Meet the Chairman
On January 3, 2021, Frank Pallone, Jr. was sworn in for his 17th full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pallone represents New Jersey's 6th Congressional District, which covers most of Middlesex County, as well as the Bayshore and oceanfront areas of Monmouth County.
Pallone is the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has one of the broadest jurisdictions of any congressional committee. He has served as Chairman since the beginning of the 116th Congress in 2019 and before that he served as the Committee’s Ranking Member in the 114th and 115th Congresses. The Committee’s jurisdiction includes issues pertaining to health care, energy, environment, commerce, food and drug safety, consumer protection, and communications technology. Pallone has held a seat on the Committee since 1993.
During the 116th Congress, as the nation confronted the unprecedented public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting severe economic downturn, Pallone played a pivotal role in ensuring Congress provided the tools and resources needed to bring an end to this terrible pandemic. He helped shepherd four bills through the House to combat the coronavirus that became law. They included the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, and an omnibus appropriations and COVID-19 relief package.
Pallone led the bipartisan effort to end surprise medical bills by holding patients harmless when they receive a surprise bill from an out-of-network health care provider. He also authored the new bipartisan laws that will reduce and block robocalls and protect Americans from suspect foreign communications network equipment.
Pallone also successfully pushed through the Committee and House critical legislation that was signed into law that will help combat climate change by phasing down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, mandating the repair of methane leaks, and furthering the march toward a clean energy future.
During the 115th Congress, as Ranking Member, Pallone was one of the key leaders in the successful fight to prevent Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Pallone also led Democratic efforts to pass bipartisan legislation that expanded treatment for people fighting opioid use disorder and to reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in 20 years.
In his first term as Ranking Member during the 114th Congress, Pallone led Democrats in passing key health care and environmental bills that were signed into law by President Obama, including the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, and the 21st Century Cures Act.
Prior to serving as the Ranking Member of the full Committee, Pallone served as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Health from 2007 to 2014. As Chairman of the Health Subcommittee during the 111th Congress, Pallone played a key role in authoring and passing the ACA. The landmark law extends health care coverage to millions of Americans, while driving down health care costs, and reining in abusive tactics used by insurance companies to deny medical treatment.
Pallone was born and raised in Long Branch, New Jersey, where he still resides. He is a graduate of Middlebury College, holds a master's degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and earned his law degree at Rutgers University. Pallone married his wife Sarah in 1992. They have three children: Rose, Frank, and Celeste.