Serving in his 10th term in Congress, Congressman Rob Andrews is a leading voice in the nation for fiscal restraint, education and national defense and is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP). He represents the residents of the First Congressional District of New Jersey, which is comprised of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties.
The Philadelphia Inquirer said that Congressman Andrews "is properly focused on fixing the looming fiscal disaster in Washington."
The New York Times has characterized Congressman Andrews as "fiscally conservative...and socially moderate."
In Washington, the Congressman has a reputation as a savvy legislator. He has authored two laws creating the Income Contingent Repayment Plan and Direct Student Loans, making higher education more affordable for millions of students since 1993. Rep. Andrews also wrote laws to lower mortgage costs for rural families, to protect the child visitation rights of grandparents, to provide health and pension benefits for employees of religious organizations, cut administrative costs for small businesses and to move more people from welfare to work.
Back home in New Jersey, the Congressman is a leading voice for ethics reform at all levels of government. He is also known for his attention to constituent service. He meets with thousands of constituents each year and has aided over 100,000 constituents since he took office. The Congressman was also instrumental in stopping a plan to dump VX nerve agent byproduct in the Delaware River, which would have seriously endangered the health and well-being of New Jersey’s residents and environment.
Congressman Andrews has worked to secure federal defense funding to help create over 540 new high tech jobs in Camden and protect 4,700 good jobs at Lockheed Martin. He has worked with local fire departments to bring back over $3 million in funding to purchase new equipment and aid in training those who work to keep the region safe. He has worked with local leaders to obtain federal funding to extend the hours of operation of the Veteran's Health Clinic in Turnersville so it is open to serve the region's veterans five full days a week.
Rep. Andrews has served for his entire Congressional career on the Education and Labor Committee. As the Chairman of the HELP Subcommittee, he has responsibility for the health insurance, pension and labor laws of the nation. He has also been appointed to the House Budget Committee, which has the responsibility to ensure fiscal responsibility in the federal budget.
Rep. Andrews also serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He is a member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which provides high level Congressional oversight on national security issues, and is responsible for investigating the serious mistakes made in Iraq.
Congressman Andrews is the son and grandson of shipyard workers and was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated summa cum laude from Bucknell University, where he also was Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Cornell University, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Cornell Law Review. Before coming to Congress, he was an attorney and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers University School of Law. He also served as freeholder director of Camden County, the highest elected office in county government.
Congressman Rob Andrews is 50 years old and is married to Camille Spinello Andrews, Member of the faculty at Rutgers School of Law in Camden and Managing Director at Context Capital Partners. The Andrews have two daughters, Jackie, 15, and Josie, 13.
The Andrews family lives in Haddon Heights. He does not keep an apartment in Washington, D.C. but instead commutes each day by train to be closer to his family and constituents.
