About Ellen Tauscher

Ellen's Biography

Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1996. She represents California’s 10th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Contra Costa, Alameda, Solano and Sacramento Counties. She is a leader on defense, high-tech, childcare, transportation and veterans’ issues and is one of Congress’ leading experts on nuclear nonproliferation. Her moderate, bi-partisan, independent brand of leadership, termed “Tauscherism” by Time Magazine, has helped her make her mark in the district and in Washington, DC.

The senior Member of Congress from the Bay Area on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congresswoman Tauscher is working to revitalize the region’s infrastructure. She holds a seat on the important Highways and Transit Subcommittee, which determines the nation’s transportation priorities by authorizing federal contributions for transportation projects across the country. Congresswoman Tauscher secured a landmark $84 million in federal money for specific transit projects in her district and the Bay Area region. She is also an active member of the Aviation Subcommittee, on which she helped write the sweeping aviation security legislation in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The 10th Congressional District is the only district in the nation that is home to two national defense laboratories, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia California labs; it is also home to Travis Air Force Base. She sits on the House Armed Services Committee and she is one of the leaders in Congress working to improve America’s homeland security and reforming the federal bureaucracy to better deal with the threat of terrorism.

Congresswoman Tauscher is an advocate for working families and businesses and has played a key role in many of the New Democrats’ signature legislative initiatives. She wrote the Democrats’ comprehensive bill to guarantee America’s working families safe, affordable and accessible childcare. Congresswoman Tauscher introduced the State Infrastructure Banks for Schools Act to rebuild our old and overcrowded schools. As the co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Entitlement Reform Task Force, she took part in the White House Conference on saving Social Security. She was also appointed by her peers to co-chair the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Campaign Finance Reform.

Congresswoman Tauscher serves as National Vice-Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, an organization that is widely regarded as the intellectual center of the Democratic Party. Additionally, Congresswoman Tauscher has served on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and chaired the group’s Democratic Business Forum.

Before her election to Congress, Congresswoman 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 assist parents and child care centers in verifying the background of child care workers. Congresswoman Tauscher also published The ChildCare Sourcebook, to help working parents make informed decisions about their own childcare needs.

Congresswoman Tauscher was born in East Newark, NJ on November 15, 1951. The first member of her family to attend college, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from Seton Hall University in 1974. Congresswoman Tauscher has one daughter, Katherine, age 11.