Biography

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Born and raised in Southampton, New York, Congressman Tim Bishop is among the twelfth generation of Bishops to live in Southampton. He served Southampton College for twenty-nine years, leaving the position of Provost in 2002 to make his first-ever run for office, when he was elected to represent New York's first congressional district in one of the closest elections in the nation. In 2006, he was re-elected for a second time, winning with more than 62 percent of the vote.

Now in his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Bishop's priorities are fighting for middle class families and seniors, strengthening education, keeping our promises to veterans, securing the homeland, safeguarding our environment, and making sure that eastern Long island receives its fair share of support from the federal government.

Congressman Bishop has established a strong reputation as a leader for lower gas prices and new energy solutions. He sponsored a bill to repeal $6 billion worth of tax breaks and subsidies for big oil companies in order to create an Emerging Technologies Trust Fund for developing and expanding the use of less expensive and alternative energy sources.

Congressman Bishop currently serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he is working to reduce traffic congestion on Eastern Long Island, preserve environmental resources and improve aviation safety. He also serves on the Education and the Labor Committee, where he is continuing his lifelong mission to expand opportunities for Long Island's working families and increase the affordability of education for all Americans as well as the Budget Committee, where he works to help restore fiscal discipline and set priorities.

While Congressman Bishop leads on national policy initiatives, he is also a proven champion for local interests. He has hosted more than one hundred Town Hall meetings throughout eastern Long Island and brought home more than $100 million in federal support, including over $50 million for new roads, bridges and other local transportation priorities.

Congressman Bishop led the bipartisan coalition of elected officials and community advocates that saved the 106th Air Rescue Wing located at Gabreski Airport from being shut down by the Pentagon’s base closure commission. He also successfully led the opposition to a plan that would have dumped more than twenty million cubic yards of contaminated dredge waste in the Long Island Sound.

Bishop’s career at Southampton College began in 1973 as an admissions counselor, and he ascended rapidly through the college’s administration. During his twenty-nine years at the college, he served in positions affecting almost every aspect of student life, ranging from institutional research and planning, financial aid and enrollment services, to student activities, personnel, community relations, and fundraising.

Born on June 1, 1950, Bishop attended Sacred Heart's School in Southampton and graduated from Southampton High School in 1968. He earned an AB in History from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Long Island University in 1981.

He and his wife Kathryn, founder and director of The Children's School Early Childhood program at Southampton College, have two daughters, Molly and Meghan.