John B. Larson

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John Larson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 6, 1999
Preceded by	Barbara Kennelly
Born	July 22, 1948 ( 1948-07-22) (age 60) Hartford, Connecticut
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Leslie Larson
Residence	East Hartford, Connecticut
Alma mater	Central Connecticut State University
Profession	high school teacher, insurance agent
Religion	Roman Catholic

John Barry Larson (born July 22, 1948), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing Connecticut's 1st congressional district.

[edit] Early life, education and career

Larson was born in Hartford, Connecticut and lived in a public housing project during his childhood. He was educated at East Hartford High School and Central Connecticut State University. He worked as a high school history teacher and an assistant athletics coach at George J. Penney High School (later Penney High merged with East Hartford High School). Larson was also the co-owner of an insurance agency in East Hartford before entering public service. In 1971, he was selected as a Senior Fellow to the Yale University Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy by Head Start founder Edward Zigler.

Larson was first elected to the Board of Education of East Hartford and later served on East Hartford Town Council. Eventually he was elected as a member of the Connecticut Senate from East Hartford in 1982 and became the longest-serving President Pro Tempore, holding this position for 12 years. In 1994, Larson left the state senate and sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut but was defeated by Bill Curry in the primary.

[edit] Congressional career

After being defeated for Governor, Larson entered private business for several years but was able to maintain his political credentials. Due in part to service in the Democratic Party (First District-Connecticut) and his Democratic political connections locally, he won retiring Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly's seat in 1998.

As a member of Congress, Larson currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. On February 1, 2006 he was elected Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, making him the fifth highest ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. In recent Congresses, Larson has also been an advocate for alternative energy and has authored several pieces of legislation pertaining to the issue. He is the founder of the House Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Coalition. Larson was re-elected to a fifth term in Congress in 2006, receiving 74% of the vote against Republican challenger Scott MacLean. After the election, Larson declined to run for chairman of the Democratic Caucus, instead running unopposed for re-election as vice chairman. After being re-elected in 2008, Larson was elected chairman of the Caucus for the 111th Congress, after chairman Rahm Emanuel announced he would become White House Chief of Staff.^[1]

On March 5, 2009, Larson introduced a bill entitled "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States domestic energy supply" in an effort to begin a national tax on carbon dioxide emissions.^[2]

Larson is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Larson married Leslie Best, one of his former students from his high school teaching days at George J. Penney High School. They now have three children and reside in East Hartford.

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
• Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

[edit] Party leadership and caucus memberships

• Democratic Caucus Chairman
• Congressional Shellfish Caucus (Co-Chair)
• House Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Coalition (Co-Chair)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Larson

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

John B. Larson

• Congressman John B. Larson official U.S. House website
• John B. Larson for Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia