Congressman Bruce Braley was born in Grinnell, Iowa, in 1957. He grew up in the small rural town of Brooklyn, Iowa, in Poweshiek County and graduated from BGM High School. Bruce married Carolyn Kalb of Dubuque in 1983 and lives with her and their three children-Lisa, David, and Paul-in Waterloo.

Bruce learned the value of hard work from his parents. When Bruce was young, his father was severely injured at the grain elevator where he worked. Because of the accident, Bruce's mother had to drive over twenty-six thousand miles back and forth across Iowa to get her teaching degree so she could go back to work and help pay the bills.

Bruce applied for his first job when he was in third grade and has been working ever since. He has delivered newspapers, baled hay, detassled corn, worked at a grain elevator, and driven dump trucks. To help pay his way through college and law school, Bruce worked as a restaurant server and in highway maintenance, among other jobs. 

Bruce attended the Iowa State University in Ames where he was awarded a B.A. in 1980. Bruce graduated from the University of Iowa School of Law in 1983. 

After law school, Bruce moved to Waterloo, Iowa, and worked as an attorney, holding corporations accountable to their employees and consumers. Bruce has represented employees challenging dangerous company safety standards and has fought for people who lost their jobs due to corporate downsizing.

Bruce has been actively involved in his community for many years, and was honored with the Cedar Valley Mayors' Volunteer Performance Award in 1998 for his service. Bruce has served as the president of the Waterloo Dollars for Scholars program, the President of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa, a board member of the Visiting Nurses Association, and a member of the Iowa Legal Aid board of directors. Bruce and Carolyn were named "Couple of the Year" by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa.

Bruce Braley was elected to the US House of Representatives on November 7th, 2006. Bruce serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure where he is Vice-Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.  Bruce also serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Committee on Small Business.  Bruce is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology. 

 The Des Moines Register said Bruce "sets the standard for what Iowans should expect from their representatives," and the Quad City Times said Braley is "a meticulous student of Congress and extraordinarily responsive to constituents."

On November 4th, 2008, Bruce was reelected to a second term in the House of Representatives.