JOHN B. LARSON
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, FIRST DISTRICT, CONNECTICUT
John is the eldest son of Ray and Pauline Larson. He grew up with his seven brothers and sisters in Mayberry Village and is proud of saying he is a product of public housing, public education, and public service. A graduate of East Hartford High School and Central Connecticut State University, Larson was also selected as a Senior Fellow at the Yale Bush Center for Child Development. He taught history at East Hartford High and would later own and operate a small, local insurance agency.
His public service includes the East Hartford Board of Education, the East Hartford Town Council, and the Connecticut State Senate where he served for twelve years. He was elected by his peers as Senate President Pro Tempore four times and authored the nation's first family medical leave act that still serves as a model today.
Throughout his career, John's focus has been on jobs, constituent service, and protecting and expanding our economy. In the 115th Congress his office has served over 1,800 constituent cases and hosted 30+ community forums across the district. John remains committed to working across the aisle to get the job done for Connecticut.
A staunch supporter of Connecticut manufacturing, John was the lead advocate to secure Pratt & Whitney as the sole source producer of engines for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter as well as the Aerial Tanker, Presidential Helicopter, and second submarine in Groton. John has worked to bring academia, labor, private industry, and government together to develop a next generation manufacturing education program with Goodwin College, Central Connecticut State University, and our Community College system. His legislation also created the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology.
John is also fighting to protect and strengthen Social Security. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee. This year, he introduced the Social Security 2100 Act to cut taxes, strengthen benefits, and ensure no hardworking American who has worked their whole life can retire into poverty. The Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration has stated that John's plan would maintain the program's solvency into the next century.
He is a lifelong resident of East Hartford, where he lives with his wife Leslie. They have three children, Carolyn, Laura, and Raymond.
JOSEPH COURTNEY
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, SECOND DISTRICT, CONNECTICUT
Congressman Courtney is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces. In addition, he co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus. As a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, he serves on the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions subcommittee, as well as the Higher Education and Workforce Training subcommittee.
As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, Courtney has worked to strengthen our nation's Navy by leading the call for increased submarine production. When Courtney arrived in Congress, the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, was facing significant workforce reductions and for the first time in fifty years was not actively designing the next generation of submarines. Because of funding secured by Courtney through his work on the House Armed Services Committee, the men and women of Electric Boat have once again been building two submarines per year since 2011. In addition, Courtney has secured critical resources for new design and engineering work on the Columbia-class submarines that will replace the aging fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The increase in submarine construction has allowed Electric Boat to significantly expand both its workforce and its footprint in southeastern Connecticut.
In recognition of his work, Courtney was awarded "The Distinguished Public Service Award" from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the highest civilian honor the Navy can confer.
Courtney has established himself as a tireless advocate for both our nation's veterans and our men and women in uniform. He successfully fought to expand the Montgomery GI Bill for post-9/11 veterans and their families and led the fight to extend TRICARE benefits to dependents under age 26. Congressman Courtney also fought and won support for an 18-unit supportive housing facility for homeless and at-risk veterans in Jewett City.
In his role on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Courtney has been a staunch supporter of high-quality public education and a champion of higher education affordability for middle-class families. In both 2012 and 2013, Courtney led the congressional effort to prevent Stafford Student Loan rates from doubling on new loans, ultimately resulting in the passage of the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act that was signed by President Barack Obama.
Having served as a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman Courtney is a vocal proponent for nearly 2,500 farmers across eastern Connecticut. Courtney is the founding co-chairman of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus, and has worked tirelessly to protect family farms from foreclosure and fix the flawed milk pricing system.
Before serving in the House of Representatives, Courtney represented the citizens of Vernon in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1987 to 1994. During his tenure, then state-Rep. Courtney served as Chair for both the Public Health and Human Services Committees.
Courtney is a 1975 graduate of Tufts University in Boston. He earned a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1978. He lives in Vernon with his wife, Audrey Courtney, and has two adult children, Robert and Elizabeth.
ROSA DeLAURO
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, THIRD DISTRICT, CONNECTICUT
Rosa DeLauro is the Congresswoman from Connecticut's Third Congressional District. Rosa serves in the Democratic leadership as Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and she is the Chairwoman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, where she oversees our nation's investments in education, health, and employment. Rosa also serves on the subcommittee responsible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she oversees food and drug safety, as well as the Budget Committee.
At the core of Rosa's work is her fight for America's working families. Rosa has introduced bills to give all employees access to paid sick days, allow employees to take paid family and medical leave, and ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. Every day, Rosa fights for legislation that would give all working families an opportunity to succeed.
Rosa believes that our first priority must be to strengthen the economy and create good middle-class jobs. She supports tax cuts for working and middle-class families. She introduced the American Family Act to expand the Child Tax Credit to provide tax relief to millions of families as well as create a Young Child Tax Credit to give families with young children an economic lift.
