Chairman
Jon Tester
 

Senator Jon Tester is a third-generation farmer who grew up near the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in north-central Montana.  Jon and his wife Sharla still farm the same land that was first farmed by Jon’s grandparents in 1912.

Jon’s parents believed public education and family agriculture are the cornerstones of democracy—and those values had a tremendous role in shaping Jon’s leadership.

After earning a degree in music from the College of Great Falls, Jon took over the Tester farm in 1978.  He also taught music and eventually was elected to the Big Sandy School Board. 

Jon was elected to the Montana Senate in 1998. In 2005, Jon’s colleagues chose him to serve as Montana Senate President.  The people of Montana elected Jon to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and again in 2012.

Jon believes in holding himself accountable to the highest standards possible, and he has improved transparency at all levels of government.  Jon was the first senator to post his daily public schedule online and was recently named the most transparent Senator by a top government watchdog organization. 

In the U.S. Senate, Jon is an outspoken voice for rural America and for American Indians.  He was a cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, which included the Safety for Indian Women Act, and he voted for the Affordable Care Act, which permanently reauthorized the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. 

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Jon meets with all of Montana's tribal nations  each year to meet with the tribal councils, tour schools, businesses, and health centers.

In addition to the Committee on Indian Affairs, Jon serves on the Veterans’ Affairs, Homeland Security, Banking, and Appropriations Committees.