Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher represents California's 10th Congressional district and San Francisco's East Bay suburbs of Contra Costa and Alameda counties. She is a leader on high-tech, childcare, veterans, transportation, and military personnel issues and is one of Congress' leading experts on nuclear nonproliferation. As a New Democrat and Blue Dog, her fiscally responsible, bipartisan, independent brand of leadership was coined "Tauscherism" by Time magazine.
Tauscher is an advocate for working families and businesses and has played a key role in many of the New Democrats' signature programs. She wrote the Democrats' comprehensive bill to guarantee America's working families safe, affordable, and accessible childcare. She introduced the State Infrastructure Banks for Schools Act to provide innovative approaches to rebuild our nation's aging schools and libraries. As the co-chairwoman of the New Democrat Coalition's Entitlement Reform Task Force, she participated in the White House Conference on Saving Social Security. And she was appointed by her peers to co-lead the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Campaign Finance Reform.
Tauscher is the only member of Congress to have two national defense laboratories - Lawrence Livermore and Sandia, Calif. - in her district. She sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the Military Procurement and Military Personnel subcommittees. Additionally, Tauscher is the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee panel that oversees the development and implementation of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which Congress created last year to manage America?s nuclear weapons program in light of ongoing security and management concerns.
In her four years in Congress, Tauscher has secured over $2 billion for Bay Area transportation improvements and won a landmark $33 million in federal money for projects in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The senior Bay Area representative on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Tauscher is working to revitalize the region's infrastructure and launched a sweeping six point plan last year. She holds a seat on the important Highways and Transit Subcommittee, which determines the nation's transportation needs by authorizing federal contributions for transportation and transit projects across the country. She is also an active member of the Aviation Subcommittee.
A member of the House Democratic Caucus leadership team, Tauscher was recently named national vice chairwoman of the Democratic Leadership Council, an organization that is widely regarded as the intellectual center of the Democratic Party. She is a past finance chairwoman of the New Democrat Network. Additionally, Tauscher has served on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since her first term in office and leads the group?s Democratic Business Forum.
Before coming to Capitol Hill, Tauscher worked in the private sector for 20 years, 14 of which were on Wall Street. At age 25, she became one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She later served as an officer of the American Stock Exchange. After moving to California in 1989, she founded the ChildCare Registry - the first national research service to help parents verify the background of childcare workers - when she was having trouble finding quality, affordable childcare for her daughter. She also published The ChildCare Sourcebook to help working parents make informed decisions about their own childcare needs.
Tauscher was the first person in her family to attend college and earned a degree in early childhood education from Seton Hall University. Born in Newark, N.J., Tauscher lives in Alamo, Calif., with her daughter, Katherine.