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Public service has always been at the center of Steny Hoyer's professional life. He won a seat in the Maryland Senate at the age of 27; at 35, he was elected the youngest Senate President in Maryland’s history.

Congressman Hoyer is recognized as an effective leader by Members on both sides of the aisle. He is the former Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and is widely regarded as a champion on human and civil rights. He is perhaps best known for guiding the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) to passage in 1990. He also served as the lead House sponsor of historic Federal election reform (the "Help America Vote Act"), which President Bush signed into law on October 29, 2002. In the 111th Congress, Congressman Hoyer’s skill at consensus-building has helped the House pass important legislation to strengthen our economy and bring health coverage to an additional 4 million low-income children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. He has also been one of Congress’s leading voices for fiscal responsibility.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland is charged with managing the House Floor as well as scheduling legislation to be considered on the Floor. He plays a key role in helping House Democrats determine their legislative agenda and political strategy and delivering the Democratic message both in Washington and nationally.

Congressman Hoyer was elected House Majority Leader by his Democratic colleagues in 2006, and re-elected in 2008. His service as Majority Leader makes him history’s highest-ranking Member of Congress from Maryland. Now serving his 15th term in Congress representing the Fifth Congressional District of Maryland, he is also the longest-serving Member of the U.S. House of Representatives in state history. Before his election as Majority Leader, he served as Chairman of the Democratic Caucus from 1989 to 1994 and as the Democratic Whip from 2003 to 2006.

He and his wife, the late Judith Pickett Hoyer, have three daughters, Susan, Stefany and Anne; son-in-law Loren Taylor; grandchildren Judy, James Cleveland, and Alexa; and one great-granddaughter, Ava.