Chairman Jay Rockefeller
As Chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller has embraced a broad agenda that includes protecting consumers, improving the economy, heightening the nation’s security, building technology infrastructure and promoting transformative research. Under his leadership since 2009, the committee has taken on strong new oversight and investigative responsibilities, launching aggressive inquiries into the health insurance industry, federal contractors, and e-commerce.
As a longtime advocate of accessible and quality healthcare, Rockefeller is recognized as one of the strongest champions for health care reform. He has an extensive and distinguished career of fighting to reduce the number of uninsured children and working families, protecting and improving seniors' and veterans' health care, and fighting for the promised health benefits of retired coal miners and steelworkers.
To diversify and expand economic opportunities,Rockefeller has played an instrumental role in attracting new investment and jobs to West Virginia. In addition to bringing a Toyota manufacturing plant to Buffalo, Rockefeller has recruited numerous national and international companies to the Mountain State, resulting in thousands of new jobs. At the same time, Rockefeller maintains a strong focus on strengthening core industries such as steel, coal and chemicals by fighting for fair trade policies and targeted tax relief. He is also working on policies that will allow for energy independence by drawing on West Virginia's natural resources to produce clean and reliable fuels.
As part of Senator Rockefeller's effort to strengthen the lives of children and families, he has coauthored legislation to improve educational opportunities for students, promote stability through adoptions and foster care, increase minimum wage for employees, reduce violence and obscenity on television, and help every school and library connect to the Internet. He has also supported numerous targeted tax cuts for working families such as the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, and he supported eliminating the marriage penalty.
Rockefeller is also known for his strong national security credentials, support for our nation's soldiers and veterans, and oversight of the country's intelligence programs. He has been critical of the nation's mismanagement of the Iraq war, and continues to press the United States to refocus its mission and resources on al Qaida and global terrorism.
In addition to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Rockefeller is also Chairman of the Health Care Subcommittee on Finance. Rockefeller also serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence where he served as Chairman from 2007-2009 and Vice Chairman from 2003-2007, and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Senator Jay Rockefeller has proudly served the people of West Virginia for over 40 years. Rockefeller first came to West Virginia in 1964 as a 27-year-old VISTA volunteer serving in the small mining community of Emmons. Many of the lessons that Rockefeller learned in Emmons have shaped his public service career and led to his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of West Virginians and all Americans.
Ranking Member John Thune
John Thune grew up in Murdo, South Dakota. His interest in politics was sparked at a young age after making five of six free throws during a freshman high school basketball game. He was later greeted by a spectator who said, “I noticed you missed one.” That spectator happened to be well-known sports enthusiast and South Dakota U.S. Representative Jim Abdnor. The introduction was the start of a friendship that ignited John’s career in public service.
John received his undergraduate degree at Biola University and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota. Upon completion of his Master’s Degree in 1984, he married Kimberley Weems, a native of Doland, South Dakota.
John’s attraction to public service took him to Washington, D.C. to work for that sports enthusiast and then-U.S. Senator Jim Abdnor. He then served at the Small Business Administration under an appointment from President Ronald Reagan.
In 1989, John and his family returned to South Dakota, where he served as the Executive Director of the South Dakota Republican Party. In 1991, Governor George S. Mickelson appointed him the State Railroad Director, a position he held until 1993, when he became Executive Director of the South Dakota Municipal League.
In 1996, with a shoestring budget and the support of family and friends, John won his first term as South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. John was reelected to a second term by the largest margin in South Dakota history. He returned again to Washington in 2001 to serve his third term in the House.
John then honored his 1996 campaign pledge to serve only three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After a narrow loss in a U.S. Senate race in 2002, he won his current U.S. Senate seat in 2004, when he made history by defeating a sitting U.S. Senate party leader for the first time in 52 years.
In 2010, John was elected to serve a second term in the U.S. Senate in a rare unopposed race. He was only the third Republican and the only South Dakotan to run unopposed for the U.S. Senate since direct elections were created in 1913.
For the 113th Congress, Senator Thune serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee. Thune, who is the senior most Republican on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, serves as Ranking Member. Thune also served in Republican leadership as Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009 – 2011 and now serves as the Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number three position in Senate Republican leadership.
John and his wife Kimberley live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and have two grown daughters, Brittany and Larissa. In his free time, John enjoys spending time with his family, pheasant hunting, and running.
