Click here for a PDF version of this document
Click here for an abbreviated biography (PDF version)

Biography

A Lifetime of Commitment to Nevada

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley has been serving the families of Nevada’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1999 and is currently in her fourth term.

A Las Vegas resident for more than four decades, Shelley has a deep sense of commitment to her community and has never forgotten that when her family headed west seeking a better life, they found it in Nevada.

After completing junior high and high school in Las Vegas, Shelley became the first member of her family to attend college when she enrolled in the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV). Elected as Student Body President her senior year, Shelley graduated from UNLV with honors, earning a B.A. in Political Science in 1972. After obtaining her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1976, Shelley returned to Las Vegas, where she began her professional career.

As a Congresswoman, Shelley has successfully sought appointments that enable her to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Las Vegas Valley. Among her top priorities in Congress are securing more resources for education and transportation needs in Southern Nevada; providing access to affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans; meeting the growing needs of the Las Vegas Valley’s many military veterans; developing clean, alternative energy sources; and fighting the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump.
 

House Committee Assignments

Click on photo for high resolution version

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
• Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs (Ranking Member)
• Committee on International Relations
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
  • Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats

Caucus and Task Force Membership

• Congressional Stop DUI Caucus (co-chair)
• Congressional Gaming Caucus (co-chair)
• Democratic Caucus Tax and Budget Task Force (Chair)
• For a complete list click here

Previous Public Offices

Shelley is a former Vice Chair of the Nevada University and Community College System Board of Regents. Appointed to the Board in 1990 by the Governor, she subsequently served two terms. She completed her second term on the Board in 1998. Throughout her tenure, Shelley worked to keep higher education in Nevada affordable and accessible to all qualified students.

Serving in the Nevada State Assembly from 1982 through 1984, Shelley championed consumer protection for car buyers and mobile home owners, fought for tougher drunk driving laws, and founded the Senior Law Project.

Accomplishment in Industry

Shelley Berkley has held key positions in the private sector during a career that spans nearly a quarter of a century:

Former Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs, Sands Hotel.
Former Chair, Board of the Nevada Hotel and Motel Association.
Past member, Board of Trustees of Sunrise-Columbia Hospital (an unpaid position).
Former In-House counsel for Southwest Gas Corp.
Former Deputy Director, Nevada State Commerce Department.
Member, County, State and National Bar Association.
Former National Director of the American Hotel-Motel Association.
Served as a Delegate to the White House Conference on Tourism.

Personal

Shelley Berkley is the proud mother of two sons: Sam, who is attending UNLV, and Max, a graduate of the University of Arizona. In March of 1999, Shelley married Dr. Lawrence Lehrner a practicing Nephrologist in Las Vegas who has two children of his own: David, putting his graduate degree from Indiana University to use at MGM Mirage, and Stephanie, a family practice physician.