Biography

Now in his second term in the United States Senate, Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman has earned a national reputation as a thoughtful, effective legislator. He is a Democrat who speaks his conscience and works for the people of Connecticut.

Lieberman connects with the concerns of a broad cross-section of the American people, which has won him respect and admiration in the Senate. He works for parents and their kids. He is pro-business. He’s strong on defense. He works for the consumer and for a better environment for present and future generations.

In 1988, Lieberman won the biggest upset victory in the country by just 10,000 votes. Six years later, he made history by winning the biggest landslide victory ever in a Connecticut race for a U.S. Senate seat, with a margin of more than 350,000 votes – or 67 percent of the vote.

In endorsing his reelection in 1994, The New York Times wrote, “Congress would be a better place if more of his veteran colleagues were as good. In only one term he has influenced the course of Federal legislation for the benefit of Connecticut and the nation.”

Since then, Lieberman has received praise from an increasingly wide range of observers. The Day of New London wrote, “Senator Lieberman has elevated the debate beyond partisan interests.” The New York Post described him as “respected as a true man of integrity by Republicans and Democrats alike.” And The Almanac of American Politics 1998 began its profile this way: “Joseph Lieberman in a decade in the Senate has exerted influence out of proportion to his seniority, committee position or political clout, an influence that came from respect for his independence of mind, civility of spirit and fidelity to causes in which he believes.”

Lieberman’s accomplishments include:

Defense and foreign affairs

	ensuring a strong national defense;
	promoting freedom throughout the world in places like Bosnia, China, Cuba and Eastern Europe;
	co-authoring the Gulf War Resolution;Education
	expanding loans for small business and college students;
	backing tuition tax credits for college students and life-long learning assistance for older adults;Environment
	strengthening Clean Air standards;
	creating Connecticut’s first national park at Weir Farm;
	establishing and retaining a Long Island Sound office in the Environmental Protection Agency;
	promoting a national wildlife refuge along the Connecticut River and a “wild and scenic”status for the Farmington River;Government reform
	strongly calling for campaign finance reform;
	exposing government waste, such as the federal contracts that paid 67 cents a page for photocopying services and $69 an hour for security guards, and the highway noise barrier projects that were built along stretches of road where no residents lived to hear the noise.
	winning passage of the Congressional Accountability Act, which makes Congress live by the same laws it applies to the nation;Quality of Life
	strengthening the Crime Bill;
	fighting for federal enterprise zones to rebuild America’s cities through the local economy;
	helping improve the Welfare reform bill with provisions to assist teenage mothers, discourage out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and help states that move Welfare recipients into self-supporting jobs.
	targeting lead poisoning, Lyme disease and indoor air pollution;Values
	pushing the video game industry to create a rating system so parents can protect their children from violent games;
	authoring the V-Chip law, which offers parents guidance and control of television viewing by their young children.

Today, Lieberman is searching for more ways to cut middle class taxes, reform product liability laws, expand educational opportunities through charter schools and school choice, and with new legislation – The Federal Health Care Quality, Consumer Information and Protection Act (S. 795) – to improve the quality of health care.

Lieberman has cut through government red tape for tens of thousands of constituents. He enjoys staying in touch with the people of Connecticut, and has become known for his regular and popular diner stop visits across the state to get a taste of diners’ views along with a cup of coffee.

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut on February 24, 1942 and attended public schools there. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yale College in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967.

Lieberman was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970 and served there for 10 years, including the last 6 as Majority Leader. From 1982 to 1988, he served as Connecticut’s 21st Attorney General. He is the author of five books: The Power Broker(1966), a biography of the late Democratic Party chairman, John M. Bailey; The Scorpion and the Tarantula (1970), a study of early efforts to control nuclear proliferation; The Legacy (1981), a history of Connecticut politics from 1930-1980,Child Support in America (1986), a guidebook on methods to increase the collection of child support from delinquent fathers, and his latest book, In Praise of Public Life (2000).

In the U.S. Senate, Lieberman became the Ranking Democratic Member of the Governmental Affairs Committee in January 1999. He is a member of the powerful Armed Services Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Small Business Committee. Since 1995, he has been Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.

Lieberman lives in New Haven with his wife Hadassah. They are the parents of four children: Matthew, Rebecca, Ethan and Hana as well as two grandchildren, Tennessee and Willie.

“Lieberman’s real contribution goes beyond bringing home the bacon: It is in helping to build a more decent society in and out of Connecticut.” -Paul Green, Manchester Journal Inquirer

“Sen. Joe Lieberman is an embodiment and an apostle of a Democratic philosophy that incorporates market-oriented thinking of the Reagan revolution and a muscular defense and foreign policy.” – columnist David Broder.

“Strong on defense and tough on crime…a strong environmentalist and consumerist…Lieberman is quality goods.” – columnist Ben Wattenberg.

“Lieberman ranks among the Senate’s best.” — The New Republic