Rosa has also fought to stop trade agreements that lower wages and ships jobs overseas, while also protecting the rights of employees and unions. She believes that we need to grow our economy by making smart, innovative investments in our infrastructure, which is why she introduced legislation to create a National Infrastructure bank.
Rosa is a leader in fighting to improve and expand federal support for child nutrition and for modernizing our food safety system. She believes that the U.S. should have one agency assigned the responsibility for food safety, rather than the 15 different agencies that lay claim to different parts of our food system. Rosa fights against special interests, like tobacco and e-cigarettes, which seek to skirt our public health and safety rules.
As Chair of the Committee that deals with appropriations for Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education, Rosa is determined to increase support for education and make college more affordable for more American students and their families. She is also fighting to protect the Affordable Care Act so that all Americans have access to affordable care. Rosa strongly believes in the power of biomedical research, and she is working to increase funding so that we can make lifesaving breakthroughs in science and medicine.
Soon after earning degrees from Marymount College and Columbia University, Rosa followed her parent's footsteps into public service, serving as the first Executive Director of EMILY's List, a national organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in elected office; Executive Director of Countdown '87, the national campaign that successfully stopped U.S. military aid to the Nicaraguan Contras; and as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd. In 1990, Rosa was elected to the House of Representatives, and she has served as the Congresswoman from Connecticut's Third Congressional District ever since.
JIM HIMES
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, FOURTH DISTRICT, CONNECTICUT
U.S. Representative Jim Himes represents Connecticut’s Fourth District and is currently serving his fourth term in Congress. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Representative Himes grew up as the child of a single working mother in a small town. As a member of Congress, he works hard to provide all American children the same opportunities he had to succeed: access to a first-rate public education, affordable and effective health care, a decent and safe home, and a supportive community.
Born in Lima, Peru, in 1966 to American parents, Representative Himes spent the early years of his childhood in Peru and Colombia while his father worked for the Ford Foundation and UNICEF. As an American abroad, he grew up fluent in both Spanish and English and was raised with an awareness of the unique position of the United States in the world. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother and sisters to the United States.
Representative Himes graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School and then attended Harvard University. After completing his undergraduate work, he earned a Rhodes Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Oxford University in England. There he continued his studies of Latin America, which included research in El Salvador.
Prior to his service in Congress, Representative Himes ran the New York City branch of the Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of urban poverty. His team led the way in financing the construction of thousands of affordable housing units in the greater New York metropolitan region, often using new green technologies to achieve energy efficiency and reduce utility costs.
Representative Himes' experience at Enterprise spurred his involvement in politics. Putting his expertise in affordable housing to work, he served as a commissioner of the Greenwich Housing Authority, ultimately chairing the board and leading it through a much-needed program of reforms. He went on to become an elected member of his town's finance board, setting tax and budget policy for Greenwich. He has also served as Chair of his local Democratic Town Committee, organizing others in the community to become more active in the political process.
Representative Himes began his professional career at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he worked his way up to vice president over the course of a 12-year career. There he worked extensively in Latin America and headed the bank’s telecommunications technology group.
Representative Himes lives in Greenwich with his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Emma and Linley.
JAHANA HAYES
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, FIFTH DISTRICT, CONNECTICUT
Jahana Hayes is the U.S. Representative for the Fifth Congressional District of Connecticut. The district spans northwest and central Connecticut and includes her Danbury, Litchfield County, the Farmington Valley, the Naugatuck Valley, Meriden, and her hometown of Waterbury.
Representative Hayes was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2018, making her the first African-American woman and the first African-American Democrat to ever represent the state of Connecticut in Congress. Hayes first garnered widespread notoriety while serving as a teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, when she was selected as the Connecticut Teacher of the Year, before going on to earn the distinction of 2016 National Teacher of the Year (NTOY), leading to an invitation to the White House by then President Barack Obama. In her capacity as NTOY, Hayes traveled the country and the world as an ambassador for public education engaging all stakeholders in policy discussions meant to improve outcomes for students.
Congresswoman Hayes’ story is one of achievement despite the odds and overcoming the obstacles that life can place before you. She has been quoted as saying that “education saved her life” and is a fierce advocate for ensuring that equitable access to educational opportunities exists for all students and families. Before running for office, she was an educator for 15 years, teaching history at Kennedy High School in Waterbury.
Congresswoman Hayes strives to bring the same energy, passion, determination, work ethic and empathy that her community has come to know and respect to the halls of Congress. She currently sits on two full House committees: Education and Labor, and Agriculture.
Areas of legislative focus for Congresswoman Hayes are equitable access to quality education, affordable health care for everyone, labor, agriculture, and the environment. Additional priority areas include: immigration reform, gun violence prevention, veterans issues, social justice, transportation, and working in a bipartisan way to bring positive change to the lives of every person in our community.
She is a graduate of Naugatuck Valley Community College, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of Saint Joseph and the University of Bridgeport. Having earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in history and secondary education, a Master’s of Arts in curriculum and instruction, and a degree in administrative leadership.