,000 votes - or 67 percent of the vote.
In endorsing his reelection in 1994, The New York Times wrote,
"Congress would be a better place if more of his veteran colleagues
were as good. In only one term he has influenced the course of Federal
legislation for the benefit of Connecticut and the nation."
Since then, Lieberman has received praise from an increasingly wide
range of observers. The Day of New London wrote, "Senator
Lieberman has elevated the debate beyond partisan interests." The
New York Post described him as "respected as a true man of
integrity by Republicans and Democrats alike." And The Almanac of
American Politics 1998 began its profile this way: "Joseph
Lieberman in a decade in the Senate has exerted influence out of
proportion to his seniority, committee position or political clout, an
influence that came from respect for his independence of mind, civility of
spirit and fidelity to causes in which he believes."
Lieberman's accomplishments include:
Defense and foreign affairs
ensuring a strong national
defense;
promoting freedom throughout
the world in places like Bosnia, China, Cuba and Eastern Europe;
co-authoring the Gulf War
Resolution;
Education
expanding loans for small
business and college students;
backing tuition tax credits
for college students and life-long learning assistance for older
adults;
Environment
strengthening Clean Air
standards;
creating ConnecticutÕs first
national park at Weir Farm;
establishing and retaining a
Long Island Sound office in the Environmental Protection Agency;
promoting a national wildlife
refuge along the Connecticut River and a "wild and scenic"status for
the Farmington River;
Government reform
strongly calling for campaign
finance reform;
exposing government waste,
such as the federal contracts that paid 67 cents a page for
photocopying services and $69 an hour for security guards, and the
highway noise barrier projects that were built along stretches of
road where no residents lived to hear the noise.
winning passage of the
Congressional Accountability Act, which makes Congress live by the
same laws it applies to the nation;
Quality of Life
strengthening the Crime
Bill;
fighting for federal
enterprise zones to rebuild America's cities through the local
economy;
helping improve the Welfare
reform bill with provisions to assist teenage mothers, discourage
out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and help states that move Welfare
recipients into self-supporting jobs.
targeting lead poisoning, Lyme
disease and indoor air pollution;
Values
pushing the video game
industry to create a rating system so parents can protect their
children from violent games;
authoring the V-Chip law,
which offers parents guidance and control of television viewing by
their young children.
Today, Lieberman is searching for more ways to cut middle class taxes,
reform product liability laws, expand educational opportunities through
charter schools and school choice, and with new legislation - The Federal
Health Care Quality, Consumer Information and Protection Act (S. 795) - to
improve the quality of health care.
Lieberman has cut through government red tape for tens of thousands of
constituents. He enjoys staying in touch with the people of Connecticut,
and has become known for his regular and popular diner stop visits across
the state to get a taste of diners' views along with a cup of coffee.
Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut on February 24, 1942 and
attended public schools there. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale
College in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967.
Lieberman was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970 and
served there for 10 years, including the last 6 as Majority Leader. From
1982 to 1988, he served as Connecticut's 21st Attorney General. He is the
author of five books: The Power Broker(1966), a biography of the
late Democratic Party chairman, John M. Bailey; The Scorpion and the
Tarantula (1970), a study of early efforts to control nuclear
proliferation; The Legacy (1981), a history of Connecticut politics
from 1930-1980,Child Support in America (1986), a guidebook on
methods to increase the collection of child support from delinquent
fathers, and his latest book, In Praise of Public Life (2000).
In the U.S. Senate, Lieberman became the Ranking Democratic Member of
the Governmental Affairs Committee in January 1999. He is a member of the
powerful Armed Services Committee, the Environment and Public Works
Committee, and the Small Business Committee. Since 1995, he has been
Chairman of the Democratic Leadership
Council.
Lieberman lives in New Haven with his wife Hadassah. They are the
parents of four children: Matthew, Rebecca, Ethan and Hana as well as two
grandchildren, Tennessee and Willie.
"Lieberman's real contribution goes beyond bringing home the bacon: It is in helping to build a more decent society in and out of Connecticut."
-Paul Green, Manchester Journal Inquirer
"Sen. Joe Lieberman is an embodiment and an apostle of
a Democratic philosophy that incorporates market-oriented thinking of the
Reagan revolution and a muscular defense and foreign policy." -
columnist David Broder.
"Strong on defense and tough on crime...a strong
environmentalist and consumerist...Lieberman is quality goods." -
columnist Ben Wattenberg.
"Lieberman ranks among the Senate's best." -- The
New Republic
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