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Home
| About The Subcommittee
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Subcommittee Chairman Christopher H. Shays:
Christopher Shays is a leader among moderates in the Republican Party. He advocates fiscally conservative and socially moderate views both in Congress and on the national stage, and is a frequent guest on political talk shows, including Larry King Live, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, CNN's Late Edition, Hardball, and Hannity and Colmes.
Referred to as a "wily veteran" by President George W. Bush, Christopher is known as a hard-working advocate for reform, making Congress more accountable and responsive to the people it serves. Christopher's fiscal responsibility consistently wins the highest rankings from the Concord Coalition, National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste.
At the start of the 108th Congress, Christopher was appointed by Speaker Hastert to serve as Vice-Chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he is working to get our economy back on track. On the Financial Services Committee, he is focusing his efforts on restoring faith in our market economy by helping pass corporate accounting and disclosure, bankruptcy and insurance reforms.
Christopher was the driving force behind the Congressional Accountability Act, which requires Congress to live by the laws it sets for the rest of the country. It was the first bill passed by the new Republican Congress in 1995 and signed into law by President Clinton.
A leader of the coalition supporting campaign finance reform, Christopher succeeded with Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA), Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and others to enact a ban on soft money -- unlimited sums from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals -- and a prohibition on campaign ads masquerading as "issue" ads in federal races.
Serving as the U.S. Chairman of the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), Christopher is a nationally recognized environmentalist and has been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club for his strong support of Clean Water and Endangered Species legislation, as well as his aggressive stand in favor of strict new Clean Air regulations. As co-chairman of the Animal Rights Caucus, he continues to be an outspoken advocate for the humane treatment of animals around the world.
Christopher also serves as Vice-Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and as Chairman of its Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. The subcommittee oversees the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs for waste, mismanagement, abuse and fraud. In this role and as co-chairman of the Congressional Non-Proliferation Task Force, Christopher helped lead the effort to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction and prepare our emergency response teams to handle potential terrorist attacks.
Christopher held 22 hearings assessing the terrorist threat prior to September 2001 and has convened more than 40 hearings in all documenting the need for American citizens, the media and our government to take this threat more seriously; develop a strategy to combat it; and reorganize our government to more effectively respond to this threat. As a result of his work, he was appointed by Speaker Hastert to serve on the new Select Committee on Homeland Security at the beginning of the 108th Congress.
Christopher was born in Darien, Connecticut to Peggy and the late Bud Shays in 1945, the youngest of four boys. He was a grade school student, reading about Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln, when he first became excited by the idea of entering public service. After finishing his studies at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, he married his high school sweetheart, Betsi, and the two served together in the Peace Corps in Fiji from 1968 to 1970.
Christopher was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1974, the year the Watergate scandal entered the American consciousness and confidence in our political system was at a low. He was one of only 35 Republicans to win a seat that year to the 151-member State House. As a State Representative, Christopher spoke out against abuses in the state probate system, and was sent to jail by a judge for criticizing corruption in the court system. In 1987, he won a special election to the U.S. Congress after the death of Rep. Stewart McKinney, another independent-minded Republican and advocate for America's cities.
A teacher for 25 years, Betsi returned to the Peace Corps in 1998 where she currently directs the Center for Field Assistance and Applied Research. Christopher and Betsi live in Bridgeport, Connecticut and commute to Washington. Their daughter Jeramy works at the Environmental Law Institute.
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