LEGISLATOR US Representative LEONARD LANCE (R-NJ-07) IN OFFICE CONTACT Up for re-election in 2016 Email Contact Form http://lance.house.gov/ 4th Term contact Re-elected in 2014 Web lance.house.gov http://lance.house.gov Twitter @RepLanceNJ7 https://twitter.com/ RepLanceNJ7 Facebook View on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ CongressmanLance? v=wall&ref=ts DC Office 2352 Rayburn House Office Building BGOV BIOGRAPHY By Greg Giroux Leonard Lance, a wonky legislator with a formal demeanor, refers to himself as an “Eisenhower Republican” and as a “strongly conservative fiscal Republican.” His bipartisan impulses and moderate views on social policy have drawn criticism from more conservative Tea Party activists and he has had to fend off primary challengers. In the 114th Congress, Lance serves as New Jersey’s only member of the Energy and Commerce Committee -- he calls it the most important committee in the House because of its wide jurisdiction. On that panel he’s pushed for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and opposed the Federal Communications Commission’s net-neutrality rules, which prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or slowing online traffic or offering faster service in return for payment. The FCC’s plan is the “most dramatic government intervention in the Internet in two decades,” Lance said in February 2015. Along with New York Democrat Grace Meng and Texas Republican Joe Barton, a former Energy and Commerce chairman, Lance has promoted legislation to strengthen a prohibition against “caller ID spoofing” by entities that knowingly transit false caller identification information. The House passed their bill in September 2014, though the Senate didn’t act on it. The trio introduced the bill again in June 2015. Energy and Commerce’s jurisdiction also includes health care, and Lance would replace President Barack Obama’s 2010 insurance law with a system that would expand health savings accounts, permit insurance to be sold across state lines, and change medical practice laws. His other priorities for the 114th Congress included addressing the cost of a college education. Lance moved over to Energy and Commerce in 2011 after serving on the Financial Services Committee in his first term (2009-2010). During that term he voted against the Dodd-Frank financial industry regulatory overhaul and fostered a reputation for railing against a misuse of taxpayer bailouts. He would provide more relief for community banks, which © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved reputation for railing against a misuse of taxpayer bailouts. He would provide more relief for community banks, which Lance says are being unfairly punished under Dodd-Frank for the bad actions of larger institutions. In March 2009, Lance wrote a letter to Citigroup Inc. executives saying the bank’s $10 million plan to refurbish its Park Avenue offices rose “to the same level of abusing the privilege of taxpayer assistance” as bonuses at American International Group Inc. His first term also was characterized by some notable breaks from the Republican conference on major votes. Less than a month after taking office in January 2009, Lance was among just three Republicans who voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which aims to make it easier for women to sue for pay discrimination. In June 2009, Lance was among just eight Republicans who voted for a cap-and-trade system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Lance said that the bill, which didn’t become law, would be good for New Jersey and that voting for it was “consistent with my long-standing record of fiscal and environmental responsibility.” In 2013 he was among the minority of House Republicans who voted for a bill to avert the so-called fiscal cliff and against multi-year farm bill. In the 112th Congress (2011-2012), Lance’s first bill was to repeal federal ethanol subsidies. He also offered a resolution urging the courts to expedite a ruling on the challenge of the 2010 health-care law. Early Years Lance was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, near the New Jersey border. He was exposed to politics at an early age: Lance’s father was president of New Jersey’s Senate and helped write the state’s 1947 constitution. The congressman’s great- uncle also served in the state legislature. “My first memory is of this chamber,” Lance said in the New Jersey Senate in 2003, according to the New York Times. “I came here when I was 3 with my father and my mother. I remember the bright pops of the flashbulbs from the reporters’ cameras.” Lance met Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was 7 years old, and read John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage” when he was 9. Lance spent seven years as an assistant counsel to New Jersey Republican Governor Thomas Kean before winning election to New Jersey’s General Assembly in 1991. He ran for Congress in 1996, placing third in the Republican 12th District primary. He was elected to the state Senate in 2001 and served as the minority leader from 2004 to 2008. He successfully sued the state to ban borrowing to balance the budget. In 2008, he sponsored an amendment to the New Jersey Constitution making some borrowing subject to voter approval. The same year, Lance ran for the House after four-term Republican Michael Ferguson decided against running for re- election in the 7th District. He won a seven-candidate primary that included a daughter of former New Jersey Republican governor Christine Todd Whitman. Lance won the general election by 8 percentage points in a good Democratic year. Lance was opposed in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 Republican primaries by businessman David Larsen, who drew support from groups affiliated with the limited-government Tea Party movement. Their 2014 matchup was the closest, with Lance winning by 54 percent to 46 percent. He won 59 percent in the general election, consistent with his performances against Democratic opposition in 2010 and 2012. Personal Note Lance met his wife at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he earned his law degree. Updated July 8, 2015 BIO FROM REPRESENTATIVE'S WEBSITE From the Representative's Website Congressman Leonard Lance was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2008 and reelected to a third term on November 6, 2012 to represent New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. As a result of the 2011 congressional redistricting process the 7th Congressional District now includes parts of Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union and Warren counties as well as all of Hunterdon County. Click HERE to see the new congressional map for the state of New Jersey. Prior to coming to Congress, Lance served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate beginning in 2002, where he © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved Prior to coming to Congress, Lance served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate beginning in 2002, where he represented the 23rd Legislative District. He held the position of Minority Leader of the Senate from 2004 to 2008. Lance was sworn in as a Member of Congress on January 6, 2009 and was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee, where he worked on a wide range of issues relating to the financial services sector and the American economy. In 2011 Congressman Leonard Lance left the House Financial Services Committee and has been appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Committee on Energy and Commerce has a broad legislative jurisdiction including national energy and environmental policy, health and health facilities, interstate and foreign commerce, consumer affairs and consumer protection, and travel and tourism. As a member of the powerful committee Lance will play a greater role in protecting and growing jobs in New Jersey's energy, life sciences and telecommunication sectors. Before his election to the State Senate Lance served in the New Jersey General Assembly for 11 years (1991-2002), where he chaired the Budget Committee. As a member of the State Legislature Lance led the fight against borrowing without voter approval. In 2004 he successfully sued Governor James McGreevey on the issue before the State Supreme Court and in 2008 New Jersey voters approved the 'Lance Amendment' to the State Constitution, which requires all future borrowing to be approved by the voters. Lance also authored the successful effort to require funding for open space preservation and he was the prime sponsor of the measure that established funds for the New Jersey Cultural Trust. Leonard Lance was the third generation of his family to serve in the New Jersey State Legislature, following his great- uncle, H. Kiefer Lance, and his father, Wesley L. Lance. Lance was born in 1952 and raised in Hunterdon County, where he attended North Hunterdon Regional High School. Lance received a bachelor's degree from Lehigh University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University and a master's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University. Lance served as the law clerk to the Warren County (NJ) Court in 1977 and 1978. He was assistant counsel for county and municipal matters to Governor Thomas H. Kean from 1983 to 1990. He has been a member of the New Jersey Council on the Humanities and a trustee of the Newark Museum, McCarter Theatre in Princeton and Centenary College in Hackettstown. He is married to Heidi A. Rohrbach and they have a son, Peter Frank, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. The Lances reside in Clinton Township. PERSONAL PROFILE COMMITTEES Birthdate 06/25/1952 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS House Committee on Energy and Education Commerce Birthplace Easton, PA CAUCUSES Political Party Republican Party Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs Rare Disease Congressional Caucus Marital Status Married Master's Degree 1982 Congressional Pediatric and Adult Spouse Heidi A.