Robert P. Casey Jr.

As a new U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey is focused on changing the direction in Washington and on Pennsylvania priorities. He is also committed to moving past the partisan bickering in Washington to find common ground and solutions to problems that face the nation and the Commonwealth.

Bob Casey knows that we face many challenges including expanding access to health care, preparing our children for the 21st Century, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, preserving our environment, as well as protecting Americans at home and our interests abroad.

In his short time in the U.S. Senate, Bob Casey has already made a difference on one of his top priorities: increasing access to health insurance for children.

He has joined with Senate leaders to rally support behind legislation to expand and improve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program that covers over 150,000 children in Pennsylvania. Senator Casey helped to pass legislation recognizing that addressing children’s health insurance is one of the top priorities for the U.S. Senate this year.

This issue is not only one that is close to Senator Casey’s heart, it also runs in the family. The late Governor Robert P. Casey signed into law the children’s health insurance program on which the federal law is modeled.

To help ensure that children enter the classroom ready to learn, Senator Casey authored the Prepare All Kids Act to expand access to early childhood education.

Casey serves on five Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Joint Economic Committee.

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Senator Casey has been at the center of the debate on changing the U.S. policy in Iraq. In the course of over a dozen committee hearings and floor debate, Senator Casey never forgets the more than 180 Pennsylvanians who have been killed in Iraq.

Senator Casey also serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee at an important time for Pennsylvania. As the Senate formulates the farm bill that will guide U.S. farm policy for the next five years, Senator Casey has a seat at the table that is writing this legislation that will have a profound effect on the largest industry in Pennsylvania.

In eight years as Pennsylvania Auditor General and two years as State Treasurer, Bob Casey compiled a record that focused on making government more accountable and responsive to the needs of Pennsylvanians. He has been a fiscal watchdog who made nursing homes safer, child care more affordable and government more accountable. He led the fight to reform Megan's Law to better protect Pennsylvania communities and children.

As Auditor General - the Commonwealth's independently elected fiscal watchdog - Casey aggressively fought to stop waste and fraud involving tax dollars and improve the effectiveness of government services and agencies. His efforts directly resulted in changes that saved Pennsylvania taxpayers more than $1 billion.

Official returns from the November 7th, 2006 election show that Bob Casey had 2,392,984 votes or 58.7% of the vote. His 708,206 vote margin of victory is the second highest ever against an incumbent Senator in all U.S. Senate elections since 1920.

Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, 48, graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in 1982 and spent the following year teaching fifth grade and coaching eighth grade basketball in inner city Philadelphia for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He received his law degree from Catholic University in 1988 and entered the practice of law in Scranton.

Casey and his wife, Terese, were married in 1985 and live in Scranton with their four daughters: Elyse, Caroline, Julia and Marena. Casey is the eldest son of the late Governor Robert P. Casey and his wife, Ellen. Throughout his public career, Bob Casey has been guided by the legacy of his father, and the principle that: "All public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted in honor."