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Sherrod Brown
Ohio, 13th
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Since voters in Ohio's 13th Congressional District first sent him to Congress in 1992, Sherrod Brown has positioned himself as one of Congress' most respected voices on health care, trade policy, job creation, the environment, and other issues important to his Northeast Ohio district. |
Brown is the Ranking Member on the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. He also serves on the Subcommittees on Energy and Air Quality and Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. Brown's other assignments include the House International Relations Committee and its East Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee.
As the Health Subcommittee's top Democrat, Brown has achieved national acclaim fighting to give Americans access to affordable prescription drugs. He is the lead sponsor of legislation to close legal loopholes used by the brand-name prescription drug companies to prevent price competition. Senior groups in Ohio have honored Brown for sponsoring bus trips to Canada that allow consumers to get prescriptions drugs for up to 80% less than they are sold in the U.S.
A leader on children's health issues, Brown was the chief Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan Children's Health Act of 2000, which established a new Pediatric Research Initiative within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and expanded research projects on autism, birth defects, and other child-related illnesses and diseases. His efforts earned him the "Friend of Children and Children's Hospitals" award from the National Association of Children's Hospitals.
The American Public Health Association, the nation's largest public health organization with 50,000 members, recognized Congressman Brown with its Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Award for 2002.
In addition to these health-related achievements, Brown has fought trade agreements that threaten American jobs, undermine environmental safeguards, and eliminate workplace safety protections. He believes international trade agreements should include protections for workers in America and across the globe, including fair wages, decent working conditions, and the right to unionize. As a fierce critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement, he played a key role in efforts to defeat "fast track" trade negotiating authority in Congress. Brown also spoke against granting China increased trade privileges until its leaders adhere to internationally accepted human rights practices.
A member of the House International Relations Committee, Brown has brought the global tuberculosis threat to the policy forefront. He led a five-year effort that increased funding for international anti-TB programs from zero to the current $75 million. In addition to TB, Brown worked against the pharmaceutical industry's efforts to restrict African countries' access to life-saving prescription drugs for HIV/AIDS. He is also a founding member of Congressional Caucuses for Taiwan and India.
As a long-standing member of the U.S. House and Senate Great Lakes Task Force, Brown has worked to preserve the economic and environmental vitality of Lake Erie and all the Great Lakes. He has led the charge to halt attempts by private companies to buy and sell Great Lakes water. Brown received a 100 percent score in the 107th Congress from the non-partisan League of Conservation Voters.
Born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, Brown achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in Russian studies and later earned master's degrees in education and public administration from Ohio State University. He served two terms as Ohio's Secretary of State and four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Brown is the father of two adult daughters, Emily and Elizabeth. He is the author of Congress from the Inside: Observations from the Majority and the Minority and is currently writing a book about the failure of free trade policies.
Rep. Sherrod Brown's Official Website
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