Biography of Rep. Sherwood Boehlert

Utica native Sherwood Boehlert (R-New Hartford), Chairman of the House Science Committee, was first elected to the House of Representatives in November 1982. He is currently serving in his 12th consecutive term representing Upstate New York.

Boehlert has served on the Science Committee since 1983, and was elected Chairman in January 2001. The Committee has jurisdiction over all federal nonmilitary scientific and technology research and development programs, on which the federal government spends more than $30 billion a year. The Committee has jurisdiction over NASA, the National Science Foundation, and research and development initiatives within the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Commerce. In addition, the Committee has jurisdiction over civil aviation research and development and marine research.

Boehlert is a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, serving as Chairman of its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment from 1995 to 2000. He remains an active member of that Subcommittee.

Boehlert was a founding member of the House Homeland Security Committee, by appointment of Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. Boehlert was also an eight year member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (term limited).

Born on September 28, 1936 in Utica, New York, Boehlert is a graduate of Whitesboro Central High School and Utica College (Bachelor of Science, 1961). Before serving as Oneida County Executive (1979-83), he was manager of public relations at Wyandotte Chemical (1961-64) and served two years in the U.S. Army (1956-58).

Boehlert served as chief of staff for two area Congressmen, Alexander Pirnie (1964-72) and Donald Mitchell (1973-79), where he became intimately familiar with the people, places and issues of Upstate New York.

An avid New York Yankees fan and movie buff, Boehlert and his wife, Marianne (Willey) Boehlert, make their home in New Hartford, New York. They have four grown children and five grandchildren. When Congress is not in session, he returns to Central New York each weekend to stay in touch with the people who elected him to represent them in Washington.

The 24th Congressional District includes all or parts of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Oneida, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins, and Seneca counties.

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