Shelley Berkley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Shelley Berkley
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1999 |
|
| Preceded by | John Ensign |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Born | January 20, 1951 New York City, New York |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Larry Lehrner |
| Residence | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of San Diego |
| Profession | attorney |
| Religion | Jewish |
Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley (born Rochelle Levine January 20, 1951) is a politician from Las Vegas, and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the First Congressional District of Nevada, which includes most of the city of Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip. She is the first Jewish woman and second member of the Jewish faith elected to Congress from Nevada, the other being "Chic" Hecht. She is also the second woman elected to Congress from Nevada, and the first elected as a Democrat.
Born in New York City, Berkley moved with her family to Nevada when she was a junior high school student. She attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a degree in political science and served as the UNLV Student Body President. She then entered the University of San Diego School of Law, graduating with a degree in Law. Berkley practiced law for several years, mainly as a member of the legal counsel for several Las Vegas casinos. She also served as the national director for the American Hotel-Motel Association. She served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was involved in civic affairs locally. While in the state legislature, she advocated consumer safety laws, campaigned against drunken driving, and founded the Senior Law Project. Berkley was also appointed vice chair of the Nevada University System Board of Regents, serving at the position from 1990 to 1998.
Her mother is of Greek Jewish descent.
Elected to the House in 1998, she serves in the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, and Ways and Means. As a representative, Berkley views her top priorities as to fight for affordable health care coverage for all Americans, veteran's rights, and alternative energy. She is also strongly opposed to the building of a nuclear waste dump in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The Sunlight Foundation pointed out that among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Berkley has the 12th-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.[1] She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.
Berkley is known as one of the supporters of the drive to regulate online gambling. She was one of the few congressional members to stand up against Bill Frist's addition of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, to the unrelated SAFE Port Act.
On October 10, 2002, Shelley Berkley was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
On September 29, 2008, Shelley Berkley was among the 95 House Democrats who voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
According to the Haaretz correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya, in its online edition of 3/5/09; "Berkley, a Jewish politician well-known for her support of Israel, backed the Israeli operation in Gaza during December and January, and even told Haaretz that Israel may have been too tolerant."[2]
Contents |
[edit] Committee assignments
[edit] Caucus memberships
- After-school Caucus
- Bipartisan, Bicameral Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease
- Center Aisle Caucus
- Coalition on Autism Research and Education
- Congressional Arts Caucus
- Congressional Automotive Caucus
- Congressional Automotive Performance and Motor-sports Caucus
- Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues
- Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
- Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues
- Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
- Congressional Caucus on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Americans
- Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine
- Congressional Climate Change Caucus
- Congressional Fitness Caucus
- Congressional Friends of Canada Caucus
- Congressional Gaming Caucus (co-chair)
- Congressional Human Rights Caucus
- Congressional Humanities Caucus
- Congressional Intelligent Transportation Systems Caucus
- Congressional Kidney Caucus
- Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus
- Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus
- Congressional Osteoporosis Caucus (co-chair)
- Congressional Pakistan Caucus
- Congressional Recycling Caucus
- Congressional Spina Bifida Caucus
- Congressional Stop DUI Caucus (co-chair)
- Congressional Taiwan Caucus (co-chair)
- Congressional Taskforce Against Anti-Semitism
- Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
- Congressional United Kingdom Caucus
- Congressional Waterways Caucus
- Congressional Zoo and Aquarium Caucus
- Democratic Israel Working Group
- Friends of Kazakhstan Caucus (co-chair)
- Future of American Media Caucus
- General Aviation Caucus
- House Veterans' Mental Health Caucus
- Iran Working Group
- Law Enforcement Caucus
- LGBT Equality Caucus
- National Landscape Conservation System Caucus
- New Democrat Coalition
- Nuclear Issues Working Group
- Public Broadcasting Caucus
- Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
- US-China Working Group
[edit] References
- ^ "The Sunlight Foundation Blog - Oil Industry Influence: Personal Finances'". Sunlight Foundation. August 8, 2008. http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2008/08/08/oil-industry-influence-personal-finances/. Retrieved on Aug. 8, 2008
- ^ Mozgovaya, Natasha. "Proposal in Congress: No Gilad Shalit, no Gaza aid". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1068953.html.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley, U.S. House site
- Shelley Berkley for Congress, official campaign site
- 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
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
- Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- Kira Wissman, Internet Gambling Bill Would Not Prohibit Online Poker Says Congresswoman gambling911.com, October 9, 2006
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Ensign |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's 1st congressional district 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
