Congressman Christopher S. Murphy

U.S. Representative, Fifth District, Connecticut

Congressman Christopher S. Murphy is currently serving his third term representing Connecticut's Fifth District, which includes the towns of Danbury, Meriden, New Britain, and Waterbury. He serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee.  He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform and Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives Subcommittees.  

The Foreign Affairs Committee is the lead body in the House of Representatives on foreign policy and diplomatic engagement around the world.  With oversight over the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development, and the country's role at the United Nations, Murphy will be part of the debate on crucial national security and foreign policy affairs. 

Murphy is also a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and has broad jurisdiction over federal government management.  The committee's high-profile hearings have covered subjects from reconstruction in Iraq, to the state of our economy, to pharmaceutical marketing practices.  Through this committee, Murphy has pushed to make common sense reforms to strengthen our Buy America laws and protect Connecticut's manufacturing firms.

Prior to his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Murphy served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly. He spent four years representing Southington and the 81st district in the House, and then spent four years representing the 16th Senatorial District, which includes the towns of Waterbury, Wolcott, Cheshire and Southington. While in the Senate, he served as the Chairman of the Public Health Committee.

As Chairman of the Public Health Committee, Congressman Murphy was the General Assembly's leader on health care issues. In 2003, during his first year as Chairman, he led the passage of Connecticut's landmark workplace smoking ban. That year, he also authored legislation that prohibits hospitals from engaging in overly aggressive collection practices against uninsured patients and a law establishing new government powers to be utilized during a bioterrorism attack.

In 2005, Congressman Murphy authored and passed Connecticut's historic Stem Cell Investment Act, a bill that he had introduced in the previous year. The legislation, which invested $100 million over ten years into embryonic and adult stem cell research, became the nation's first law directing state funding to life-saving stem cell research.

Congressman Murphy is also a leader on children's rights issues. In the State Senate, he authored legislation establishing the new Office of Child Protection, and as Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Judicial and Corrections, he championed efforts to reform the state's juvenile justice system.

Congressman Murphy grew up in Connecticut, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with honors and a double major in history and political science. In 2002, he graduated from UConn Law School in Hartford, Connecticut. He practiced real estate and banking law from 2002-2006 with the firm of Ruben, Johnson & Morgan in Hartford.

On August 18, 2007, Congressman Murphy married Cathy Holahan, a legal aid attorney who represents children in need in New Britain and Waterbury. Chris, Cathy, and their sons Owen and Rider reside in Cheshire.

Congressman Chris Murphy's official photo